Game: Past Lives

Thread: Great game for history buffs

Cecrow — 2008-09-18T23:46:31+00:00

Past Lives is a wealth-accumulation game where you are attempting to outrank your opponents in terms of the prestige associated with your previous life. I'm not sure if the designers are imparting a philosophical message behind the fact that your wealth by and large determines the degree of that prestige, but I'm not really looking for one. There are four levels of prestige, and you begin with the lowest (naturally): you are all "Scum of the Earth". $2000 will buy your next level, and the more total value in cash and treasures you have, the higher within your level you'll rank when the game ends.

The board design is artfully done and looks complicated, but it is just a single-track spiral where you begin at the outside and work your way in towards Nirvana; the first player to arrive there immediately ends the game (whether that player desires it or not). A significant game mechanic is that the closer to the centre you are, the more valuable the treasures you will have opportunity to discover. Occasionally you will be offered a chance to leap significantly forwards or backwards along the track. You might choose to go forwards in hopes of more quickly ending the game while you're ahead; or you might go backwards to obtain more time with which to accumulate wealth and catch up. A personal challenge presents itself when there's opportunity for an early win: you might end with higher prestige than your opponents and thereby win this match, but can you settle for remaining a "Scum of the Earth"?

Random chance is prominent in this game, so consider yourself warned. At least you can purchase an insurance waiver to protect you from the most painful calamity that will otherwise set you back to zero. There's an element of "roll the dice and see what happens to you", although any doubles roll gives you the option of moving backwards instead. Gambling spaces may quickly catch you up or ruin you. Treasures may be stolen, or an exchange forced upon you ("Pass one to the player on your left"), so it's a good idea to hang onto one or more worthless ones. Fortunes can be raised and lost in a turn. The good news amidst all this chaos, of course, is that you can catch up to the leader rather quickly if your luck holds. One thing you never lose is your current level; it's always a safe and wise investment of your $2000.

The ultimate gimmick of Past Lives are the past lives themselves, one of which you're awarded at game end. These are always educational, often humourous, and the reading of them is an event in itself to look forward to. The game's owner in our group (not I) jealously guards the indexed volume of past life biographies, so I am only familiar with the ones presented to players at the end of our sessions. The biographies are written with descriptions first, ending with the name, so we have fun guessing what historical figure is being described before the name is given. Occasionally a close game will result in two people having been the same person; I've never gotten serious enough to ask whether this represents a tie or whether difference in money is considered a tie-breaker. The worst result is when you end as you began, a Scum with no value, in which case you are the flea that started the Bubonic Plague. As for the best ... I won't spoil it for you, but it is a surprisingly uncontroversial choice.

This game holds great appeal for history buffs such as me. The game's content runs the entire gamut of world history, from modern times back to the ancient world. Event cards all refer (sometimes subtle, sometimes not) to historical people, places and moments. Treasure cards represent famous (e.g. the Mona Lisa) or infamous works (e.g. Hitler's "diary"). Ones I'm not familiar with have me web surfing the next day to satisfy my curiosity. The ranking of past lives as determined by the game designers was of course subjective on their part (why does so-and-so outrank so-and-so?), and it can lead to interesting discussions after the game.

Past Lives has at times provided my ticket to avoiding party games, since it can easily appeal to the same non-gamer audience. It may be tricky at first to convince them since it appears more complicated than it is, but once you explain the game board is just a spiral and they start understanding the gimmick, they'll get into the spirit of it. I've always had fun playing this game and I never balk at playing again, therefore:

My rating: 8/10

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t_s_sullivan — 2008-02-25T00:14:50+00:00

full-page ad from 1990 issue of The General

Thread: Re: waste two hours to get a horoscope

tanis — 2007-08-29T08:25:29+00:00

lesterspiff wrote:
I can't understand the hatred for this game on this site. It may not be the best game ever, but it's certainly not one of the worst. If all you're interested in is the final outcome, sure you could just open up the book and pick yourself out a past life, but you'd be missing out on a good game with a great sense of humor.

While I'd a agree that things can seem a bit random, there is still a fair amount of strategy to the game. Many actions in the game are optional and a lot of them are some sort of gamble. You can gamble against other players by giving them the Evil Eye to stake your entire holdings against theirs. Or you can gamble against the bank to attempt to increase your money. You run the risk of losing your entire fortune to Sudden Death, but have the option to buy insurance to protect yourself. There is also protection from the Evil Eye than can be obtained through the Twist of Fate cards. You are occasionally allowed the option of moving backwards on the board or jumping ahead into another era. You must also give up 100 credits to obtain each treasure, you often get something valuable but occasionally end up with something worthless. If you don't want the risk, you don't pay the 100 credits. When another player loses everything to Sudden Death or the Evil Eye, you can try to outbid other players to give them charity and increase your Karmic level. Most of these events in the game require some amount of strategy or decision making.

As for the criticism that it doesn't stick to its own theme, I have to disagree again. There are two ways to gain Karma, Helping others who have lost their fortunes and by trading up your treasures at the end of the game for karmic points. You are not allowed to buy karma at any point in the gameplay. If you lose your treasures during the course of the game, you stay at whatever lowly karmic level you're at when you reach the end. It's just my interpretation, but I see trading up for points at the end as less of a purchase of karma, than a shedding of your material wealth to enter nirvana, You leave the treasures you've collected and protected throughout the game to the world. It's like if some really rich collector left everything to a museum on their deathbed, it would be seen as an act of charity, not materialism.

I have played this game with people who love board games and people who hate them and everyone I have ever played it with had a great time. I may not be a hardcore board gamer, but I love this game and I think it's highly entertaining and intelligent. There are so few positive comments on this site about the game, I have to wonder if those trashing it even bothered to read the rulebook and play the game properly.

I totally quote you.

I love board games, and I hate bad board games, but this is not half as bad as it may look from the ratings.

Sure, it's not the best AH product of all times, but it's a game with its own sense of humour and it sticks to the theme.

Thread: Re: waste two hours to get a horoscope

lesterspiff — 2007-03-17T14:54:11+00:00

I can't understand the hatred for this game on this site. It may not be the best game ever, but it's certainly not one of the worst. If all you're interested in is the final outcome, sure you could just open up the book and pick yourself out a past life, but you'd be missing out on a good game with a great sense of humor.

While I'd a agree that things can seem a bit random, there is still a fair amount of strategy to the game. Many actions in the game are optional and a lot of them are some sort of gamble. You can gamble against other players by giving them the Evil Eye to stake your entire holdings against theirs. Or you can gamble against the bank to attempt to increase your money. You run the risk of losing your entire fortune to Sudden Death, but have the option to buy insurance to protect yourself. There is also protection from the Evil Eye than can be obtained through the Twist of Fate cards. You are occasionally allowed the option of moving backwards on the board or jumping ahead into another era. You must also give up 100 credits to obtain each treasure, you often get something valuable but occasionally end up with something worthless. If you don't want the risk, you don't pay the 100 credits. When another player loses everything to Sudden Death or the Evil Eye, you can try to outbid other players to give them charity and increase your Karmic level. Most of these events in the game require some amount of strategy or decision making.

As for the criticism that it doesn't stick to its own theme, I have to disagree again. There are two ways to gain Karma, Helping others who have lost their fortunes and by trading up your treasures at the end of the game for karmic points. You are not allowed to buy karma at any point in the gameplay. If you lose your treasures during the course of the game, you stay at whatever lowly karmic level you're at when you reach the end. It's just my interpretation, but I see trading up for points at the end as less of a purchase of karma, than a shedding of your material wealth to enter nirvana, You leave the treasures you've collected and protected throughout the game to the world. It's like if some really rich collector left everything to a museum on their deathbed, it would be seen as an act of charity, not materialism.

I have played this game with people who love board games and people who hate them and everyone I have ever played it with had a great time. I may not be a hardcore board gamer, but I love this game and I think it's highly entertaining and intelligent. There are so few positive comments on this site about the game, I have to wonder if those trashing it even bothered to read the rulebook and play the game properly.

Thread: Re: Insurance Premium??

lesterspiff — 2007-03-17T14:19:50+00:00

It is mentioned in the rule book on the description of the starting block for each era. When you land on the first block of any era, you have the opportunity to buy insurance for 500 credits. If you land on Sudden Death, you can trade them in instead of losing everything.

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T04:33:24+00:00

Sample Treasure cards

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T03:47:09+00:00

Sample Twist of Fate cards

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T03:34:27+00:00

Major Treasure cards

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T03:33:20+00:00

Game cards in plastic sorting tray

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T03:33:03+00:00

Game board details

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T03:30:10+00:00

One of the stand-up pawns

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T03:30:05+00:00

Rule book

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T03:30:01+00:00

Money

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The Maverick — 2007-01-06T03:29:48+00:00

Mounted game board

Thread: Insurance Premium??

neowhere2 — 2006-12-30T04:37:20+00:00

I have been a long time fan of Past Lives, but there has always been one part of the game that has eluded me. There is a set of card called, "Insurance Premium" and I have no idea what they are for and how they are used. The instruction booklet doesn't mention it. Can anyone help?

Thread: Re: waste two hours to get a horoscope

clarec — 2006-11-07T13:55:33+00:00

Thanks for the review Elstree. It's confirmed what I suspected when I saw the box in my local Oxfam - guess I won't need to go back to buy it!

Thread: waste two hours to get a horoscope

Elstree — 2005-11-06T20:13:26+00:00

This is the worst game I've played in years. You basically end up spending two hours rolling and moving your pawn around the board just to get a horoscope. Seemingly random things happen along the way. There is no strategy. If you're lucky then you may accumulate enough treasure to buy additional karmic levels and end the game with a supposedly better past life.

Here's where the game really fails: it doesn't even remotely stick to its own theme! Players that are lucky enough to accumulate more treasure end up with a higher karmic level. In other words, the more materialistic you are the more altruistic your final past-life historical biography will be! Accumulate a lot of stuff and you may end up as Ghandi. How does that remotely make sense?

Don't bother playing, and don't let anyone talk you into playing. Just read the bios out of the book. It's more fun and you'll learn more as well.

Seriously, I'd rather play Hello Kitty Best Friends Forever. At least I get stickers.

Thread:

tathui — 2004-03-11T04:45:44+00:00

Past Lives is a board game which takes players back through history so they can win a past life. The game is intended for entertainment and a means for people to learn more about history and past life experience in a fun and competitive way.

The game is divided into four (4) periods of history: Ancient Times, Dark Ages, Age of Kings, Industrial Age. The players travel backward in time, avoiding hazards and pitfalls. Although the four periods share the same kinds of squares, each age has treasures, twists of fate, and traps which are unique to that time period. In this way, every player actually feels that he is going through and living that part of history.

So, were you Cleopatra or a concubine? Nero or Mary Pickford? Find out with this game.