Prompt Refinery · modern survival · PLY
LIFE 2.0
Trade today's cash for tomorrow's life. 2–4 players · 25 min · ages 8+ · 54 cards + scrap paper for debt. Each year: draw income, pay the bill, bid on market cards.
Setup
Split the deck: Paycheck pile (24) and Life deck (30). Shuffle each. Deal 3 Paycheck and 2 Life deck cards to each player. Everyone starts at Income 2. Youngest takes the Year marker. Play8 years (10 at two players).
A year
Draw Paycheck cards equal to your Income. Flip a Bill — everyone pays its cost plus life tax (Partner +1, Home +1, Kid +2) or takes 1 debt. Flip market cards (one fewer than players; at two players, flip 1). Auction each market card once around; most debt starts and gets −1 on a winning bid (minimum 1). Winner pays and takes the card to their board. Hand limit 7.
Income
Income = 2 + career steps (Starter +1, Senior +2 per track) + 1 if Cert upgraded a maxed track. Maximum 6. One career per track (○ ◆ △ □ + ◇ ★ #). Senior replaces Starter.
Score
Net worth = cash in hand (Paycheck numbers; Side Hustle counts as 4) + board points on Life cards − 3 per debt. Most net worth after the last year wins.
Sample turn (3 players, Year 3)
Case has Partner (+4) and ML Engineer (Income 4). Rent Due costs Case 4 with life tax. Market: Cloud Architect, Index Fund, Cert. Case opens Cloud at 2; Alex bids 3 and wins. Brook overbids 5 for Index Fund (+8 at end). Alex takes Cert alone and bumps Income to 5.
2 people / FAQ
10 years, 1 market card per year. Cannot pay a bill? Take debt — do not discard. Cannot raise? Pass. Empty piles? Shuffle discards. Layoff: discard lowest career, or 2 debt if none.
9-up sheets. Numbers are 1–6 on Paychecks and Bills. Tracks use icons, not color alone.
Live rules: https://tablepress.space/life-2-0/rules/ · Shareable intro: https://tablepress.space/life-2-0/