LIFE CHANCES

E F

D B

H G

This is the suggested

layout for the tiles
THE GAME OF LIFE CHANCES
Instruction Booklet

Contents:

Background [3]

How to Play [4]

Notes for Facilitators [6]

Glossary [14]

Credits [16]

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 The Game of Life Chances - Background

Life Chances was a social science research project, art

programme, jewellery business, co-authored novel, game, all
rolled into one. Life Chances explored life on a low income and
the regulatory services that families encounter in two urban
settings – Bristol and Cardiff. Research design and delivery was
co-produced between community organisations, community
volunteers, artists and academics.

The artists Close and Remote (Sophie Mellor and Simon Poulter)
worked with community research volunteers from Single Parent
Action Network (Bristol) and South Riverside Community
Development Centre (Cardiff); and academics from Bristol
University to create a range of characters and storylines that
feature in The Game of Life Chances as well as the co-authored
novel ‘Life Chances’. All this was done whilst project participants
set up a jewellery making business (and made jewellery),
reflecting one of the main storylines in the Life Chances novel.

Life Chances, the novel, is available to buy on Amazon at

www.amazon.co.uk

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How to play The Game of Life Chances

The aim of The Game of Life Chances is to create discussion

around how issues such as education, health, family, debt and
income can affect a person’s Life Chances.

The Game of Life Chances is best played with a group of four

or more people, with one person acting as the ‘facilitator’.

Layout the tiles on the floor, as suggested on the front image of

this booklet (A to H).

Each person (except the facilitator) will pick a character card.

This can be done randomly or players can pick a character that
they find interesting. Playing with a range of characters from
different backgrounds is recommended.

Players will explore their character’s Life Chances by moving

around the letter boards in answer to the facilitator’s questions.
Players will be encouraged by the facilitator to talk about why
certain characters go to certain letter boards in answer to the
questions.

Players can use their character cards to ask and answer

questions of other players at any point in the game.

Each Character Card has background information on the

character such as age, income, children; as well as their
personal story. The Character Cards also have a set of four
categories (General, Family, Finance and Health) which show
which letter boards players should move to in response to the
facilitator’s questions.

Decide who will be the facilitator. The facilitator will ask

questions to get the characters moving around (see Notes for
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Facilitators). The facilitator does not pick a Character Card.

Each player picks a Character Card. The player will be this

character whilst playing the game.

Each player goes to their character’s starting point, which is

shown on their Character Card.

The facilitator will then ask the players if their characters are UK/
EU citizens or not, and the Players will move to the next letter
on their character card.

At this point Players will be asked by the facilitator to read

out loud their character’s background story. The facilitator will
go on to ask a series of questions to get the players moving
around the letter boards and start discussing the differences or
similarities in the characters situations and how different issues
affect the characters in differing ways.

The game ends once the final question has been asked and
once the discussions have ended.

The final question could be “How do you win the Game of Life
Chances?”

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Notes for Facilitators

As the Game of Life Chances facilitator you will ask the players
a series of questions in order for them to explore the similarities
and differences between their characters, and how their
characters social and economic backgrounds affect their Life
Chances.

You will be running the game and encouraging discussion.

Beginning the game

[1] Place the letter boards (A to H) around the room. It doesn’t

matter in which order, just make sure there is room for people
to stand near the letters.

[2] Ask the Players to pick a character. They can do this

randomly, without looking. Or they could pick a character that
they are interested in.

[3] In order for the game to be most effective, playing with a

range of characters, from different backgrounds, is a good idea.

[4] As the game unfolds make sure each player has a turn at
reading out their characters back story. You don’t need to do
this all at the same time.

[5] Each game card includes a grid with four sections - General,
Family, Finance, Health.

[6] Within each of the four sections there are a series of

questions, with a letter assigned to each question. Each time
you ask a question, tell players to go to the letter that is
assigned to that question.

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Here are the questions to ask for each section:

General

[1] Starting Point - everyone starts at the same point A.

[2] UK/EU - “Does your character have a UK or EU passport?”

Players will either stay at A or go to B.
A - no UK/EU passport
B - yes UK/EU passport
Once the players have moved to A or B ask them to work out
which group has UK/EU passport and which doesn’t.

[3] In Work - “Is your character in work?”

Players will either stay at A or B, or move to either A or B.
A - not in work
B - in work.
Start a conversation as to why some characters are in work and
some are not.

[4] Degree or Not - “Does your character have a degree?”

Players will either stay at A or B, or move to either A or B.
A - no degree
B - has a degree
Have some people not moved? Why is that? If there a link
between being in work and having a degree, or not? Is that the
same for all characters? Does having a degree definitely mean
you will be in a job you want? What other educational
qualifications do the characters have? Is there a link between
UK/EU passport and being in work or not? Why is that?

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Family

[1] Children - “Does your character have children?”

Players go to A if their character does not have children.
They go to B if they do have children.
Are some of the characters actually children? Which ones? Are
any of the children carers? Who has more than one child?

[2] Single Parent - “Is your character a single parent?”

A - single parent
B - not single parent
How do the players think being a single parent impacts on that
character’s Life Chances? If it does impact on their Life
Chances, why is this?

[3] Home - “Do you own your own home or do you rent?”
Players can move to a range of letters to reflect their housing
status.
A - they own multiple properties (more than two)
B - they own two homes
C - they own their own home
D - private landlord
E - shared ownership
F - local authority/housing association rental
G - temporary accommodation
H - hostel

Ask the players to talk about their character’s housing. What

else is going on for their character financially? Can they afford
their rent or mortgage? Have their life situations changed
recently and how could this impact on their housing?

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[4] Support (friends or family) - “Does your character have
support from friends or family?”
A - no support
B - support

How do players think having support or no support impacts on

their character’s situation? And how does having support or
lack of support interact with the other questions around family?

Finance

[1] Credit Rating - “What is your character’s credit rating?”

A - Excellent credit rating
B - Very good credit rating
C - Good credit rating
D - Fair credit rating
E - Poor credit rating
F - Very poor credit rating
G - Bad credit rating
H - Unratable

Are there any characters at H? Why are they unratable? Why do

some characters have excellent/good credit rating whilst others
have poor/bad credit rating? How do you think your character’s
credit rating affect their lives?

[2] Debt or Not - “Is your character in debt?”

A - No debt
B - More than £500
C - More than £1000 debt
D - More than £5000 debt
E - More than £10,000 debt
F - More than £50,000 debt
G - More than £100,000 debt
H - More than £250,000 debt
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Different characters may have similar levels of debt, but it will
affect them differently - why is that? How do you think your
character’s level of debt affect their wellbeing? Do you think
your character is able to manage their level of debt? Could they
be offered any help and by whom?

[3] Income level - “What is your character’s income level?”

A - Lowest, under £5,000
B - Very low pay, under £15,000
C - Low pay, between £15,000 and £22,000
D - Average, between £23,000 and £25,000
E - Above average, between £25,000 and £45,000
F - High, between £45,000 and £150,000
G - Very high, between £150,000 and £500,000
H - Highest, over £500,000

What impact does your character’s income level have on their

life? How does their income level interact with their level of
debt. For example, if they have a large debt but a very high
income, do they see their debt as manageable? And if they
have a low wage and what appears to be a small debt, is that
manageable or not?

[4] Benefits “Does your character claim any benefits?”

A - Yes
B - No
What benefits are they claiming and why? If the benefits they
are receiving are not written on their card, which benefits do
you think they will be getting? What is their experience of the
benefit system? Do any other aspects of your character’s life
and/or background impact on their experience of the benefit
system?

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Health

[1] Health - “What is your character’s health status?”

A - Excellent
B - Very Good
C - Good
D - Reasonable
E - Poor
F - Long term illness
G - Very poor
H - Terminal illness

What impact does your character’s health status have on their

lives and the lives of their family? Are there any factors in your
character’s life that may affect their health positively or
negatively?

[2] Carer - “Is your character a carer?”

A - Yes
B - No
How does being a carer impact on other aspects of your
character’s life?

[3] Able to access healthcare - “Can your character access the

healthcare they need?”
A - Yes
B - No

If no, why can’t your character access the healthcare they need?

[4] Private or NHS? - “Does your character have private or NHS

healthcare?”
A - Private
B - NHS

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Why does your character have either private or NHS
healthcare? What impact does having private healthcare have
on your character’s life? Is private healthcare always best?

Finishing the game

You have now come to the end of the game. The above are
suggested questions to ask in each section. You may want to
add your own. You can also encourage the players to ask their
own questions.

At the end of the game, sit down with the group over a cup of
tea/coffee and go round asking each person what they thought
of the experience and what they may have learned, and what
they knew already.

Did the game confirm what they knew already or give them
new knowledge? Did the game challenge any preconceptions?
How do they feel about their character? What changes in the
systems explored in the game (ie benefit system, health care,
education, racism, the class system etc) would the players like
to see for their c haracters?

Final questions could be “How could your character ‘win’ the

Game of Life Chances?” and “What does winning look like for
your character?” or “Has your character already ‘won’?”

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13
Glossary

Life Chances
Life Chances are a range of social and economic factors that
can influence what access a person has to resources such as
food, clothing and shelter, as well as to health care and
education. How do such things as gender, age, race, class,
education and wealth impact on a person’s social equality and
mobility? How does society’s prejudice or approval of the
physical, social and material aspects of different people impact
on their lives, and in what differing ways?

Facilitator
In The Game of Life Chances the facilitator asks the questions
to get the Players moving around the letter boards, as well as
asking questions to stimulate discussion around the different
characters Life Chances.

Character Cards
There are 30 Character Cards reflecting characters from a range
of different backgrounds, cultures and life situations. People
are complex and The Game of Life Chances tries to reflect this
in the Character Cards. No-one, in real life, is either just a set of
‘issues’, or just one ‘issue’. The Game of Life Chances
encourages the players to expand on their characters and
relate them to their own lives and experiences.

Letter Boards
There are eight letter boards, from A to H. They can be placed
in any order around the room, leaving enough space for
people to congregate around a letter. The letter boards act as a
visual and physical way of showing similarities and differences
between characters when answering the game questions.

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Game Questions
The game questions will be asked by the facilitator. The game
questions help start conversations on how a set of factors (such
of health, work status, debt etc) affect people in differing ways.

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Credits

Life Chances project was a part of Productive Margins:

Regulating for Engagement research programme.
The programme is funded by the Economic and Social
Research Council (ESRC).

Life Chances was a collaboration between University of Bristol,

Cardiff University, South Riverside Community Development
Centre, Single Parent Action Network (SPAN), Productive
Margins and the artists Sophie Mellor and Simon Poulter (Close
and Remote).

Game design: Close and Remote (Sophie Mellor and Simon

Poulter).

Game characters: Community research volunteers from South

Riverside Community Development Centre and Single Parent
Action Network (SPAN); Close and Remote; Bristol University
staff.

Game Illustrations: Nadja Penfold.

Game Layout: Close and Remote.

www.closeandremote.net

www.productivemargins.ac.uk

www.srcdc.org.uk

www.spanuk.org.uk

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