CAREERS (1979) - dang this is fun

I was bored late at night and was browsing through some Facebook board game seller group, listings of the same common stuff over and over.  Then someone was offering a like-new copy of the 1979 game of CAREERS for a few bucks plus shipping.  It got here yesterday, and not only was it somehow crisp and new, but it was way more fun than I remembered.

Now, I had found screen shots of 4 or 5 different editions of this classic game online, but the tiny text in the career boxes made them unusable and print-and-play test runs.  With each new edition, the career paths changed, each fitting their decade.  It is a fascinating history.

Sometimes when people say they remember the game of LIFE, ask them if they remember the little cars with the people pegs, or the spinner popping off and wiping all the cars off the board ... if they don't remember that, I suspect they were actually remembering CAREERS instead.  The two games occupy a very similar niche, but in different ways.  LIFE focused on family, marriage, children, pets, houses; and CAREERS was the one where you roll dice, try different careers and go on a roller-coaster of weird ups and downs.

The first neat thing about CAREERS is that you get to choose your victory conditions.  Take 60 points and spread them out among fame (stars), happiness (hearts) or money ($1,000s).  If you reach your goal at any point, you win right then and there.

In CAREERS, you move along an outer track like Monopoly, but you can choose one of 5 inner career paths (the 6th inner track is College), if you pay the entry fee or meet the other requirements.  You roll 2d6 on the outer track but 1d6 for the shorter inner tracks.  You pick up Opportunity cards along the way, and Experience cards on career paths or when completing any career path.  You can hold onto these cards and play them at any later time.  They are usually move 1,2,3 or 4 spaces, or start a career, with a few other options.  They're a kind of limited special power, and with the college degrees they add just a trace of role-playing stats.

Each career track focuses on fame or happiness or money, so if you need some Fame points, go for Politics; for cash go for Big Business, for hearts it's the Sports life for you.  It's fast-paced and wacky and very well balanced.

One of my escapades: I went through College, chose the Science degree, used an opportunity to start the Space Exploration track where the Science degree got me in for free, then rolled a two so I got the measles and ended up in the hospital instead.  And to get out of the hospital would cost more money that I owned.  Fine, I won't go to Space!  I did get 10 Fame points for being the least healthy astronaut in history, so bleah.

Here is me getting my degree, thinking it will get me somewhere:

Sometimes the semi-random malarkey from the past sounds too much like real life.  Other bonuses are so dated they're hilarious, like becoming President of Politics (obviously THE President) giving a measly $3,000 pay raise.  Or spending your last dime to get back on the Space track, NOT catching the measles this time, only to see that the exit space is on the other side of PayDay, so you don't get paid; the box even has a sarcastic Q&A about that little totally-planned detail, saying "That's the price of adventure."

Here I am, finishing a game without a dollar to my name:

So, for the next game I figured I could bank on my lack of talent with cash, and went with a 30-0-30, 100% cash-free set of victory conditions.  And ended up winning that one.  Hah.

Setting your own victory conditions, wacky highs and lows, bumping the other player into the Unemployment box, lots of dice rolling, degrees, opportunities ... there's plenty of variety here to keep it fun.  And some downright snarky little things on some of those career spaces.  My prize for most obtuse reward is: "The score is love, 6 hearts" over on the Sports track.  You gain Experience cards for sucking at your job or denting the boss's car, and you can even marry your Martian sweetheart for 12 hearts.

Folks, this is a classic.