Game Encourages Learning By Sharing
There is no right or wrong answer. Anyone from 6 to 106 can play. And nobody ever loses.
What kind of a game is this?
“It’s a game about affirmation, about stories that generations can share,” said Vivian Elaine Johnson, one of the creators of LifeStories.
Players move around a board, pick up various cards and answer questions about memories and special moments in their lives. The emphasis is on sharing - preferably through richly moral tales.
The simple questions - “Tell about a time when you surprised someone” or “Describe something you like about a friend from the past” - trigger unusual responses.
“We had focus groups test the game, solicited testimonials from players who shared amazing stories,” Johnson said.
There was the father who finally told his daughter he loved her, all because of a LifeStories game. And the Minnesota legislator who played with her family until 2 a.m., fascinated by the insight she gained about her children.
Johnson drew on her background in behavioral science to help create the game three years ago.
“This is a game where people share their uniqueness, their individuality,” said Johnson, 59, of Orange, Calif. “It’s different from any other game that we’re aware of. It seems to strike a chord with people.”
The game has been used in drug rehabilitation programs, at family reunions and for corporate teambuilding. Lutheran Brotherhood Fraternal Society, a Minnesota-based insurance firm, ordered 5,000 copies to distribute to community-based programs for teenagers.
And a few weeks ago entertainer Michael Jackson picked up a copy of LifeStories while gliding through a Minnesota shopping mall.
“Now, that was exciting news!” said Johnson, who read about Jackson’s purchase in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
After struggling for a national toehold in the gamesmanship world, LifeStories and its sequel game, “FutureStories,” are moving into mainstream distribution in stores and through catalogs. The partners have sold 100,000 games.
LifeStories grew from a conviction by Johnson and her partners that family histories were disappearing.
One of her favorite quotes is a remark by “Roots” author Alex Hailey: “When an old person dies, it’s like a small library burning.”
Memories are lost because they are not shared, she said.
Her commitment to offer that help came about a decade ago when a teenage son died of cancer.
Johnson, who until then had focused her energies on being a Lutheran pastor’s wife and a mother, studied behavioral science, focusing on issues dealing with transition and loss.
She learned to take risks, moving beyond academics into launching her own business. The concept for the game developed after Johnson began writing family biographies. She tried videotaping life stories as a business, but the process was cumbersome and expensive, she said.
Johnson’s partners - Bill Bockelman, 73, a retired Lutheran pastor, and Truman Howell, 55, a Minneapolis architect, soon found out there was more to producing a game than an afternoon’s buzz session.
First they field-tested a prototype, enlisting the help of Lutheran Brotherhood employees. The company liked the concept so well, it provided seed money for the game’s first production.
Eventually, Johnson and her husband, George, took out a $26,000 second mortgage on their home to gain capital. After the game was widely distributed in the Minnesota area, outside investors joined the team. The partners will not discuss how much capital came into the privately held company.
Response was so positive, the partners designed “FutureStories,” in which players talk about hopes and dreams, rather than past events. A Christian version of LifeStories was made available to religious bookstores.
Plans are under way to broaden distribution to Canada, Britain and Scandinavia.
“We have found that kids love to hear adults talk about their lives, to share that they are human,” Johnson said.
“We are sure this game is not sexist, racist or ageist,” she said.
But LifeStories does have one drawback.
“It’s not competitive,” Johnson said. “The toy stores don’t understand a game like that.”
xxxx Rules for playing LifeStories Two to eight players can play the board game LifeStories. The game includes a board and four decks of cards. In turn, players roll the die and move the number of spaces indicated. A player draws a card from the deck matching the symbol where the player’s marker lands. The player reads the card out loud and shares his or her response with the other players. Stories can be as long and involved as desired. When a player reaches the end - called Grand Celebration - play pauses while each of the other players celebrate by sharing an experience or saying something positive about the person. The game continues until all finish. To order “LifeStories” by telephone, call (800) 433-GAME. The game costs $29.95 plus $5.30 shipping and handling. Orange County Register