CONCLUSION
In games there is usually a single winner and one or more losers. Happenstance dictates if you land on a square with instructions such as ‘jump ahead five spaces’ or ‘move back five spaces.’ Given the winner/loser dichotomy, and the chance nature of a dice roll, it’s not surprising that games have been employed for divinatory purposes. It’s rarer still when you have a divinatory game that ends, not with the traditional winner/loser dichotomy, but a different predictive outcome for each player. Yeah, I suppose you could have a prize waiting for the person who finishes first. But that isn’t the point of this game. It seems intended to make you aware of your strengths and weaknesses, so you can work with it, thus bringing greater luck in your life.
This game could serve as a springboard for further discussion on strengths, weaknesses, luck, misfortune, or seemingly neutral luck in life. You’re always free to say ‘I reject this prediction and create my own luck’, then go on with your life. It might be an interesting exercise to play this game at different times over the course of your life, to see if your ‘luck’ changes. At the very least, I hope you find ‘The Game of Luck’ entertaining.
EXERCISE
Play this game with a group of people you know fairly-well. Note the results you and everybody else got.
- Were there any players whose luck prediction both they and others agreed was true about that person?
- Were there any players who agreed with their luck prediction, but nobody else did?
- Were there any players whose result both they and other participants agreed was not true about them at all?
- Were there any players who rejected their luck prediction as not being accurate about them, but other players said it was?
- Having played the game, in what circumstances, if any, would you play it?
- EXTRA CREDIT: Keep your notes on file and return to them later, possibly years later. Did anyone’s luck prediction see fulfillment, in your opinion?