Life as a BlackMan

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Life as a BlackMan is a board game designed by and published by . It was originally released in 1999. The object of the game is to be the first to reach the "Freedom" space at the top of the board.^[1]

Gameplay[]

One player plays the role of the government; this role reads the prison cards, pays salaries, and handles legal transactions. The other players navigate the game as an 18-year-old African-American male or female.^[2] Players start by rolling a six-sided die to assign themselves one of three character types: Creative, Athletic, Intellectual. Next, players roll a six-sided die to be assigned one of four districts: Neighborhood, Military, University, Hollywood. The district determines the player's starting point. ^[1]

During each turn, the player will roll a four-sided die and move their pawn. Throughout the game, players will land on spaces requiring an Action Card. These cards cover a variety of topics, which include, crime, church, and racism. There are 360 Action Cards included in the game. ^[1] Depending on the card, the player may have to pay a fine, or move back spaces.^[3]

Players also are able to collect a salary when landing on the Payday spaces.^[4] Players can use this money for tasks such as, buying a car, getting married, and having children.^[4]

The game is won when a player successfully reaches the "Freedom" square on the board. The game typically lasts between 15 to 45 minutes.^[2]

Equipment[]

• 1 24" x 24" game board
• 1 9" x 12" Prison Platform
• 1 4-sided die
• 1 6-sided die
• 6 game pawns
• 12 decks of Action Cards:
  • 25 GlamourWood cards
  • 25 Black University cards
  • 25 Military cards
  • 30 Ghetto cards
  • 25 Corporate America cards
  • 20 Church cards
  • 25 Prison cards
  • 25 Life cards
  • 50 Career cards
  • 25 Racism cards
  • 25 Crime cards
  • 25 Police cards
• 18 Character Type Cards:
  • 6 Creative
  • 6 Intellectual
  • 6 Athletic
• 14 Transportation Cards
  • 5 "No Car" cards
  • 3 "Bucket" cards
  • 2 "Used Mid-Size" cards
  • 2 "New Sub-Compact" cards
  • 2 "New SUV" cards
• 3 Debt cards
• A pack of BlackMan money

There are 360 cards in total.

References[]

External links[]

• Life as a BlackMan Homepage
• NPR on Life as a BlackMan from NPR
• Fox on Life as a BlackMan -- the Game? from Fox News
• Life as a BlackMan at BoardGameGeek