Finding Garth Marenghi in The Pursuit of Happiness
Explore a few slivers of life filled with possibilities and opportunities found in the memories of The Pursuit of Happiness.
Solo board games can be rather lighthearted fun, yet they can also offer us the chance to find out more about ourselves and what brings us joy. The Pursuit of Happiness has always been fun for me. I love it! The different lives often make me laugh, but it has some important lessons that can go beyond the cards… Another reason it’s one of my favorites!
Game Overview
Game Name: The Pursuit of Happiness
Publication Year: 2015
Designers: Adrian Abela and David Chircop
Artist: Panayiotis Lyris
Publisher: Artipia Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
From the teenage years through old age, a character moves through life and all of its experiences. Happiness is the main goal, achieved through a variety of sources. There is no single path to victory, and as in life, the real joy is in the journey than a simple score. So much to enjoy!
First Play
June 13, 2023
Complexity
3
Latest Play
February 15, 2025
Expansions
11
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
16
Play Time
1 Hour & 20 Minutes
High Score
87
Game Area
50" x 34"
Low Score
49
A Most Interesting Life
I went through some neat decisions with Richard during this play. There are always a trio of life goals that must be achieved, and provide a sort of guide about progressing.
He made a best friend early on, which was a strategy I never tried before… Friends are awesome, though!
The trickiest goal was to have at least 3 kids. So many! As time started to run out, Richard and Kaylen ended up having a trio in the span of a single life phase.
Molly, Mike, and Xavier were quite the handful! It was a very memorable life, but one that fell short of a victory.
Planning for Joy
The play area might look enormous, sprawling, and way too busy, yet I love how this works. Action spaces are clearly marked, and for solo, nothing gets covered up.
All of the cards provide what I like to describe as the state of the world. I see them as an indication of popular or readily available options, which change over time.
Despite not hitting the victory threshold all the time, I still consider each play worthwhile. It’s just so much fun!
And with a huge amount of variety with the expansions, I still have yet to see all of the possible combinations.
Time is on My Side
My next outing saw a definite focus on time travel right from the start. If Steffie could manage to build a time machine, she would gain a lot of extra time at some point!
I started to see the downfall of having too many nostalgia cards, though. These occasionally took me down paths that weren’t so fruitful or joyful… Don’t live in the past!
Well, I guess you can if you’re someone planning on time traveling. Ha ha! Steffie lost sight of that goal for a bit.
It wasn’t until old age when it worked, and it wasn’t as exciting as it might have been. Too much nostalgia!
Private Investigating
One of the things I love about the game is how it never forces a character down a certain path for happiness. Jobs are optional. Partners are optional. It’s all about joy!
On the subject of jobs, it’s actually neat to discover alternate ways to earn money. Steffie found a project to be a private investigator, which was pretty awesome.
If only she could have pulled off becoming a time traveling private investigator! Dream job right there. Ha ha!
This ended in one of my worst scores ever… But who cares? Steffie built a time machine. You can’t beat that!
Tossing Numbers Aside to Understand Games
I’ve long been looking at the possibility of updating my rating system, but this session solidified something important: I don’t need a number to fully understand what it is I enjoy about a board game. Rather, it’s this nebulous idea of what defines fun. And in the end, the secret is sort of hidden in this game’s title… Happiness, and the emotions from games.
Numerical ratings are awesome, and I’m continuing to use them to understand my own preferences. Yet this hobby goes beyond the numbers. I don’t focus my efforts on playing the games with the best ratings. Rather, I’m often looking for experiences and certain emotions. That’s an interesting topic I’m continuing to explore some more!
I think these plays helped me understand that in both concrete and metaphorical terms. Long-term happiness is the equivalent of victory points, and I don’t always win. But is that what I’m remembering? Read on, and it should be pretty clear that a number is only a piece of the puzzle. The memories and emotions are the things that really matter to me.
A Life Fully Lived
Although my final score was laughably terrible, Steffie had a very interesting life. One of her life goals centered around being involved in the community, and she was.
So many purple cards! It should be pretty apparent that she spent most of her time in the community.
She found a pet tortoise that outlived her, made a friend out of a noisy neighbor, won a few tournaments, planted trees, became mayor, and attended a huge parade. Whoa!
I always love splaying the cards like this as I play. So nice to see the major memories and milestones!
Garth Marenghi?!
As I randomized what I determined would be my final play for this session, I ended up with Scott… The visionary cyclops. Was this Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace?! (Yes.)
Scott married Gnark, a brain in a jar, and they somehow managed to create Timmy from… Thin air? Perhaps a job as a fantastic beasts tamer gave Scott some insight.
He was a master storyteller, author, dream weaver, visionary, plus actor. What more could he want in life?!
I laughed so much, drawing parallels to the episodes in almost every card. See that motorcycle? Bike chase scene.
Session Overview
Play Number: 12-14
Expansion: Many
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: All Solo-Compatible Modules
Outcome: 71, 59, 77 (1 Win & 2 Losses)
At last, a proper victory! It was nice to have life goals and a certain threshold in mind, but I still had a wonderful time with everything. There is something so cheerful and warm about all of the cards. And at the end of the day, life is all about the journey and finding the important things… Which may very well be seemingly small and humble!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
9
Originality
Design & Theme
10
Quality
Components & Rules
8
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
+ Pros (Positives)
- All of the artwork features diverse people and very joyful moments, making the setting feel extremely welcoming.
- Gameplay is very much about a thematic story and building memories, yet scoring well is also challenging.
- There is no single path to victory and the game itself seems to illustrate the importance of joy in real life.
- Despite having an enormous amount of choices, everything feels pretty intuitive after a handful of full plays.
- Only some decks feel a little repetitive, and the main decks feature less than 25% of the total cards each time.
- A character’s story plays out differently and doesn’t follow a particular strategy, but rather, sources of joy.
– Cons (Negatives)
- There are a lot of little rules to remember when combining every module since a lot of cards function differently.
- Setup involves a lot of shuffling and can be a fun process, but takes up a lot of time that does not move quickly.
- It can be easy to lose sight of an overall strategy with so many choices, which can feel overwhelming at times.
- Keeping track of all of the cards can require a lot of brain power with different abilities, timing triggers, and plans.
Victory Conditions
Complete All Life Goals & Reach the Threshold
- Overall Goal Progress 89%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 50 long-term happiness.
Score at least 60 long-term happiness.
Score at least 70 long-term happiness.
Score at least 80 long-term happiness.
Win at least 1 game with the base game.
Win at least 1 game with the community expansion.
Win at least 1 game with the experiences expansion.
Win at least 1 game with the nostalgia expansion.
Score at least 90 long-term happiness.
Continue the Conversation
What are some of your favorite aspects about The Pursuit of Happiness? Have there been any cards that have been particularly memorable? This is certainly a sprawling sort of solo game with lots of rules, and I love it. The stories are enjoyable and it feels so nice to watch a life progress, filled with laughter and joy! May life imitate art here, all the time!
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