All the Fun with The Pursuit of Happiness and Expansions
Create the story of a character’s life with all of the expansions and modules available for The Pursuit of Happiness.
This is it… The bittersweet end to this series of posts about The Pursuit of Happiness! I went in expecting to like it, mostly from its mixture of storytelling and interesting mechanics. Yet I didn’t think I would love it as much as I have. At last, I combined practically every piece of content available to see what it would be like to experience everything!
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
There are many different actions to take and cards to work on in order to tell a full life story. Expansions provide entirely new ways to spend time, while modules add variety and exciting new elements. There is always a challenge to do well, yet the narrative is the highlight!
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
Non-Stop Action
The addition of 14 modules probably sounds like a lot, yet many of these simply provide more variety. Those with new mechanics typically aren’t overwhelming, either.
In this play, Fernando started off life on an interesting path. He really wanted some pets, though, and never got around to doing more than dreaming until old age.
He had a llama before he started looking into expanding into becoming a barn architect. I’m sure that exists!
Finally, he found a stray horse one day and decided to keep him as his friend to the end. Pets are so much fun!
Getting a Degree
One of the new modules I tried out introduced a teen action to go to school for a degree or special career. Fernando got his engineering degree and put it to use!
The small discount was quite useful in getting his job. Before he advanced his relationship with Angela, she was perfect for providing a cosmopolitan life during upkeep.
I didn’t feel overwhelmed with everything in play, either, as the majority of the content simply added other choices.
Quickly, I figured out that this was how I planned to play going forward… No expansion or module left out!
A Full Play Area
This might look like a lot, but all of the cards stayed in a pretty compact area… All things considered. Ha ha!
I had trends far away since they were for end game scoring. The dream board was still within range, as was the nostalgia board with the checkmark tokens.
Solo life goals went along the left side, and I flipped over completed mid-game objectives. Very easy to track!
The active row went at the top, and then everything else found a place below. I liked keeping these in chronological order, yet it would be easy to group them accordingly.
Happy Father’s Day!
As part of the celebration of my dad this past weekend, I went through all of the cards to create his real life in the game. I actually came relatively close on many fronts!
The only thing missing here would be a retirement option from a level 2 job… And possibly a kid that looked a little more like me. Ha ha! Otherwise, I covered it all!
This also ties into why I always use a random card to represent a character for every story. Just feels more fun!
But I wasn’t finished with my little assortment yet, as I found many more cards to match up with my dad’s life.
A Quick Picture
Funny how all sorts of lifestyles are represented in this game! In the giant stack of items and activities, I found everything that spoke of my dad in some way.
Does this form a clear enough picture? Ha ha! I had some projects, too, but these formed enough.
We don’t typically do a lot in terms of gifts for holidays these days, which makes these sorts of silly moments all the more meaningful. I wonder what cards would be mine?
This is a fun little exercise I might employ for birthdays or whatnot in the future. I had a great time finding the cards!
Every Deck… Revealed!
I’ve shown a few ways that I’ve saved some table space, but never have I showed what the play mat looks like with everything in play. Here it is! Lots of awesome cards.
My draw decks are under the cards on the far left, and I stack the discards on the far right. This works surprisingly well and doesn’t get too disorganized. Compact!
This might look like a lot, yet I usually know what I’m looking for during a round and don’t get overwhelmed.
The stack of items and activities is really that high… I only have trouble seeing the first 5 long-term happiness.
Do the Expansions and Modules Make It Easy?
The solo long-term happiness threshold has increased from 50 to 75 with all of the expansions, which definitely feels like the right amount! However, I’ve found that with these modules, I’m inching higher and higher. Not that it ever seems like victory is simple to achieve, but I might look at trying some other things in the future.
Increasing the threshold further doesn’t necessarily feel all that interesting, although it might work. I’m thinking more along the lines of doing something with the solo life goals. Maybe this means using 4 instead of 3 cards, or maybe waiting to reveal them until the later phases. Just thinking through some random ideas to come back to!
Not that anything feels broken, though. I think I’ve simply improved my ability to tie my stories into better strategies. At least all of my characters get some very happy, fulfilling lives at this point. Ha ha! I just think I might tailor things a little bit to make victory slightly more of a challenge… In the end, it’s still all about the awesome life stories!
Pets Rule the World
Although I achieved my highest score yet, I still wanted to try again! The solo life goal to end the game with a couple of pets showed up again… No complaints. Ha ha!
Kerry’s life was an interesting one that was more affected by the events module than Fernando’s life. There was a shopping spree that was quite beneficial!
Alas, the history degree didn’t directly help him out since Kerry was all about projects. Never held a standard job!
But this was another interesting life with lots of twists and unexpected outcomes with the way the cards came out.
A Most Creative Life
Kerry was quite creative, although he didn’t take the corresponding board action that often. Old age really started to bring out his talents, though!
Pi Day and April Fools’ Day happened during the same phase, and he made jokes while pranking the entire town.
But as things quieted down around him, Kerry wasn’t quite done yet… He decided to run for mayor, and actually won to go out in style! Quite the life for him.
I love splaying out the completed cards in this way. Just helps tell a quick but exciting story about the character!
Session Overview
Play Number: 9 and 10
Expansions: Many
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: All Solo-Compatible Modules
Outcome: 83 and 87 (2 Wins)
There were some close calls with the solo life goals, but both plays were successful! Kerry might have even pushed ahead further had this awful event not popped up. It’s the only one that can’t be prevented, so he never got a personal gym or iguana. Maybe the iguana WAS the natural disaster… Ha ha! Absolutely love this game!
%
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)
- Gameplay is very story-focused, which is excellent, yet there are real decisions to make about using time.
- The whole experience can be customized by using any combination of experiences and modules.
- Most of the content is very positive or even comical, making each play enjoyable from beginning to end.
- Just the base game offers a full experience on its own, and although the expansions are great, they’re not required.
- Stacking completed cards saves space and also showcases the highlights of a character’s life story.
- All of the components add a nice table presence, and upgrades aren’t necessary for the game to look good.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Although there are some ways to conserve space, the amount of required table space is extensive and sprawling.
- With all of the content, some of the decks feel a bit over-sized compared to other decks that are much smaller.
- Complexity increases with some of the expansions and modules, which can shift the focus away from storytelling.
- Some combinations of solo life goals may seem a little too easy or hard to achieve based on the random draw.
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
How much have you enjoyed playing The Pursuit of Happiness? The mix between strategic thinking and storytelling is a lot of fun, and I’m going to miss having it on my solo table! What other solo games have you been playing lately? I may be done with these constant plays for now, yet this is one that has firmly earned a place in my collection. So great!
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