The game of life
In the video game world, as in most other endeavors, there are two types of people: those who read the instructions and those who learn on the fly. Of course, there is no manual for real life. There are laws, parental guidance, and social mores, but those aren't exactly comprehensive, and they definitely aren't funny. Christopher Monks's new humor book, "The Ultimate Game Guide to Your Life," aims to fill that void.
Monks, 39, has devised a role-playing video game called "Your Life" and an instruction manual that walks players through a series of challenges. It begins in the infant and toddler years (Level I, Challenge Four: Mastering Your Bowels); continues through the school years, parenthood, and middle age; and works toward the game's conclusion (Level VII, Challenge Twenty Eight: Your Death). At each step along the way, the player collects "life points" for mastery of such "mini games" as learning to crawl, getting a driver's license, and conceiving a child.
Ironically, Monks, a father of two from Arlington who works as the online editor for the literary humor site McSweeney's, says he tries to do things without the aid of an instruction manual. "If I open up a box from Ikea or start playing a video game, I like to think that I can figure things out," he says. "But inevitably I have to return to the instruction manual."
Things like rounding up the kids and taking them to the supermarket without a meltdown, on the other hand, aren't always as intuitive. Navigating adventures like that helped crystallize the concept of life as a series of mini-games for Monks. "Before a baby can crawl they have to sit up. Before they can stand up they have to crawl," he says. "In a lot of ways life is sort of like a video game in terms of the structure and the challenges you have to overcome to get to the next level."
Plus, he says, the book idea gave him a good excuse to spend a lot of time playing video games for "research."
The book is mostly tongue in cheek, but there's also some matter-of-fact good advice. "I don't want to come off like I'm Deepak Chopra or something," he says. "But I think there is some good advice about how to live your life, how to parent, and how to speak to your kids." Sounds like he's well on his way to completing Level VI: Your Grown-Up Years.
LUKE O'NEIL 