Emberton’s articles are some of the most insightful pieces of writing you can read, and this is probably his most popular of them all.

If you need to see your life in a different perspective, or are a fan of strategy guides, it’s a must read. (As in, this should apply to everyone.)

Here’s the breakdown for the guide:

• Life is a strategy game
• Successful players put their time into the right things
• You are randomly assigned a character
• Young Adults: Use the ample amount of time and energy to level up skills
• Watch your willpower- it is a finite resource
• Choosing the right tasks at the right time is most of the game
• Combinations of skills are the most important (see picture above)
• Where you live does have an impact on how you play
• Finding a partner: a mini-game, but one which reflects how well you’re playing the real game
• Money- a resource that comes into play later on in the game with varying levels of importance depending on your goals
• Later Life- harder to level up but you have more experience for unlocking “achievements”
• All players die after 29,000 days, or roughly 80 years

There’s lots of crazy good game style pictures in the article, and it’s worth checking out just for that.

Life is a Game. This is your Strategy Guide via Oliver Emberton