Way back in the 1900s, when I was a kid, we played a board game called LIFE. Players had to get jobs, pay taxes and try to make as much money as possible before they died. It was a pretty grim way to spend an evening — especially since the game was designed so that your chances of winning were completely random.

These days, I know you’re playing games that are much more fun and engaging and probably less prone to losing tiny pieces. But that whole “game of life” thing is still real. It turns out that you can gamify your life (mostly) by seeing challenges as opportunities and being strategic about the skills you need to level up.

Enter NEXT. This year’s issue is basically a walkthrough for the game of real life, complete with tutorials, side quests, campaigns and boss fights. (It’s an RPG, obv.) We’ve got expert advice from MLGs in a variety of fields, checklists to track your progress and even a few cheat codes.

Need to know something that we’ve missed? Or have some winning tips and tricks that you’d like to share? Drop us a line at editor@floridanext.com or online at FloridaNEXT.com. Just click “Story Ideas” and let us know how to get in touch.

In the immortal words of Link from The Legend of Zelda (another game from ye olden days): “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.”