Level. Like in a video game. Don’t you think of the lifespans of your friends in family and terms of video game levels?

No. Leveling up implies some sort of growth or improvement. We all know people where one year older doesn't mean they leveled up.

People are still figuring the rules for the game as it came without any manual:

https://www.reddit.com/r/outside

Level in games doesn't necessarily correlate with skill. People can build their character badly and end up with subpar skills for their level.

In a way life is about maxing skills and avoiding perma-death.

thanks, you feel me.

No offense intended, I just felt your motor memory wrote LVL but you meant age. I apologize.

None taken.

Well, I tried to ascend one or two times, but never did it :-)

Me too... some mysterious synonym for "years"?

I think it means level. I assume the reason to say that is that having a higher level in a video game is considered good, whereas it is common for people to discriminate against people of more age.