Kids get their first taste of the financial rollercoaster (Monopoly Junior)

Member Name: happyhen

Product:	Monopoly Junior
Date:	12/02/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple to play, fast games... so they are unlikely to get bored too quickly

Disadvantages: Flimsy money in strange denominations!

In the midst of the credit crunch, just imagine a world where you can be a greedy capitalist, a rapacious property developer and even (whisper it quietly) a b*a*n*k*e*r and still get away with it... Those were the days!

Still, if you're under about 12 and the recession/depression hasn't seriously entered your consciousness yet (your parents haven't asked you to take a voluntary 50% cut in your pocket money to bail out the Bank of Mum and Dad), you can still play Junior Monopoly with a clear conscience.

Joking apart, it's generally a well thought-out game. Not just a cut-down version of the adult Monopoly, this uses a much more appealing scenario for kids - an amusement park - and simplifies the system of chance cards (there's no community chest) as well as payments to other players when you land on their squares. The rules are straightforward and opportunities for tactical play are limited.

But there are disadvantages...

The Money - Yes, it's simple (just £1, £2, £3, £4 and £5 notes), but why couldn't Hasbro provide money that is closer in denominations to the real-life currency we're trying to teach young children to use?

The Money (again) - It's just as flimsy as the money in the adult version, and soon gets torn and grubby.

The Die (or dice) - Too small. It will immediately roll under the sofa or get eaten by the dog.

Interestingly, having observed my two daughters (12 and 5) playing it together a number of times, it seems to have been engineered so that it's easier for someone to win; so the games are shorter. Typically when we play the adult game (without the 5-year-old) it can go on for days! With 'Junior' you can often fit two 15-20 minute games in between supper and bedtime.

Despite being rated as suitable for 5-8 years old, my older daughter still enjoys playing it with her little sister. And because it's based much more on 'luck-of-the-dice' the older, more experienced players certainly don't always win.

It's helped my younger daughter with basic addition and subtraction, as she has to work out which notes her sister will have to hand over to pay that £8 rent she owes. I can definitely see her graduating to the full version within a year or two: watch out Wall Street!

The game seems to be available for as little as £4.50 new on eBay, which I think is excellent value. And anything that makes the girls enthusiastically switch off the television, and keeps the tradition of family board games alive, is welcome in our house.

Summary: A good introduction to a classic game