Cured of Monopoly Phobia at last!! (Monopoly Junior)

Member Name: Elevenses

Product:	Monopoly Junior
Date:	06/09/02 (395 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Lots of early maths skills, Acessible to 6year old mind

Disadvantages: Can go on for ages, Lots of fiddly bit - easy to lose, Money's not real so I'm not as rich as I thought!

Okay- confession time..... I was beaten at monopoly by an 8 year old I was babysitting for! Years of shame have now been excorcised with the discovery of Junior Monopoly (hellishly hard to type correctly!) I have a 5 year old Monpoly-fiend of a son and this is what we reckon to it:

Description
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Junior board game designed for ages 5 to 8. (keep small parts away from under 3's)
2-4 players
Made by Waddingtons Games, Castle Gate, Oulton, Leeds. LS26 8HG.
My game cost £14.99 from Woolworths.

Contents
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The sturdy playing board is the same shape and similar in construction the the grown up game, but it is more accessible to the 5year old (+) mind. Rather than London properties, it is set up as a fairground with rides grouped in pairs, and various other squares such as Fireworks shows which charge a ticket fee, and chance options. There is also good old "Uncle Pennybags"'s square - he collects fees for various shows and then gives them out to whomsoever manages to land on his square (to the sounds of thunderous applause or protestation from the players!)

There are 4 different coloured cars which act as counters and numerous (48) ticket booths in corresponding colours which you use to identify your purchases. These pieces in themselves are interesting to dish out and set up, and my son obviously enjoys the tactile interactions of the game.

You're also provided with a wad of cash for the banker and a set of bank notes for each player(£1;£2;£3;£4 and £5 notes). It's slightly disturbing that £3 and £4 notes are on offer, but if you can suspend your realism for a while, this does allow for a whole range of counting, adding and subtracting opportunities accessible to the curious 5 year old.

Die. (Please note this is not an instruction but a box content. My Hubbie insists that 'Dice' is reserved for 2!)

There is a set of chance cards which a
llow further interest. These may contain simple instructions to move to another square, or offer freebie ticket booths (sometimes poached from another player) whilst remaining on your current spot. These cards spice the whole thing up a bit as there are a range of possible combinations: to move, or not to move; to travel all the way to the cafe (....... oh yes and did I pass go? Too late! Next player already shaken! Oh bleep!)

How to Play
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You may well have worked this one out for yourself already but here goes anyway:
The object of the game is to be the player with the most money when another player runs out of cash.

You travel round the board according to your die throw and can purchase a ticket booth to place on any unguarded property you land on. You then charge ticket fees to any unsuspecting other player who lands on your property. If you own a pair of properties of the same colour you can double your ticket price (more maths!)

The rules are simple enough to follow and much is down to chance but they do allow for a few elements of skill and decision making.


What you'll gain from playing
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If you're thinking of the younger mind, then this is a great game for early maths problem solving. As this develops the child can undertake the role of the banker. My son loves this acolade and is using maths all through the game on his own and everyone else's behalf! Not forgetting, of course the final add up of dosh which may well take them into the realms of 40's and 50's (or not in my case!)
Concentration skills are also required eg. later on in the game when players are not purchasing but just travelling about, it's easy to miss someone else landing at your ticket booth and miss out on their ticket money.
It's a social game too and provided you have put aside enough time (30-60mins) can be great fun for all concerned. I must ad
mit, I don't look forward to a 2nd game as I begin to find it rather tedious after about 45mins, but the 5,6 and 7 year olds I have played with seem to stick st it to the bitter end so that is probably my adult-biased judgement!

Overall verdict
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A great introduction to rule based board games; can be organised at varying levels according to player's mathematical expertise; interesting concept and fun to play... but most of all......I have a chance of winning this one!

Summary: