The Board Game Based on YOUR Town (Monopoly: Leeds Edition)

Member Name: JJJJ

Product:	Monopoly: Leeds Edition
Date:	05/02/09 (312 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Regional Appeal

Disadvantages: Games can be tedious

Monopoly is a game which hasn't changed much over the years - that is, until recently, when Hasbro realised they could cash in with a series of regional editions which are specific to individual UK cities. Costing £24.45 from Amazon, 'Leeds Monopoly' is one such edition and comes in a box decorated with photos of famous sights from the West Yorkshire City. My parents got this game as a gift over the Christmas period, as they both come from Leeds.

The gameboard has a familiar layout to the Monopoly of old, with the 'Free Parking', 'Go', 'Jail', and 'Go to Jail' spaces in the same locations - however, each property has now been replaced with a specific area from Leeds. What was previously the posh dark blue squares of Park Lane and Mayfair, are now 'Harewood House', and 'Millenium Square', whilst the poorer brown areas from the original monopoly (Whitechapel and Old Kent Road), are replaced here by (the not-at-all poor) Roundhay Park, and Queen Street. I imagine it probably would have been politically incorrect to feature non-desireable living areas like Chapel Town in the brown sections nowadays, as the game has been co-developed from a tourism perspective as well as a gaming one.

The gameboard is very colourful, and like the box, has photos of sites from the area. The pieces are shiny and metal (which is great as I assumed they would be plastic in this day and age), and they even come in a mini canvas bag to put them in.

The paper money is the same as it always has been, although the ever present 'Community Chest' and 'Chance' cards are a little more colourful than they used to be.

Regional Monopoly is a great idea, and certainly adds a fresh appeal to the age old game. The problem is, however much you dress the Monopoly experience up, it's still Monopoly, and to be honest, for me, it's an experience which can be tedious as some games can stretch out over a couple of hours.

Therefore I would recommend this game only for novelty value, or for real Monopoly fans - that said, the well made pieces and general build quality would make this a good purchase for collectors also.

Summary: Update to the popular board game