No Ordinary Monopoly Review...... (Monopoly)

Member Name: thespurs

Product:	Monopoly
Date:	14/11/04 (3389 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great game, Personalisation, Great Quality

Disadvantages: Price?

--Introduction--

I have been scouting the internet of late, for a few Christmas gift ideas. I have looked all over the place but I have recently been looking for some board or family games. Everybody in my family likes nothing more than a good old get together with a meal, capped off by a fun and enjoyable game. I have two brothers and two sisters who come down to visit quite frequently, so quite a large family to cater for. It just so happens that our favourite game is Monopoly, between us we must posses around ten different versions of the game. We have the traditional set, Star Wars and Simpson’s themed boards and also Paris, New York and Washington designs. So when I stumbled across, 'My Monopoly', over at hasbro.co.uk, I was definitely on to something. This review should leave you fully understanding what 'My Monopoly' is all about and should indeed make you want to make and purchase your own set.


--Monopoly: A History--

The game that we all know and love as Monopoly, originated in America in 1934. It all started when a Mr. Charles Darrow of Germantown, Pennsylvania, took in a prototype of the game to the Parker Brothers. They rejected his proposal out of hand and things looked bleak for the game and its concept. However, Charles Darrow called on the assistance of a friend who was a printer and together they produced 500 hand-made sets of the game. They sold them in a department store and they flew off the shelves. As demand was out stripping production, the Parker Brothers stepped in. They put up the money to allow the game to be mass produced and mass marketed.

The game is said to have been played by over 500 million people worldwide and it's the best selling board game in the world. It is produced in 26 different languages and sold in over 80 countries. They total number of sales over the game is over 200 million, quite staggering by all accounts. The longest game ever recorded, was said to have lasted for 70 days! I have played games for a couple of hours and they have never looked like taking 70 days to complete. Oh well. All in all, this game has a terrific history and is a household name in much of the world.


--Hasbro: A History--

The company now known globally as Hasbro Interactive has a great history. The firm was formed by Henry and Helal Hassenfeld in 1923. They lived in Rhode Island and had a very small office in the Providence part of the island. Their early trading was in selling on textile remnants, but they soon moved on to fry much bigger fish as they say. The next stage was to produce stationery in the form of pencil boxes and other things used by schools. In 1935, they acquired the Monopoly brand and soon after moved into the production of other games and then toys. In 1948, the firm really hit the big time as Scrabble was on their books. That has gone on to be the world's biggest selling word game selling a staggering 100 million sets. Their continued growth was maintained by bringing out toys and games that were always high in demand. They still continue to grow as a firm today.


Hasbro hold the rights to and produce many other toys and games that are known all over the world. The hugely popular dice game, Yahtzee is and international favourite. The party game twister is a firm favourite and also all the different versions of Trivial Pursuit that you see around are all Hasbro owned. Operation and Mousetrap are two other games that are very enjoyable, I particularly like Operation. Finally, Mr Potato Head which has gone through many transformations in its time is still going strong.


--Monopoly Aims--

The aim of the game is to get a Monopoly of all of the property on the board. The word Monopoly does mean, total domination or having exclusive control. They way to do this, is to acquire as much property as you can and then begin construction of houses and hotels. Each time a player lands on them, they are liable to pay a fee. The more revenue that you receive from doing this, the more houses and hotels you can buy. This should further increase your domination and other players should start to go bankrupt. Their property then becomes available to buy and if you have the money you purchase it. The last person standing should have a Monopoly and should be the winner.


--My Monopoly--

The opportunity to produce your own set of Monopoly has to be very exciting. You can personalise it in every way so can truly make it yours. There is a very good chance that it will be truly unique, no other person in the world has the same game as you. The game can be catered for your family, to reflect the local area that you live in or for any theme that you can think of. There are numerous things that are different from the standard Monopoly game that I will discuss in the following paragraphs.


--Property Names--

The main feature of 'My Monopoly' is the chance for all of the property names to be changed to suit you. The original place names are scrapped and you can insert the names that you deem suitable for them. When I designed the game, I used my local area. I put the area where I live on the green area, of course, and the areas where friends lived on the not so good areas such as pink and blue. I put Sandbanks on the purple squares because that is by far the wealthiest area. I had no trouble in filling in the scummy areas, there are enough places round here!

There are certain regulations that Hasbro have to enforce. When naming your property you can't use offensive language such as swear words, states of social hardship or richness or any thing that could offend religious people. Certain brand names are also not allowed, simply because they are copyrighted. These rules are very fair and it does stop people abusing the service by using it to be nasty. All of the names that I entered were all accepted.

--Rules--

There is the chance to change the rules of the game that are printed out for you in the traditional style. This allows you to add your own unique twists and turns. The main thing that you will see changes in the rules that you receive, are in relevance to the other changes you make to the board and the properties. The standard rules are included which is good because they are always handy for settling disagreements between players and that happens a lot in my family!


--Creating and Buying the Game: Step by Step--

There are a number of stages that you have to go through when creating you personalised Monopoly board. The first step is to register your details, just a valid email address is needed any you must choose a password. Once this has been done, you can move on to design the board. The steps are as follows:


--Step 1--

The first step is to give the game a name. Where the Monopoly logo appears on the centre of the board, you can input your own text. Again, you can choose anything that will not cause anybody any offence. I chose to name mine after my nickname at school, not very inventive I know but there you go. There are also a number of themes to choose from. They include sports, hobbies, places, friends and family and education. It is a chance to experiment with a number of different formats and you need to identify which one you like the most.

--Step 2--

This is bar far and away the best bit, where you get to choose the names of the properties and the stations. You simply click on a location, for example Mayfair and the type in the new place name over the top. Then do this for the remaining properties and the four stations and then you are done. Unfortunately, you can't change any of the four corner squares or the chance, community chest or utility properties. Again, it is down to the individual to experiment and find a formula that they like. As a little help, you can print off a board plan which makes naming the places far easier and much quicker as well.

--Step 3--

The next step is to confirm all of the changes you have made. It will tell you how many adjustments you have made to the board, out of a total of 27. It confirms the themes that you have chosen and shows any note that you have left to yourself. There is a box that you must tick to show that you have read and agreed to the terms and conditions. When you have checked everything you can advance to the next stage of the process.

--Step 4--

This is pretty basic stuff, simply filling in your address, in as much detail possible. It also confirms the number of boards you are ordering and the cost, which I will divulge later in the review so brace yourselves! The second part of this stage is to write the message that will appear on the top of the tin that the game comes with. There are five lines of text to fill-in so you can fit plenty on.

--Stage 5--

This asks you to confirm the address that the game should be posted to. In most cases you will just click on the box to copy the invoice address. The second window will ask you to confirm the type of payment (online, telephone) and then give you a price summary and the chance to enter any voucher codes that you may have.

--Stage 6--

This is simply filling in you payment details and then simply clicking to confirm your order. I may just say that Christmas orders had to be in my November 1st so it's too late to order this for a Christmas present.


--Conclusion--

I'm sure that you have all been eager to know how much this game is likely to set you back. The answer is 100 shiny new pounds coins. Some of you may say, ' Blimey £100 for a board game you must be joking!' That's what I thought at first, but I do think that you are getting what you pay for. There aren't going to be many other people with their own set of Monopoly, personalised to them. This was the main attraction for me and the fact that I play the game frequently is good.

The quality of the production is amazing. The houses and hotels are beautifully made from wood and the players’ pieces are really well crafted. The tin that the game comes in is very hard wearing and it also looks very nice. The board is the same top quality of any Monopoly board, if not a bit better. The game overall, does seem very durable and long lasting, a mark of the top quality manufacturing of Hasbro. The whole of my family have said that they would love their own set, but now we have one in the family there is no need. They new place names make the game more fun and it’s a change from the standard names. To sum up, I have to recommend this game and this concept. I think that we are lucky that Hasbro have given us this unique opportunity and you would be a fool not to take it.

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