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Players: 2-8
Playing Time: varies, but give yourself a couple
of hours
Honestly, there are so many versions of the Monopoly board game
on the market right now, I don’t know why anyone plays the classic version anymore.
There’s Simpsons Monopoly. There’s NASCAR Monopoly. There’s Vegas Monopoly, Disney
Monopoly, and Star Wars Monopoly. Even my alma mater has its own version of the game:
UMass-opoly.
Most of these versions are simply clones of the original
game, with local spots or relevant names substituted for the original Atlantic City
properties. (For example, Vegas Monopoly replaces Boardwalk with the famous Bellagio
hotel.) However, Monopoly: The American Edition shakes things up a little, and as a
result it’s probably my favorite version.
In this edition, the basic rules
are the same as the original game, and
it follows suit with other “special edition” Monopoly games by re-naming the properties
to symbolize people, places, and events in American history (such as the Gettysburg
Address and the Industrial Revolution). However, the game also comes with a stack of
trivia cards (complete with loads of questions about American history and pop culture)
and four optional corner squares to offer some variety.
The optional
corners provide the following change in rules: If you land directly on GO, you may choose
to forego your $200 salary and travel to any non-corner square on the board. If you land
on “Just Visiting,” you can ask to be read a trivia question. If you answer it
correctly, you can travel to any unowned property on the board. If you land on Free
Parking, you can try your luck at answering a series of trivia questions in hopes of
winning a property for free (yes, free). And if you land on Go to Jail, you can
“hire a lawyer” for $20 and try to avoid your visit to the slammer.
Since
I adore Monopoly (in all its various forms) and my husband is a history buff, we have a
great time playing this game. (Don’t worry if you don’t remember everything from your
history classes –- the questions aren’t really all that difficult, and even my
history-challenged self can handle them.) It’s definitely entertaining, and it’ll give
you a chance to show off a little knowledge while you’re buying up on all those
properties.
