The Special Edition "America" Monopoly is SPECIAL
Written: Dec 31 '02 (Updated Oct 14 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Excellent looking box, some fun variations of the game, gain
Americana knowledge through play.
Cons: Money is smaller and all denominations are in green money likeness
The Bottom Line: The game is noted "Celebrating the People, Places, and Greatness of America". I am proud to have this Edition as an addition of our collection of games.
|
|
|
| popsrocks's Full Review: Milton Bradley The America Monopoly Special Editio... |
As a gift we received the The America Special Edition Monopoly made by Parker Brothers, Hasbro. Upon opening of the gift I couldn't help but notice the exciting box design. It is eye catching with its 3d multi-coloured rays on silver background.
That was the end of it till I saw my daughters playing the game with a couple of friends at a sleep over at our home two days later. I then checked out the box, the money, the chance and community chest cards, the deeds, and the playing pieces. For the most part they were very different from the original classic game.
The board, on first glance, looks like the original. It folds out from a small square of four sections into a traditional size board.
It is played much like the original game. Landing on properties, purchasing them, building up houses hotels and collecting rent. The person who bankrupts the others is the winner.
Looking closer at the game I saw the differences from the classic board. The properties all have to do with American history, inventions, great speeches and writings, National Parks, and National Monuments. The property colours are the same as the original but the property names differ.
Purple: Baseball and Basketball
Light Blue: The Movies, Television, Rock'n'Roll
Magenta: Science Discoveries,Farming Inventions, Industrial Revolution
Orange: Telegraph, Telephone, Phonograph
Red: Yorktown, Louisiana Purchase, Gold Rush
Yellow: Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, Gettysburg Address
Green: Glacial Bay National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park.
and the final Board Walk and Park Place are replaced by
Blue: Lincoln Memorial and Washington Memorial.
Other properties that are different are the four original Railroads replaced by transportation milestones: Trans-continental Railroad, First Flight, Model T. Ford, and the Moon Landing.
The traditional utilities are now Light Bulb and Hoover Dam.
Community Chest and Chance are gone. Instead are American Places and American People. A places card may read, "Visit Our Nations Capital, Advance token to Washington Monument".
An American People example is You have won 2nd prize in a Marilyn Monroe Look-Like Contest, Collect Ten Dollars.
My favorite change are the playing pieces. They are made of pewter.
The six pieces are
The Liberty Bell
Space Shuttle
Uncle Sam's Top Hat
A late fifties auto
An Apple pie
And a Reel of Film
The Dice are Red and Blue with White dots. The houses Blue and the Hotels Red.
The money is set up in a holder for the banker. It kept the money in order of denominations. It works well in keeping the money organized and taking less table space. I didn't care for the one colour of all money, green. I suppose that's the real deal look, but I liked the different colours of the original game.
The game has a few twists you may change from the original game. Two of the corners may be used as a question area. Answer the Americana question from an American Challenge card correctly and you may make a move to a place of choice and make a purchase of a property if available. There are a couple of of other optional rules too. If you land on Go by exact count you may choose not to collect the usual 200 dollars. Instead you may advance to any non-corner space on the board. It's kind of like landing on a wild card. It does add interest in the game.
There are also some suggestions for a quicker game. One was to shuffle the deeds and then give three to each of the players at the start. Two to six players can play the game. The ideal to me is four.
I particularly liked the game for its usual monopoly fun and strategy. At the same time the game has educational value.
This year for Christmas we exchanged gifts of games. We went back to basics in our choices. The Special Edition America Monopoly was a good one.
Other family game reviews by popsrocks
Deluxe Scrabble Play in style!
Family Feud DVD Game
BALDERDASH, A game of Bluffing
Scrabble Regular Family Edition
Monopoly Special Edition
Catch Phrase, a wonderful family and friend game!
Worst-Case Scenario Survivor Game Can you survive?
Encore Deluxe Fun, Fun, Fun!!
CLUE A classic " Who dun it?" game.
Stratego A time tested game of strategy.
Fact or Crap A new game that is fun for 15-adult
Texas Hold'em Poker
The Top Ten Game
Pictionary Good, but I'll tell you how it's better.
Cranium A combo game of Trivia Challenge, Pictionary, Charades and more. A fun game!
Games for adults, but not a "Adult Game"
How to Host a Murder This is our favorite game of all!
Men are From Mars, Woman are From Venus
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 35.00
Type of Toy: Game
Age Range of Child: 9 Years or Older
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.