2008-

August 2008. The Monopoly game has been standardized throughout the world. No longer is Monopoly the "Property traging Game from Parker Brothers", but is now "The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game". The box on the #9 is now green and Mr. Monopoly is reaching out to shake your hand over a revamped "MONOPOLY" logo. The board is now visible from Pennsylvania Ave. to Oriental Ave. with "GO" (in Black) pointing down at the bottom center of the box. Interestingly, Mediterranean Ave. and Baltic Ave. are shown in brown on the box top.

Inside are where the greatest changes can be found. Upon opening the box the first thing you'll notice is that the Title Deeds, Chance, and Community Chest cards have been replaced by what appears to be a deck of cards. No longer are the Title Deeds 2 5/8 by 3 and the Chance/Community Chest cards 3 by 1 3/4, but all cards are now 2 1/4 by 3 1/2. The familiar yellow and orange card stock is also gone. Both are printed on white stock with the backs on the Chance cards two-tone orange with a white question mark, and the Community Chest two-tone blue with a treasure chest.

The next thing you'll notice is that the money looks different. Open the pack and you're looking at blue tens and peach hundreds. The full rundown on the moey is:
$1 -White
$5 - Pink
$10- - Blue
$20 - Lime Green
$50 - Lavender
$100 - Peach
$500 - Goldenrod
The new Monopoly logo adorns the top and "©1935, 2008 HASBRO" is at the bottom of the bills.

Next you'll notice that there's only 8 tokens. Missing are the cannon, horse and rider, and (after a less than 10 year run) the money bag.

The houses, hotels, and dice look the same except the speed die is now red.

As you open the board you'll notice the new logo in the center of the board. Next, "GO" is no longer orange but smaller and black. Mediterranean and Baltic ARE brown! The rest of the board looks much the same as it always has with two exections. You no longer need a calculator when landing on Income Tax. The 10% option is gone and the penalty is a staight $200. The other change is Luxury Tax. The penalty is no longer $75 but $100.

Now, to the rules. It appears that Hasbro has attempted to simplify these. They are less wordy and easier to follow. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the initial distribution on of money has changed. No longer is it 2,2,2,6,5,5,5 but is now:
$500 - 2
$100 - 4
$50 - 1
$20 - 1
$10 - 2
$5 - 1
$1 - 5
This would seem to be a cost saving measure as fewer bills would have to be put in each game.

As far as I'm concerned, the jury is still out on this one. I don't like the fact that my token (cannon) will no longer be available in tournament play, and I'm not sure about the resized cards. I do like the new rules though. These can get people who always thought Monopoly was too complicated to try the game.

More information on the international games and new Monopoly downloads can be found on Matthew Horton's web site, World of Monopoly

Also out in August, 2008 is the Here and Now World Edition. The game board is beautiful but also a little confusing. Honorable mention cities are placed in a grid pattern around the board making finding the actual spaces a bit difficult. A collage might have been a better idea here.

There are 24 tokens available with 6 in each game. No word from Hasbro if the 18 you didn't get are available separately or if you have to buy at least 4 games to get all the tokens. Hasbro, if you're listening, make these tokens available!

Prices are set the same as the earlier Here and Now edition, 100,000 times a standard game. The tax spaces are changed the same as the new standard game, "GO" is black and the low rents are brown.

The cards are also the same redesigned size. Houses and hotels are still green and red, but there are different designs to give an international flare. The electronic banker is redesigned and includes a new "Deal" button. This button randomly times auctions from 13 to 50 seconds.

Overall this seems like a nice set with the only real problem I see being the design of the game board.

Two special edition World Editions have also been released. A traveler's edition housed in a suitcase and a special edition tin with all 24 tokens (plus an additional 6 to boot).

The traveler's edition is housed in a hard plastic case which doubles as the board (which is a little smaller than standard). Two slide in trays hold the cards, tokens, and banking unit. Included with the rules are stickers from aroud the world to truly give this game a well traveled look. This game also comes with 6 of the 24 tokens.

Next out was another World Edition. This one a Collector's Edition in a round tin. The board in this edition is a hex fold but is regulation size. Included are all 24 tokens PLUS six more exclusive to this edition. This is the nicest of the world editions.

Also out in 2008 from Restoration Hardware is what I think is the nicest Monopoly game since the Franklin Mint edition. It's housed in a wooden case with two drawers to hold the pieces. The board is the classic design with the colors and penalties being pre August. There are 8 gold tone tokens including the battleship, iron, top hat, Scottie dog, race car, thimble, horse and rider, and shoe. Also included are wooden green houses and red Grand Hotels. The Chance and Community Chest cards are the classic design and along with the Title Deeds have an antiqued look. Completing the set is a Title Deed holder similar to the one found in the Franklin Mint set. All this for about a sixth of the price of the FM set.

Late 2008 saw the release of a Wal-Mart exclusive Retro edition Monopoly game. This comes in a black plastic box and is a fairly nice set. It has the classic gameboard which is just smaller than standard, small money, wooden houses and hotels, classic Chance, Community Chest, and Title Deed cards, and six antique brass tokens: race car, top hot, thimble, Scottie dog, shoe, and train. Even the rules have a retro look to them.