When it comes to board games there are a few classics that immediately spring to mind for most people; Scrabble, Connect 4, Battleships, Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Chess and of course everybody’s favourite, Monopoly. I grew up playing Monopoly and now in my 40’s it is still a game I love playing but it still came as a surprise when the kids, from out of nowhere, asked to play it (I think one of their favourite Youtubers most have mentioned it). Now we do have a quite old traditional Waddingtons Monopoly set in the house, but we are also privileged to have the Monopoly Nostalgia Wooden Edition, a high-quality version of this popular board game, from Hasbro.
For those that don’t know (and unless you are under ten I doubt that there are many), Monopoly is a property trading board game that requires strategic thinking and lots of greed. Monopoly has been around since 1935 (although the game was actually invented in 1903 and called The Landlord’s Game) and is still going strong today. The idea of the game is to buy properties, develop houses and hotels on it and try to bankrupt your fellow players by charging them rent when they land on it. There are different versions of the game for different places around the world and ours is the traditional London streets version.
The Monopoly Nostalgic Wooden Edition features the original game board from one of the very first 1930’s editions of the game. In the sturdy wooden box there is:
- 1930’s nostalgic game board
- Vintage Chance, Community Chest and Title Deeds Cards
- “Aged” Monopoly money
- 6 antique bronze finish tokens
- 33 wooden houses and 13 wooden hotels
- Built-in wooden banker’s tray and storage area
- 2 Ivory-coloured dice
- Monopoly history and Rules
Monopoly is a game for 2 to 6 players and is suitable from age 8 to 108! This nostalgic wooden set comes supplied in a very sturdy, heavy, quality wooden box that contains all the pieces underneath a slide out lid. The box contains wooden houses and hotels, bronze finish playing pieces and vintage looking cards, playing board and rules of the game. The wooden box also has a built-in banker’s tray to sort the money into the denominations to make it easier for the money to be dealt. No more flimsy plastic pieces, real quality. The board, mover pieces and cards all have a vintage look to them although the cards and money are smaller than previous versions.
The Monopoly game board consists of forty spaces containing twenty-eight properties (twenty-two streets – grouped into eight colour groups), four railroads, and two utilities, plus three Chance spaces, three Community Chest spaces, a Luxury Tax space, an Income Tax space, and the four corner squares: GO, Jail/Just Visiting, Free Parking, and Go to Jail.
As most of us know, the idea of the game is to bankrupt your fellow players and become a property tycoon. To achieve your goal you have to work your way around the board buying up properties ranging from the low-rent Old Kent Road to the highly prestigious Mayfair, building houses and hotels on them and then charging other players rent (paid in cash or the transfer of property) when they are unfortunate enough to land on one, all in the hope that you can own enough properties to bankrupt the others. Capitalism at its greedy best (or worst, depending on your outlook)!
Be prepared for a game that can take a few hours to finish.
Overall, this nostalgic wooden set of probably the world’s most well-known and popular board game is a far superior quality version of the Waddingtons version that I grew up with and loved. Everything about it screams quality; no plastic pieces, a box that is well constructed, smaller in size than the original cardboard box and it should last a very, very long time. If you love playing Monopoly then this nostalgic version is the one to own, it is definitely worth the extra cost over the standard editions with plastic pieces and flimsy cardboard boxes.
With gameplay lasting at least two hours, this classic game provides hours of fun on your way to becoming a property tycoon and if you are going to spend that length of time playing a game then you might as well do it with a quality set. What better way to entertain the family on those cold, wet, winter nights.
We love the quality of this set and just love the game of Monopoly. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £59.99
Available to buy from Amazon here.
