Drea Knufken
Monopoly City Streets, a new version of online Monopoly you can play through Google maps, goes live September 9. The game, co-sponsored by boardgame company Hasbro, allows you to build and trade property with other participants in real time.
The online game will last four months. Hasbro plans to promote its new Monopoly City Edition, a 3-D version of the game, through Monopoly City Streets.
“Google Monopoly”–City Streets’ other moniker–promises to be a powerful promotional tool. If you win, according to the City Streets website, you “become the richest property magnate in existence.” That promise, coupled with the ability to outplay your friends and bulldoze or build jails on other people’s properties, has already earned the blog close to 900 followers at time of writing.
Earlier this month, Wired claimed the sneak peek version of City Streets wasn’t that much fun. As a social media experiment, however, it just might work.
By pitting players against their friends, promising the winner fame, and adding fun new features, Hasbro is rekindling interest in the game of Monopoly. The global approach is also a clever move. I bet they’ll get sales out of this. If enough sales result, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more board games integrating with social media this way.
