Monopoly

Monopoly is a commercial boardgame produced by Hasbro under its Parker Brothers board games imprint. It is a turn-based game "simulating" the real estate market, where two to six players vie for dominance, and is one of the best methods of starting a huge family fight.

It was originally created in 1903 by Lizzy Magie and called The Landlord's Game, designed as a criticism of the whole "rent" thing and the economic imbalances it fed. In 1935 Charles Darrow more or less took the game from some people who taught it to him and patented it as Monopoly, and from there, approximately eleven jillion variations both official and unofficial have cluttered store shelves.

Merchandise

Transformers Monopoly (2007)

Released on June 02, Transformers Monopoly is a fairly straightforward, mostly-cosmetic variation on the traditional Monopoly game, using "Generation 1" characters, locations, and etc. The only difference in gameplay besides the name changes is that, upon rolling doubles, one can choose to use a 'special power' instead of moving again. What the power is depends on the allegiance of the character and which number was rolled.

It comes with six character tokens: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Jazz, Megatron, Starscream, and Soundwave. Houses are now Energon cubes, and Hotels Antimatter.

In 2009, the game was updated and slightly altered with a special collector's edition; inexplicably, Dreamwave art features heavily in this set. It also replaces the Bumblebee, Jazz, Starscream and Soundwave tokens with Grimlock, Ironhide, Shockwave, and Ravage.

Properties in the traditional Monopoly game are now locations in the Transformers multiverse. Utilities are computers, and Railroads are now forms of transportation. Community Chest cards are now Autobot cards, while Chance cards are Decepticon cards. The four corners - GO, Jail, Free Parking, and Go To Jail - remain unchanged for legal reasons (which is a bummer, because you know the GO! from the original Optimus Prime toy's trailer would be perfect for the starting GO space).

Purple properties Decagon (Mediterranean Ave) Autobase (Baltic Ave)		Light blue properties Maccadam's Old Oil House (Oriental Ave) Moon Base (Vermont Ave) Sonic Canyons (Connecticut Ave)		Magenta properties Shockwave's Tower (St. Charles Place) Combat Arena (States Ave) Kaon (Virginia Ave)		Orange properties Sherman Dam (St. James Place) Decepticon Command Bunker (Tennessee Ave) Dinobot Island (New York Ave)		We don't care how you've played all your life, you're NOT SUPPOSED TO GET ANY MONEY FOR FREE PARKING!
Red properties Smelting pools (Kentucky Ave) Well of All Sparks (Indiana Ave) Chamber of Ancients (Illinois Ave)		Yellow properties Junk (Atlantic Ave) Quintessa (Ventnor Ave) Nebulon (Marvin Gardens)		Green properties Unicron (Pacific Ave) Iacon (North Carolina Ave) Autobot City (Pennsylvania Ave)		Blue properties Earth (Park Place) Cybertron (Boardwalk)
Railroads The Ark (Reading Railroad) Space bridge (Pennsylvania Railroad) The Nemesis (B&O Railroad) Transwarp Drive (Short Line)		Utilities Teletraan I (Electric Company Vector Sigma (Water Works)		Taxes Cover Detected (Income Tax) Replenish Energon (Luxury Tax)

The money features pictures of various Transformers along with their Tech Spec mottos:

$1 - Bumblebee $5 - Soundwave

$10 - Ultra Magnus $20 - Starscream

$50 - Prowl $100 - Megatron

$500 - Optimus Prime

Transformers Monopoly (2021)

In 2021, a newer and simpler version of Transformers Monopoly was released, this iteration using a wide range of artwork including "Generation 1" and evergreen designs.

It came with six character tokens: Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Grimlock, Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave. Houses are once again energon cubes, but Hotels are now "energon bunkers". Money now simply features Autobot and Decepticon symbols with "Monopoly" written in Cybertronian beneath them.

Unlike the previous game, which was more or less a 1:1 replacement of traditional Monopoly spaces, each colored area of the board only features two properties. Utilities are now Titans, and railroads are now space bridges. The four corners - GO, Jail, Free Parking, and Go To Jail - remain unchanged for the same reasons as before, and the Community Chest/Autobot Chance/Decepticon cards/spaces remain.

Purple properties Moon Base 1 Sea of Rust		Light blue properties Rocket Base Antimatter Lab		Magenta properties Springfield City Sherman Dam		Orange properties Moon Base 2 Preatorus Wharf		Also, YOU DO NOT GET $400 FOR LANDING ON GO.
Red properties Protihex Crystal City		Yellow properties Solar Power Station Ancient Ruins		Green properties Autobot City Decepticon Base		Blue properties Kaon City Iacon City
Railroads Shockwave Space Bridge (Reading Railroad) Autobot City Space Bridge (Pennsylvania Railroad) Megatron Space Bridge (B&O Railroad) Iacon City Space Bridge (Short Line)		Utilities Metroplex (Electric Company) Trypticon (Water Works)		Taxes Junkion (Income Tax) Quintessa (Luxury Tax)

Beast Wars Monopoly (2022)

Beast Wars Monopoly is an even further tweaking of the traditional Monopoly, now with the aesthetic trappings of Beast Wars.

This version of the game comes with fourteen character tokens, seven characters with a token for both Beast Mode and Robot Mode (players use both under the new rule set): Optimus Primal, Rattrap, Cheetor, Dinobot, Megatron, Blackarachnia, and Waspinator. Community Chest cards are now Maximal cards, while Chance cards are Predacon cards, and their individual flavor texts reference different episodes of the original Beast Wars cartoon. Instead of Houses and Hotels players can now place Stasis Pods on their properties. A Golden Disk is also included. Instead of traditional money, this version of the game uses Energon Cubes and Energon Crystals.

Once again there are only two properties per color block, but there's an even further shift in the rules. There are no Utilities or Taxes, now being replaced by spaces allowing a player to Maximize or Terrorize. The mode you're in can have a profound impact on gameplay: players can only place Stasis Pods when in Robot Mode, but pay a smaller "energy cost" when landing on an opponent's property in Beast Mode. The four corners continue to remain unchanged from the original other than the traditional graphics being placed over the old toy-packaging red-scale backdrop.

Purple properties Rock Bridge Box Canyon		Light blue properties Floating Mountain Flying Island		Magenta properties Grid Halex Grid Omega		Orange properties Northern Sector Secret Lair		All these years of us warning against house rules and this edition just shirks our efforts with its own unique rules.
Red properties Grid Orion Grid Trion		Yellow properties Standing Stones Bio-Dome		Green properties Grid Scavos Grid Vega		Blue properties Predacon Base Maximal Base
Railroads The Nemesis (Reading Railroad) The Ark (Pennsylvania Railroad) The Darksyde (B&O Railroad) The Axalon (Short Line)

Notes

• While not explicitly a Transformers themed game, a version of Monopoly Empire features Transformers as one of the buyable brands in-game. The token for the Transformers brand is the head of Optimus Prime, which is based on Star Convoy, oddly enough.

External links

• Monopoly on Wikipedia