Monopoly Shuffle Their Deck and Replace Three Old Tokens with Three New Ones

On the off chance you haven’t heard the news, Monopoly’s Mr Moneybags is doing some trading of his own, as Hasbro have announced they are to give the boot to the boot, wheelbarrow, and thimble pieces of the popular board game. But fear not for those lengthy family games over Christmastime, as three new pieces are being added to the game to give the Monopoly tokens a modern reshuffle.

Monopoly, and the version we are acquainted with, which originated in 1937, has been a key staple of almost every single Western home, and remains to some people the map for their bearings of the City of London. In a bid to appeal to a younger generation, replacing items such as the thimble and boot with items as voted for by the public may breathe fresh life into the game. Following the success of previous engagement exercises where the general public have their say to feel more of a part of the brand, Hasbro opened online polls for 21 days. During what was dubbed Monopoly Token Madness, 4.3million people voted on what the three new pieces would be.

The items voted for are a Tyrannosaurus rex, a penguin, and a rubber duck. Other contenders included a laughing emoji face, a monster truck, and a computer. Avid fans of the board game – or just those who have older generations of the game – will know that this isn’t the first time items have been retired and replaced.

In case your Monopoly knowledge needed reshuffling itself, the three new pieces will be joining the battleship, the Scottie dog, the top hat, the car, and the cat. Previous items included the sack of money (discontinued after only 8 years in 2007), the iron (replaced by the cat in 2013 after its inaugural introduction), and the rocking horse (dropped in 1942, just 5 years after its introduction), which join the lantern, purse, cannon, boot, and the horse-and-rider as the discontinued tokens.

The popularity of the property trading board game is undeniable, spreading far and wide. Every March, McDonald’s run a hugely popular Monopoly promotion, whereby customers can win extra food or prizes with tokens that mimic the locations on the Monopoly board.

Fans don’t even have to leave the house to see the effects of Monopoly’s appeal, with many gaming sites taking up the theme for their games. For instance, Fabulous Bingo’s Big Monopoly Event slot game has all the fun of the original game, but won’t end with the board being upturned and the family scattered into different rooms. If you did want to leave the house to experience the popularity of Monopoly, however, you could visit the first ever HasCon, a convention for Monopoly fans in America.

Early editions of the game were thought to have originated in 1903 as an educational tool to highlight the negative impact of creating a monopoly in the economy. The Parker Brothers’ first US game featured place names that reflected the entirety of America, stretching from Mediterranean Avenue (brown) to Boardwalk and Park Place (dark blue). The first UK version of the game centred around the City of London, ranging from Old Kent Road to Mayfair. Regional versions of the game have since been created and even themed games have been released, such as The Simpsons Monopoly and James Bond Monopoly.

Monopoly’s impact on the world spans further than outlining the ideas of the economy having one ruling entity, the monopolist. During World War II, John Waddington Ltd, the licensed distributor of the game in the UK, worked with the British Secret Service to hide compasses and maps within the property trading board game. Soldiers were smuggled copies of Monopoly that had literal ‘get out of jail free’ cards hidden within them by fake charities, leaving Monopoly’s impact resonating through the 20^th Century.

Since 2008, plans have been in the pipeline for a Monopoly film to be produced. Following the lack of success of the Cluedo and Battleship films, plans have constantly been shelved and picked back up for Monopoly. Ridley Scott, among others, has previously been in talks to direct. Current film rights are still with Lionsgate to create a family-friendly action-adventure film based around the board game.

Opinions aside, Monopoly’s impact has bled into all aspects of life, including our very vernacular. Speech is peppered with references to Monopoly (e.g. do not pass ‘Go’) that are commonly understood with absolutely no context about the board game. Monopoly is not just a board game, it is a part of growing up and growing old.