Monopoly Empire

[Review]

Although Caterpillar had announced the shutting of their plant in Singapore recently, Leroy managed to get his own piece of heavy machinery, in the form of a game token shaped like a Caterpillar excavator, when the awesome peeps from Hasbro sent the kiddos a set of Monopoly Empire a couple of days back. We are such laggards, this variant had been around for quite a while already but this is the first time I laid my eyes on one, and donkey years since I last touched any board games for that matter!

We started playing on the bed, which wasn't really a good idea since there were lots of small parts.

I am definitely used to the classic Monopoly game and the cute Scottish Terrier token. As well as the buying of the green houses followed by the upgrading to the red hotel. We all know how the classic Monopoly can drag for hours sometimes, and it is hard to determine the winner at times, unless you set a time limit of course. Thus I was naturally quite skeptical of the kiddos enjoying their new board game, given their very limited attention span,

The cool looking gold-plated tokens, depicting icons of our times.

I realized that it was very different from what I played as a kid after going through the game instructions. The tokens were all completely different and reflected the iconic brands or depicted gadgets that we are so familiar with now, things like Xbox 360 controller and Transformers. The play mechanism may be similar, but you no longer buy title deeds and build houses, instead you buy billboards of the different brands to fill up your tower. To win, you just need to fill up your tower to the top. Sounds easy? But hang on, Empire cards held by the other player may just turn the tide against you at any time! However there are also no tradings or bankruptcy in this variant of Monopoly.

Always be advised to find a good flat surface before starting any games!

Even Stacci got to enjoy the game, with some guidance from Leroy of course. 

My personal take on this board game, is that it will definitely be fun for the whole family. The interaction between all of us sure beats the individual playing of any electronic devices! It is fast-paced and the two older kiddos were definitely having a whale of a time trying to out-buy, outbid and outwit each other. You should really try this with your kiddos! But if your kiddos are sensitive like mine, you may have to keep reassuring them that stealing their tiles doesn't mean that they are no longer loved!

Instead of houses or hotels, you collect these billboard tiles.

And the whole idea behind the game, is for you to stack the tiles all the way to the top.

As if landing on the right tiles is not hard enough, there are various empire cards that can block you from your objective!

Just a word of caution, the billboard tiles are rather small and I had a hard time finding them after the kiddos missed packing some back into the box after play! The board game is available at leading departmental stores such as BHG, Metro, Isetan, OG and of course Toys "R" US.