Sponsored Review
Hubby and I have been fans of Monopoly Game since young, and it was one board game that accompanied us through our growing-up years till now. We have the original Monopoly Board and some time last year, bought the Onyx version as well. When I heard that Hasbro has introduced a new two-sided Monopoly Board, I was very curious what it would look like!
The game will feature iconic past and current Singapore landmarks on opposing sides of the board, allowing players to choose which themed era, ‘Then’ or ‘Now’ they would like to play on. Monopoly fans can purchase properties such as ‘Coleman Market’ (presently known as ‘Lau Pa Sat’), ‘General Post Office’ (‘The Fullerton Hotel’) and ‘Oxley Estate’ (‘ION Orchard’) among other historic buildings and sites on the board, providing an educational play experience like never before. Not only do you get to have fun playing a board game, you can also learn interesting names of historical or iconic buildings in olden Singapore! I think the idea's really cool.
To capture the essence of 'Then & Now', the mode of payment used in transactions for the two sides of the board differs, and that was the part that intrigued me the most! It was the first time I saw the 'cashless' payment mode in Monopoly, and that was seriously the coolest thing ever.
Traditionally, Monopoly is always played with paper money and I remember using scotch-tape to tape the badly torn & overused paper money, haha! This set of Monopoly includes the same set of paper money for use on the 'Then' side of the Monopoly Board. But if you and your friends choose to play on the 'Now' side of the Board, you can go cashless with credit cards & card-swipping machine!!!
Capturing the essence of Past vs Present, newly-designed tokens are also introduced! The tokens symbolising the olden days of Singapore are the cute ‘Tiffin Carrier’, ‘Trishaw’ and ‘Wooden Clog’. For modern Singapore, they have ‘Airplane’, ‘Cabriolet’ and ‘Electronic Tablet’. I like it that the small details are taken into consideration as well, to make the whole 'Then & Now' theme stand out.
Other notable changes to the game include the title deeds, ‘Community Chest’ and ‘Chance’ cards which are printed in designs appropriate for the different era. To edify the playing experience, short blurbs of the history and current use of the landmarks are indicated on the title deeds of Singapore’s “Then” and “Now” properties. Very educational.
My girls definitely belong to the 'Now' Generation. They didn't take a 2nd glance at the traditional paper money, but the moment they saw the card-swipping machine, they tried to snatch it from me! Joey has seen it too many times at shopping malls, and she could show me how to swipe a credit card! Haha!
Monopoly is a great game for families. Even young children can play and have fun because it's all a matter of rolling dices, paying for properties and making decisions whether to build houses or hotels. With this new version, the kids can even learn about the history of Singapore even though they have not seen any of those old buildings before.
GIVEAWAY!
Now would you like to own one of these new two-sided Monopoly: Then & Now? I have two sets to give away to you readers, and entering this giveaway is very simple!
1. Like The J Babies Facebook page (if you have not)
2. Share this blog entry on Facebook by clicking on 'Like' below this post, or pasting the permalink of this entry on your Facebook status.
3. Leave me a comment either on the Facebook link of this entry, on this blog entry or drop me an email at inthedaisies@gmail.com telling me which side of the Monopoly Board do you like better -'Then' or the 'Now', and why?
Giveaway ends on Tue, 3 July 2012, 2359hrs! Waiting for your participation! :)
