Innovation Spotlight: A Revolution in Board Games

Monopoly – Revolution Edition
Out-of-the-Box Thinking Comes to Boardwalk & Park Place

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of its classic board game, Hasbro has unveiled a radically new updated design it calls, “Monopoly: Revolution Edition.” This new format is an interesting example of literally thinking “outside-the-box.”

The re-conceptualized board game design is slick and round instead of traditional and square. It uses debit cards and an ATM instead of the familiar pastel colored paper money and a banker. The classic metal tokens (boot, car, dog, iron etc.) have also been replaced by clear plastic pieces. The Revolution version is also multimedia; it plays clips of popular songs (like Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” and Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”) after specific actions.
Monopoly: Revolution Edition is no doubt designed to appeal to the Gen-X and Gen-Y/Millennial tech-savvy generations. The game has also been adjusted for inflation…prizes are far more impressive. Just like the retention bonuses on Wall Street, players can collect $2 million dollars for passing “Go” instead of a mere $200.

Old-school fans can take some comfort in the fact that Monopoly: Revolution retains the classic Atlantic City-based street system. Yes, Boardwalk and Park Place still retain their status as beloved landmarks.