Monopoly Durban edition coming soon
Traditionally, anyone playing the board game got to know the tourist attractions and highlights of London, with the UK edition being the most widely played outside of the UK. Locations were included, such as The Angel, an Islington feature, even though this address is not a street in London, but in fact a building (and the name of the road intersection it is located at).
Regional versions of the Monopoly game have been produced for the last 20 years, and to date, the game is licensed in 103 countries, with South Africa currently on this illustrious list for the National South African Board, as well as the Cape Town regional feature.
Crowdsourced selection
Durbanites are encouraged to be part of the selection process to choose which recognisable city hotspots will appear on the final board. Until 24 May, Monopoly enthusiasts are invited to nominate Durban properties via the dedicated Monopoly Durban Facebook page, which is the home for voting and where the final location choices will be announced.
There will be localised ‘Community Chest’ and ‘Chance’ playing cards, so the public is urged to submit Durban’s most popular phrases and words to be used for this purpose as well. Local brands are also encouraged to get involved and sponsor locations to have their properties featured on the board.
The Monopoly Durban announcement comes hot on the heels of the success of the Cape Town regional version that was launched to local residents in 2015.
Premier leisure, entertainment destination
Robert Osborne, sales manager at Winning Moves, London, notes that “Over the past years we have witnessed the city of Durban establishing itself as one of the premier destinations of choice for entertainment and leisure in the country. Durban has also served as host to some of the most prestigious social events in the country as well.”
“Durban has long been one of the regions on our list of targets, and this year seems like the perfect year for us to create the Monopoly Durban regional version. We’re extremely excited to see how it’s received and have high hopes that Durban will be the second of many South African regional Monopoly games to be launched in upcoming years,” concludes Osborne.
Winning Moves, manufacturers of the official Durban version of the board game under license from Hasbro, says the game will be on shop shelves around November 2017.
Monopoly, which first hit shop shelves in 1935, is today played in 111 countries and enjoyed in 43 different languages.
