Partnering with Hasbro to bring the classic board game to Google Maps

Sep 8, 2009 12:33 GMT  ·  By
Google is partnering with Hasbro to bring the classic board game to Google Maps
   Google is partnering with Hasbro to bring the classic board game to Google Maps

With its hands on almost every form of online service, Google is now trying its hand at Monopoly – the game version, at least for now, partnering with board-game maker Hasbro, or rather the other way around, to bring the new Monopoly City Streets, a game that will allow users to own real estates around the world by enabling them to actually buy any street they fancy. And the best part is that it's all powered by Google Maps, with the title using a custom layer on top of the mapping service to display the buildings.

“On the 9th SEPTEMBER, a world of property empire building on an unimaginable scale will be launched! A live worldwide game of MONOPOLY using Google Maps as the game board. The goal is simple. Play to beat your friends and the world to become the richest property magnate in existence,” the site dedicated to the game, which hasn't been released yet, says. “Own any street in the world. Build humble houses, crazy castles and stupendous skyscrapers to collect rent. Use MONOPOLY Chance Cards to sabotage your mates by building Hazards on their streets.”

The game is a play on the classic Monopoly, but it's not an exact digital rendition of it. In fact, it could prove to be far more interesting than that. Players start out with three million Monopoly dollars, which they can invest in any street in the world, in theory. In practice, it's actually any street in Google Maps, which, despite having mapped out a large portion of the world cities, is still far from 100-percent coverage. Not only that, but the game actually has all of the players on the same world map, meaning that users will have to move fast to get the most famous locations.

After buying a street, they can go on and build any of the large numbers of buildings available, and it will generate a daily income, a change from the traditional game made necessary by the nature of the online title. From then on, it's a question of gobbling up property and raking in the revenue, with a few surprises thrown in to keep the game interesting. The title will apparently be run for four months and there are still some details to be filled out, but it could prove to be a really interesting distraction.