Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition

Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition

The Monopoly Electronic Banking Edition game combines the best of classic Monopoly with updated electronic transactions. As with the original version, players still operate with money, learn real-world economics, competition and strategy, try to stay out of jail, and try their best to get filthy rich. But this version has been updated to reflect changes in how the real world uses money: All transactions are conducted with Monopoly’s new banking card system. Anyone from age 8 and up will enjoy this updated version of one of the world’s most famous games.

Updated from the original game, the Banking Edition features updated tokens, money system, and more. View larger.

This version of Monopoly features bank card accounts. View larger.

Classic Fun with Modern Twists
Aside from the electronic banking, the basic rules of this game have not changed from the Monopoly everybody remembers. Tokens, houses, hotels, chance and community chest cards, cardboard property deeds — if you’ve played the classic version, you’ll know how to play. The board is different in how it folds up in the box, but once you spread it out, it’s the same.

The tokens have changed to reflect today’s culture. Instead of irons and racing cars, the tokens depict modern icons such as a Segway and a tin of Altoids. Instead of railroads, there are airports. The utilities are Internet service providers and cell phone services. Properties have also been updated — from the upscale blue Times Square to the economy purple Texas Stadium. In this game, you can go to jail for identity theft or lose $1 million when a virus infects your computer network. And of course, property values are exponentially higher than in the original game.

The big switch, of course, is the electronic banking. Each player starts with $15 million in their bank card account, and the banker adds amounts (such as when the player passes go) or subtracts (such as when the player pays to get out of jail) by inserting the player’s card in the plus or minus slot of the Banker Unit. When one player has to pay another player, the banker debits or credits each account as appropriate.

Monopoly for Right Now
The electronic banking is neat and easy to handle, and as an added educational bonus, the player who takes on the banker role will quickly become familiar with basic bookkeeping concepts. The bank cards operate more like debit than credit, so players will learn responsible money management, not how to run up credit card debt.

This version of Monopoly doesn’t play significantly differently than the original. The game can still take hours to play, and the instructions offer several alternatives for those who want speedier play. The updates introduce a few elements of surprise along the way, but for the most part it’s still the same great Monopoly that will provide the same kind of family fun with some surprising, up-to-date twists.

Pros

• Same basic game play, but with up-to-date references
• Electronic banking works well, easy to learn
• Teaches responsible money management
• Fun for both kids and adults

Cons

• Player customizations might not work with the new version
• Updated references will eventually become out of date, too

What’s in the Box
Game board, electronic Banker Unit, 6 tokens, 28 title deed cards, 16 chance cards, 16 community chest cards, 6 Monopoly bank cards, 32 houses, 12 hotels, and 2 dice.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Monopoly without the tedium
I don’t think I’d ever finished a game of Monopoly before we bought this version. It’s all the fun of the original Monopoly without the tedium of dealing with the paper money. We can get through a game much faster, so I actually suggest playing this on game nights instead of trying to convince my friends to play something else!

5 Stars Family fun
We like to play games with our kids and with friends. But we never played much monopoly, it seemed too involved. Now, with this electronic version, playing is much faster and more fun! With no money to be counted the pace picks up and you can actually enjoy the game!

4 Stars much faster
The game goes much faster when your not stopping to count out paper money. However I wish the game board was the old Atlantic City. Guess its just because I’m a Jersey girl.

4 Stars Disappointed
I would bet that I haven’t played the classic version of monopoly more than 3 times in the past 15 years. However, I must have played it many times as a kid… I remember most of the property names, most of their prices, and so on.

This electronic banking edition is based on the “Here and Now” Monopoly edition. I found the “modernization” of the game to be unnecessary — basically multiplying every single number by 10,000 and then labeling everything with “K” (for numbers in the thousands) or by decimal-point numbers with “M” (for numbers in the millions).

The updated metal tokens are nice. For some reason, the “electronic banking” version doesn’t include the stack-able skyscraper pieces (found in the non-electronic “Here and Now” edition) — opting for the old house and hotel markers. These never quite fit; four houses being slightly wider than the space provided. Seems like the skyscraper markers are often cited as the one noticeably superior feature of the “Here and Now” edition, so it was disappointing not to get them in the electronic banking version.

The electronic banking feature is itself a double-edged sword. It does have a “coolness factor.” It makes setup and cleanup slightly easier. My wife figured that it would prevent lost money. It also avoids certain “making change” annoyances. However, it’s SLOW and kinda clumsy. Even after playing this game several times, we sometimes reverse cards, making transactions go backwards (they all look very similar). This would never happen with paper money. This also sucks away some of the educational value. I was hoping that my kids would practice adding and subtracting (they’re in 1st and 2nd grade). Having the electronic calculator eliminates the exercise. With numbers like 280,000 and 1,750,000 to work with — labeled 280K and 1.75M — the math is too hard for them, anyway (for no discernable reason).

All in all, though, monopoly is an awesome game, and that still goes for this electronic banking version. We are enjoying it a lot, and in all likelihood you and your families will enjoy it, too.

4 Stars My 8 year old grandson loves it!
My grandson called me as soon as it arrived and was so excited! His Dad was getting it all set up so they could play! Think i made a great choice

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