Iconic board game to feature Santa Barbara landmarks
Mayor Randy Rowse stands in front of Santa Barbara City Hall, a possible location for the Santa Barbara edition of Monopoly.
Residents of Santa Barbara, it’s time to get ready to play Monopoly with a local twist.
The world’s most popular board game is paying homage to the town known for its strong community and Spanish-influenced architecture.
From today until April 28, fans can voice which locations they would like to see featured on the board via the official Monopoly email at santabarbara@toptrumps.com.
The local edition will replace iconic properties on the board such as Boardwalk and Park Place with locally beloved destinations known to locals and visitors alike.
Remaining true to the original Monopoly board, the new edition will include Community Chest and Chance playing cards that will be customized to Santa Barbara.
Monopoly is a multiplayer economics-themed board game in which players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels.
Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards and tax squares. Players receive a stipend every time they pass Go and can end up in jail, from which they cannot move until they have met one of three conditions. House rules, hundreds of different editions, many spin-offs and related media exist.
“We aim to showcase Santa Barbara in all its glory, displaying all the local favorites and cherished places, from the Old Mission Santa Barbara to La Super-Rica Taqueria, to many other iconic landmarks,” said Jennifer Tripsea, Top Trumps representative. “We want to hear from the community which local favorites they would like to see represented. The edition will be everything they love from the traditional game infused with some of the places they recommend, so please write in!”
Monopoly first hit shelves in 1935 with the race car, thimble, boot, top hat and battleship among the original set of Monopoly tokens while the Scottie dog and wheelbarrow were added in the early 1950s.
Although the brand has evolved over the past 87 years, the game play and iconography of the classic Monopoly game has remained unchanged, making it a timeless classic. Today, it is the world’s favorite
family game brand and is played by more than one billion people in 114
countries across the globe.
“Top Trumps USA is a USA division of Winning Moves International. We make an assortment of world-famous educational card and board games,” said Ms. Tripsea. “Top Trumps will now be bringing official versions of completely customized Monopoly for the North American market under license from Hasbro.
“Each community-based Monopoly experience will play homage to all of the favorite locations, icons and businesses, creating a game play that truly embraces what makes each community unique and special.”
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
FYI
Monopoly suggestions from the community can be sent to santabarbara@toptrumps.com.
