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Days Out With The Family
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Monopoly Lifesized
I am pretty certain that whoever you are, and wherever you were born, you will know of the game Monopoly.
Monopoly started life in 1903 as a game to help people understand tax, and it has since evolved to be a game where the aim is to buy as many properties on the board to enable you to dominate the property market (hence the game’s name Monopoly).
My confidence in thinking you will have heard about the game, comes from the fact that it has sold over 275 million games in 111 countries, and has been translated into 43 languages. As part of its success, many different versions of the game have been created, including a Disney version and even a Game of Thrones one!
The latest evolution of the game is now a lifesized version based in London’s Tottenham Court Road, and means that you actually move around the board yourself, making it a high octane way to play the planet’s favourite board game as it is brought to life.
There are 4 lifesized boards to play, and the gameplay works exactly the same way as the board game, but the themes and challenges differ. The Luxury Board provides stealth based challenge rooms, on the City Board you have London landmark inspired challenges, the Junior Board is family friendly, but we chose the Classic Board as we relived our favourite Monopoly memories whilst racing against the clock to complete the challenges.
When you arrive you initially meet Mr Monopoly, who explains the rules and introduces you to your playing ‘token’ who will be your guide throughout the experience. (Here is question to see if you are a Super Expert at Monopoly: What is Mr Monopoly’s true name? Answer at the bottom of the Review!).
I won’t spoil your fun by describing the actual rooms and challenges, but the objective is simple - although some of the challenges are certainly not! - earn as much money as you can.
The rules are pretty much the same as Monopoly, and once you have been put into a team of up to 6 and have been allocated a ‘token’ (this is a real-life person who is your guide and also who manages the money you earn), you are ready to play.
The ‘board’ is a smaller version with fewer properties than the real board, but here there are challenge rooms linked to each property square and you physically roll the dice to move around the board. Solve the challenge and you win the property and can then collect rent if the other teams land on it. During the game you can also earn houses and hotels to put on your properties, as well as passing go, going to jail etc., which have their own challenges if you land on either.
The game moved at a rapid pace and it was testament to our enjoyment of playing the game and how involved we got in trying to win, that the 90 minutes we had to play totally flew by, and it was soon time to tot up the total amount of money everyone had amassed to see who had won.
Unfortunately for our team, our victory parade (we were leading from the first round), was cut short when we landed on Leicester Square with a hotel on the last roll of the dice and went from first to last place in one fell swoop!
The actors who play the tokens and guide you, really get you immersed in the game by giving advice, but leave you to solve the puzzles yourselves, and some of these puzzles are really difficult!! Well, they were for me.
Having come last, our friends and I decided to lick our wounds and have a debrief about the reason for the loss (I blame the person who rolled the last dice and landed us on that hotel), and retreated to the Top Hat Bar and Restaurant, where we had started our experience with a drink before the game.
The Bar area has banquettes in vibrant red leather, and very reasonably priced wines. On the Signature Cocktail list you can visit many of the famous locations on the London’s Monopoly Board, such as Mayfair (Laurent Perrier Champagne, Syrup, Brandy, Lemon, Mrs Betters Bitters, Edible Gold and a Sugar £50 note), and Coventry Street (White Rum, Apricot Jam, Lime and Grenadine). There is also a good selection of non-alcoholic cocktails.
The restaurant is based on a tapas styled menu, but the dishes here are British not Spanish. The menu includes choices such as King Prawns in white wine and garlic (£9.50), Miniature Fish and Chips (£8.50) and Minted Lamb Sliders (£9.50), to name just a few. Dishes come when ready and are designed to be shared, although I didn’t share my dessert of Chocolate Brownie with vanilla ice cream (£6) with my team, as it was totally moreish and it was clearly their fault that we came last!
In this digital age Monopoly remains a firm favourite with kids and adults alike, because it continues to develop and evolve with the times, and its latest evolution, is Monopoly Lifesized, will delight the whole family, as it requires teamwork to succeed. (The answer to Mr Monopoly’s real name is Rich Uncle Pennybags, so congratulations to anyone who got that. You truly are a Monopoly Superfan!).
