Show me a family who hasn’t played Monopoly before and I will let you see the dinosaur I keep in my back yard. I would hazard to guess that pretty much any family has, at one point of time or another, played Monopoly. It’s a rite of passage and part of growing up. You have to go through the pains and triumphs of “real life” as you roll your way around the game board. And a monopoly game can last weeks or months. In fact, the longest Monopoly game on record lasted 70 straight days.

Well, times are a changin’ and we are now moving into the modern era. And those young whippersnappers at Hasbro have decided to modernize Monopoly as well. I was pretty much convinced that the game would be spoiled somehow since the banker played such a pivotal role in managing and organizing the game. So, when I got my hands on Monopoly with Electronic banking, I was a bit skeptical of how it was modernized, but after playing it for a while (and being the banker), I was pleasantly surprised.

For starters, you no longer collect $200 when you pass go, you collect $2M (yes, that’s million). Payments go down to $1000 increments. Also, the pieces themselves have been updated. And there is no paper money. It has been replaced by a gadget that resembles a calculator.

Players are given credit cards of sorts and that is all of the “currency” that you need. All of the banking transactions, fees and payouts, are done electronically.

So my daughters and I set out to test out the new version.

The properties haven’t changed, there are still 4 railroads, 2 utilities and plenty of Chance and Community Chest spaces (which my youngest daughter has somehow managed to land on every other roll).

And despite “electronic” being in the title, it’s still a board game. You roll the dice and count off your moves. By the way, it’s also a great way to test your kids basic math addition skills as my 7 year old quickly found.

I found the electronic banking side of things to be quite easy to use. It definitely speeds up the game play a bit more and it is easy to pay or get paid by the bank or other players in the game. Another nice thing is that you can have longer games where you don’t have to leave stacks of money lying around, it’s all stored in the electronic keyboard. My kids and I have a game that is about 2 weeks old that we are playing every weekend.

Giveaway

I think that board games are an important part of growing up and Monopoly is one of those key games that everybody has heard of and that should be played at least once. So to make those dreams come true, I’m giving away a copy of Monopoly with Electronic Banking to a lucky random person who answers the following question in the comments below AND who tweets out a message on the giveaway.

The two steps:

1. Answer in the comments section: “Why do you think board games are important?“
2. Tweet this message: “Win a copy of Monopoly with Electronic Banking from @hightechdad! Enter here: http://bit.ly/tbkR1S #giveaway“ (Tweet it now by clicking here)

The only rules are that you have to reside in the US to enter to be eligible to win and that you must by 18 years old or older. (Actually be sure to take a look at my Rules page for all of the little details.) Please be sure that you both leave a comment and send the tweet. You only need to enter once (comment + tweet = one entry) and be sure that I have a way to contact you!

The giveaway runs from 11/17/11-11/22/11 (midnight Pacific time). On November 23, 2011, I will select a winner at random.

HighTechDad Ratings

Monopoly with Electronic Banking is reasonably priced between $25 and $35 depending on where you buy it. Currently, on Amazon, you can get it for $27.89 (supplies limited). This is definitely a family friendly “gadget” to have, and I only call it a gadget because you do need to put some batteries in to use it. Ages that this is appropriate for are 8 and up (but the funny thing is, my 7 year old was having a great time beating me and her older sister – she currently has houses on Boardwalk and Park Place!). While some of the classic, ad hoc rules are sort of removed by having electronic banking (e.g., all fees paid to the bank to into a pot for the lucky person who lands on Free Parking), but the game play is definitely sped up and the age level of who can be the “banker” is lowered with the Electronic Banking.

EASY TO GEEK FACTOR – is the device easy to get up and running

FAMILY FRIENDLY – does the device fit well into family environments

RECOMMENDABILITY– would I recommend it to others (more means “yes”)

PRICE POINT – does the price reflect the product function

OVERALL – my general rating

Disclosure Text : I have a material connection because I received a gift or sample of a product for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was/am not expected to return this item or gift after my review period. More information can be found in my About page as well as here.

HTD says: Monopoly is a classic board game and the Electronic Banking version brings it to the modern day!

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