Monopoly Reveals Politically-Charged 'House Divided' Version
Anyone who was previously unfamiliar with the classic capitalist-themed board game Monopoly certainly shouldn't be anymore after Hasbro has spent so much time revitalizing the brand under different guises and even polling fans to replace token pieces that date back to the early 90s. But the American toy company certainly took their game in an interesting direction Thursday by introducing Monopoly: House Divided, which is available now.
The newest version of Monopoly was revealed through an exclusive story by Yahoo! Entertainment, which said House Divided "echoes" America's political divide by having players choose one of six political affiliations and literally splitting the playing field into red and blue halves. Those six party choices are Donkey, Elephant, Eagle, Flag, Peace, and Tea Cup — a not-so-subtle allusion to real-life political affiliations like the Democrat, Republican, and Tea Parties; and a far cry away from rival toy giant Mattel's decision to release a nonpartisan version of Uno in 2019.
Instead of buying out properties and retrofitting them with houses, this civic-minded version of the game has players earn "Votes" from spaces that mimic the 50 states (with California and Texas replacing the highest-end Boardwalk and Park Place). Traditional Railroad spaces have also been replaced by "Campaign Buses," while players give money to "Fundraisers" rather than Income Tax.
Yahoo also reports that there are additional mechanics in place, such as acquiring a White House token to receive 10 extra votes by the end of the game or exercising "Executive Power." However they do not specify exactly what this means beyond giving "voters a taste of your presidential policies."
Hasbro has released a myriad of different Monopoly board games, clearly trying to spice up the title which has existed since the early 20th Century. Some of these versions have simply adjusted the traditional real estate-focused goals by doing things like making the experience go faster.
House Divided stands out in that it leans away from one oft-criticized symbol of America, its capitalist economy, into another, its politics. The game still succeeds at commenting on both by capitalizing on the upcoming 2020 presidential election, but its focus on politics appears to be more of a skin-deep marketing gimmick. Most of the traditional gameplay mechanics are in place, they've simply been dressed up (much like versions of the game that follow popular culture trends) and supplemented with a few additional rules.
Telling players to compete using their political affiliations during family game night seems like it would be a harder sell for Hasbro's marketing team than something like jumping on the season pass mobile game trend. But hey, perhaps there is still some fun to be had by reducing all of America's complex political turmoil down into a silly, irreverent family activity.
Monopoly: House Divided is available at major retailers and on Amazon for $19.99.
Source: Yahoo! Entertainment
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