Monopoly World Version -- Sydney Rules!

Monopoly was one of the board games that I really enjoyed playing as a kid. It is probably because I was born into a family of competitive siblings in which no quarter was ever given. Perhaps I just enjoyed grinding my younger brother and sister into the make believe financial abyss.

The world version of the game is set to be released on 26 August. However, most everyone knows what cities made the cut and it is now time for the 22 cities that did to enjoy some bragging rights. Sydney is the only Australian city to make the grade. This is a point that the increasingly unpopular Premier of NSW has been making over the last 24 hours or so. It is sad that the Premier has to resort to a board game to try and revive his flagging popularity.

It is interesting that Sydney has ranked alongside New York and London. Interesting, not because it does not deserve to be there, but rather it could have been in so many other possible combinations. The 22 successful cities were chosen after a vote conducted in 58 countries throughout the world and more than five million votes were cast.

The cities that made the cut are Montreal, Riga, Capetown, Belgrade, Paris, Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing, London, New York, Vancouver, Shanghai, Rome, Toronto, Kyiv (Kiev), Istanbul, Athens, Barcelona, Tokyo, Taipei, Gdynia (Gdansk), and Sydney.

The World Edition includes some changes to the monopoly of old that we used to play as kids. The main changes are that the homes and hotels reflect architectural themes and icons from the cities included. There is also a new currency but hopefully it is not the Euro.

The 22 cities:

Dark blue - Montreal, Riga

Green - Capetown, Belgrade, Paris

Yellow - Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Beijing

Red - London, New York, Sydney

Orange - Vancouver, Shanghai, Rome

Magenta - Toronto, Kyiv (Kiev), Istanbul

Light blue - Athens, Barcelona, Tokyo

Brown - Taipei, Gdynia (Gdansk)