Monopoly, the famous board game, is getting a Utah makeover this winter.
Monopoly: Park City Edition — incorporating landmarks and icons of the Utah ski town — will be released in early 2024, officials for Top Trumps USA announced at a news conference Tuesday in Park City. Top Trumps USA creates city-specific versions of the famous real-estate trading game, under license through Hasbro.
“We’re here in Park City to celebrate the best you have to offer,” said Aaron Green, a representative with Top Trumps USA, “whether it’s restaurants, landmark ski resorts, mountain peaks, trails, your favorite little dive bar [or] your favorite steakhouse.”
The news conference featured a person in costume as Mr. Monopoly, the game’s mascot (official name: Rich Uncle Pennybags), dancing along Old Main Street, waving at people passing by. Signs, made up like the game’s property squares, highlighted Park City icons — Deer Valley Resort, the Utah Olympic Park and the Sundance Film Festival among them — with prices attached, in Monopoly money.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Property cards on Park City's Main Street as a special Park City edition of Monopoly is announced on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.
The Park City edition will replace the game’s famous property squares — Boardwalk, Marvin Gardens and so on — with local landmarks and destinations. The Chance and Community Chest decks, which can move players around the board and provide cash rewards or levy fines, also will be customized.
“This is a great game about America,” Green said. “I know it’s about capitalism, but that’s the fun part. You can squash your opponent. Every family has stories about Monopoly.”
In a release, Green called Park City “one of our country’s most beloved mountain towns [that] has truly earned its great reputation, considering its unique mining-town heritage, artistic vibes and deep appreciation for the outdoors.”
The Top Trumps website sells editions for Monopoly for 16 U.S. locations, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Palm Springs, California — as well as versions for Edinburgh, Scotland, and Dublin, Ireland.
Green said he recommended Park City to his bosses, and to Hasbro, because, he said, ”not only do you get millions of tourists every year, but you have 10,000 locals who are proud to be from here.” (The U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent estimate, as of July 1, 2021, puts Park City’s population at 8,457.)
The company will take submissions now through June 20, for suggestions for which Park City landmarks, businesses and events should be included on the board. People can send their ideas to parkcity@toptrumps.com.
Green said he will lead a small team to vet those suggestions, to pick what will fill the Monopoly board’s 22 property squares. They’re looking for what speaks to the cultural importance of Park City, places that have a background story or a bit of nostalgia to them.
Once the team narrows down the eligible icons, Green said, he starts talking to the owners and managers of the locations and businesses, to negotiate their inclusion in the game.
Those making submissions will not receive royalties, Green said, but some of those people may be invited to the game’s launch party. The game will be available in stores, and at online retail partners such as CVS and Amazon, in late January or early February.
Monopoly is credited to Charles Darrow, who created it in 1932, adapting elements from an earlier board game — anti-monopolist Elizabeth Magie’s “The Landlord’s Game,” introduced in 1903. Parker Brothers bought Darrow’s game and started publishing Monopoly widely in 1935. Hasbro became the game’s owner when it acquired Parker Brothers in 1991.
According to Top Trumps’ news release, Monopoly has been enjoyed by a billion players in 114 countries.
