Did you ever think of building a hotel on the Champs Elysees in Paris or buying a skyscraper next to the Times Square in New York? Today I just came across a new and exciting co-operation of Monopoly and GoogleMaps that makes this idea come true – unfortunately only on the internet.  

With “Monopoly City Streets” the famous board game enters the virtual world. Although some rules have been changed – making the game much more interesting as you can place a garbage dump next your competitors’ buildings, for instance – one rule stays the same: the person who makes most profit out of his seed capital of 3 million Monopoly dollars wins the game. 

With this collaboration Hasbro, owner of the trademark “Monopoly”, and GoogleMaps are addressing an ongoing trend in behaviour: people are spending more and more time on the internet and classical gaming nights, as we know it from our childhoods, are getting rare. Still, I think the idea is great and both partners fit very well as they both embody innovation – although there’s 100 years between those innovations. Also, the co-operation shows an innovative way on how to connect a classical board game not only with an online community, but with the real-spaces part of the World Wide Web.  

With Monopoly City Streets Hasbro will certainly be able to address a younger target group, however, the games producer might also be capable of bringing together families again - maybe not at the same table, maybe not even in the same city, but a all around the world instead. Consequently, Google will again be able to strengthen its position as supplier of innovative applications. Overall, I’m sure that this gaming approach will attract a lot of players …fine with me, as long as they let me build my own castle with a great view onto the Eiffel Tower