Monopoly Ultimate Banking – Toy Review

Monopoly Ultimate Banking from Hasbro Gaming. It is that time of year when we all try to spend more time together as a family. As a child growing up we always use to play board games a lot more at Christmas time.

Monopoly is one of those iconic games. It is part of so many people’s childhoods. A go-to game for family fun, but at the same time a game that could go on and on and on. Meaning that you would have to put a lot of time aside to play. Hubby and I use to play Monopoly a fair bit before kids (normally with a couple of bottles of red wine). We have been known to leave a game out for several weeks. Refusing to give in. But time is now so much shorter with the boys. So I was excited to try out this new edition of the monopoly game. As a monopoly fan would we love it like we loved our old battered red and white set? Or would adding new technology to a classic monopoly game ruin it?

So how did we get on with the modern banking version of the monopoly game? Did the new rules live up to expectations? And more importantly, was it a suitable game to play with the children? Read on to find out how we got on.

Monopoly Ultimate Banking – Toy Review 

What is different with Monopoly Ultimate Banking Game?

So firstly what has changed? There is no longer paper monopoly money (sob) instead there is a much more practical credit cards approach. After all, let’s face it, our set had lost a number of notes and if more than two people wanted to play we were scrabbling around for the last few £1s! Each player has a bank card with a picture of their piece on it which is placed on the ultimate banking unit to preload the cash. It works through touch technology.

The handset is integral to the game and although it doesn’t have the same feel as being a banker and counting through the crumpled banknotes, it is a lot more practical and much quicker to set up. There is no longer a requirement for a banker as everyone takes it in turns to use the tap technology. With everyone being in charge of their own banking card. There are four playing pieces. You can choose from a plane, helicopter, boat and car.

The board has also changed, waterworks and stations don’t exist. You will be pleased to hear that there are still community chest cards that also interact with the handset. There are no longer hotels, instead, there are five levels of the building (rent level) for each location space. You can go up a level if someone (including yourself) lands on your property or if all three properties are purchased. This works in a similar way to the increasing rent levels.

However, we did find that event cards that come from the community chest tended to have a bigger impact on rent reviews. The handset keeps a record of all of this. So if you didn’t want to or couldn’t be bothered you don’t need to use the actual houses. Bonus – no longer are you hunting for another red hotel or watching as the dice plough through rows of neatly placed houses. It does make it a lot easier when playing with children as well.

What about the properties?

One of the biggest differences is that every time you land on a property space you have to buy it or auction it. Whereas the old version allows you to just pass a property by. As we rarely play with the maximum number of people so we have tended to buy each property. You still get a title deed card and the game’s property card. This means that it is a much more speedy game. Which only lasts about an hour before one of us goes bankrupt due to the property values.

Of course, everyone races to Park Lane, Mayfair or ideally both. In our younger days, we would leave a game of traditional monopoly to play out for several nights! Being shorter does mean that it is an ideal length for Charlie to join in. Not only does it match his attention span it also means we can fit a game in between dinner time and bedtime.

Despite it being for eight years plus Charlie with a little direction was able to join in playing in his own right at the age of six. This is because of the simplicity of th game. Since there’s no longer much maths involved as the handset does it all for you. He enjoys using the electronic banking unit I and matching bank card. As to him, it feels like he is doing what he sees us do. I particularly like the fact that Charlie can join in easily and have had great fun doing it. I think he really enjoys it because his perception of monopoly is that it is a game for older kids. And now he can be an older kid too playing along.

Although I love the traditional game I can see why this has been introduced. It now competes in the same space as other games which are traditionally much shorter in length and open the game up to a much wider age range.

No bending the rules 

On the downside, there is no space for bending the rules. We use to add in any money generated from the chance cards/jail to the centre of the famous game board. And if you landed on free parking you would get whatever was in the kitty. This added an extra element to the game although not in the rules use to add a little extra excitement and could keep the game going for a lot longer. Which is a bit of a shame.

We have always viewed Monopoly as a social game so there was a little bit of bending the rules, i.e. propping up a younger family member when really they should have gone bankrupt. The nature of the new game has changed this. Saying that it has definitely been met with approval and we would never have been able to include Charlie in the old-style game. Making it a great new edition to our family game night. I definitely feel like it has a place in the broad range of Monopoly games.

Things we love about Monopoly Ultimate Banking

• Its good quality, the houses are well moulded, the board and the playing cards are bright with sharp illustrations. Just as I would expect from a brand such as Hasbro.
• I particularly like the way the rents are laid out on the property cards. Just like the older version th game’s property cards are color sets
• It opened the property trading game up to a wider age range as you no longer need to search through banknotes I was surprised once we started playing I didn’t even miss the paper money.
• We are more likely to play it when time is short rather than waiting for an evening in. Specifically which is what we would have done before with the traditional game. Being able to play the game in half an hour is a real plus. And for this reason, we have played it a lot more than other games. So it works out better value for money than others since we use it so much.
• It has the same look and feel as the traditional edition but with updated simple technology in the card reader. Which does mean that if you have played one monopoly game then you are likely to be able to play this one.
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You can no longer cheat! Or bend the rules which means it does become very much a game of luck over strategy. But I think this helps make it a great family game. Especially when playing with younger children.

I would recommend this modern banking version of monopoly to families with younger children. I would think that they could actually change the age range to 6+ rather than 8+ on this electronic banking board game. Saying that on the rare occasion where we actually get time alone and choose to play a board game I suspect our old battered red and white box will come out. You can buy yours online from all good toy shops or Amazon*

When was the last time you had a game of monopoly?

READ MORE – Board Game Reviews

READ MORE – Monopoly Gamer Edition Review

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We were given the game Monopoly Ultimate Banking for the purpose of this review,  all opinions are my own.