Monopoly City Streets

Monopoly City Streets was a live massive multiplayer online game, MMOG, that combined the classic Monopoly board game with real streets around the world, using the Google Maps and OpenStreetMap applications.http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_US/discover/news/Monopoly-City-Streets-Has-Ended.cfm The Monopoly City Streets online game was developed by Tribal DDB, a Hasbro agency, in association with Google. The game was released on September 9, 2009.http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_US/discover/news/Monopoly-City-Streets-Has-Ended.cfm Such buzz had surrounded the release of the game, that the site experienced serious server issues due to the large number of people attempting to sign up for accounts.http://mashable.com/2009/09/07/monopoly-google-maps/

The game was played in the same manner as the original Monopoly board game, with the objective being to become the richest industrialist in the world. Players could buy streets and various properties, and erect buildings, all while attempting to thwart their fellow player’s efforts.http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_US/discover/news/Monopoly-City-Streets-Has-Ended.cfm

The game was generally well received by players and critics. Sever technical issues frustrated many users, and a game reset 8 days after launch, caused some to lose millions of virtual dollars they had previously invested in properties.http://mashable.com/2009/09/07/monopoly-google-maps/

After a short 3 month run, the Monopoly City Streets game ended, on December 9, 2009. The game’s website encouraged fans of the online game to try the Monopoly City board game, played much the same way as Monopoly City Streets.http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_US/discover/news/Monopoly-City-Streets-Has-Ended.cfm

The preview site posted prior to the game’s launch read: “On the 9th SEPTEMBER, a world of property empire building on an unimaginable scale will be launched! A live worldwide game of MONOPOLY using Google Maps as the game board. The goal is simple. Play to beat your friends and the world to become the richest property magnate in existence. Own any street in the world. Build humble houses, crazy castles and stupendous skyscrapers to collect rent. Use MONOPOLY Chance Cards to sabotage your mates by building Hazards on their streets.”http://mashable.com/2009/09/07/monopoly-google-maps/

• Players start out with $3 million in virtual Monopoly money.
• Players can earn more money by collecting rents on a daily bases from their properties. Rent is paid at 12:00AM on each day the player logs into their account.
• Street prices are determined based on the length of any given street. For every street owned in excess of five streets, a 3% tax is applied.
• Players are allowed to negotiate property prices amongst themselves, with a minimum being set at the price of the property deed, and may only pay up to a maximum of 150% of the deed’s value for players at levels 1 and 2 (once players reach level 3, there is no cap on deed prices).
• Players were allowed to trade properties
• Each time a player buys a building or street, they may receive a Chance Card. These cards come as bonus cards, hazard cards or bulldozer cards.
• Bonus building cards allow a player to erect a park, school, or stadium on any street they own. These bonus buildings cancel out hazards, and prevent further hazards or demolition there.
• Hazard cards allow a player to erect a factory, prison, or waste plant on an challenger’s street, preventing rents from being collected on the street.
• Bulldozer cards allow a player to demolish buildings on a challenger’s street.
• If a player fails to log in for 2 weeks, all of their property will be repossessed by the bank.

• The game attracted a total of 5 million players from around the world in its 3 month run
• Players purchased close to 9 million streets and erected more than 175 million buildings.
• Close to 1.8 million hazard buildings were built and more than 2.5 million buildings destroyed.
• 52% of all potential negotiations were declined

Top 10 cities:

1. New York City
2. Paris
3. London
4. Las Vegas
5. Tokyo
6. Miami
7. Madrid
8. Berlin
9. Barcelona
10. Los Angeles

Top 10 streets searched:

1. Wall Street
2. Route 66
3. Broadway
4. Oxford Street
5. 5th Avenue
6. Rue De La Paix
7. Rodeo Drive
8. Times Square
9. Main Street
10. Yonge Street http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_US/discover/news/Monopoly-City-Streets-Has-Ended.cfm