Review: Monopoly Zapped

Ah...money...property...jail!! The joys of Monopoly! I'm thrilled to get to review the newest version of Monopoly:

Monopoly zAPPed Edition

This has everything you know and love about Monopoly in a new, updated way. You'll notice in the picture above that there is NO MONEY! No little slips of paper to get lost. Instead, you use a FREE app (for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch) to keep track of your money. See those little credit cards? You simply scan your card on the app for your transactions and the computer tallies for you. Much easier!

Also gone are the little blue and yellow Community Chest and Chance cards. These spaces are still there, but you play a little game on the app when you land on them. There were things like: who can plug the leaks faster (to see who pays for the plumber), air hockey (to see who gets the inheritance!), who can turn off the lights faster (paying the electric bill). There were also 1 person games like a puzzle and pushing clouds away from the solar panels (both were for paying utilities).

You still can go to jail (landing on space or rolling 3 sets of doubles), but you can break out!!! There is a game on the app where you toss Mr Monopoly over the wall to break out! You get two tries and then it's BACK TO YOUR CELL! Ha ha! We ended up paying when we went to jail just because that little game is pretty hard!

You start the game with $15 million (wow...) and you are given two property cards at random. Unlike the old board game, you have to purchase or auction the property when you land on it. (At least, we always played that you can not buy if you don't want to.) That made for pretty interesting game play. The auction allows you to bid on property and if you're good, you can get it for less than the amount if you'd bought it. We auctioned Boardwalk, just for fun, and I ended up buying it for $400K. What a bargain!!! (Ha ha...then next time around I landed on Park Place...woo hoo...you should have seen how fast those houses went up!!!)

The game took a couple of hours, but we were able to stop and come back thanks to the app having a "continue game" feature. We started out playing "nice" but then I got a little cutthroat and mortgaged property to put up houses...and it went quickly after that! Bwa ha! We were offering obscene amounts for that 3rd card you have to have so you can build!!

Here are some things I really like about the game:

• There is a way to "undo" something if you push on the wrong player, if you push the wrong button (you meant to buy, but hit sell on houses or something).
• The game will put reminders on the screen for faster game play
• There is an "idea" button that will help you out as you play
• Screen changes color based on your bank card so you can easily tell who needs to play
• Easy (on the iPad) to tap card to pay for property, taxes, fees, etc.

Here's a few frustrating things about the game:

• Couldn't get cards to read on iPhone app. 
• If you don't tap just right, you'll have to try again. Just slow down...(speaking to myself here)
• It took a bit of looking to figure out what to do if you needed to end your turn without taking action on a button (push the home).
• There is a "pay rent" button as well as a "pay player" button. Took a few turns to realize we were pushing the wrong one!

A word of caution...when you finish the game, if you go bankrupt (like my hubby did...ha ha!) you give your property to the person who made you go bankrupt (that was me...ha ha!). THEN...you take turns answering on screen who has which property, whether it's mortgaged or not, and whether it has buildings or not. We didn't realize that and cleared the board...oops...memory had to suffice.

Now...this pic says "Amy" and "Mom"...hubbs played as "Amy" since I was threatening to play against myself just to check out the game! I'm truly sorry I didn't get more screen shots for you, we were enjoying the game so much I forgot to take them!

I think it's fair to say I "whooped up" on him...houses on the dark blue properties are a killer! Bwa ha ha! We had a blast and can't wait to play again. This may be my new "hostess" gift for when we go to parties or something. I love it and want you to love it too!

I received a complimentary copy of the game in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and will not receive additional compensation for the review.