For those who have always struggled with cheating Monopoly players, Hasbro has the perfect solution.
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Hasbro just announced a new version of their iconic board game called The Cheating Edition, and you guessed it, it lets any of the players pull a fast one on the game and those playing, something that Hasbro senior vice president Jonathan Berkowitz thinks many will enjoy.
“A recent study conducted by Hasbro revealed that nearly half of game players attempt to cheat during Monopoly games, so in 2018, we decided it was time to give fans what they’ve been craving all along – a Monopoly game that actually encourages cheating,” Berkowitz told INSIDER.
So, here’s how it works. There are 15 cheat cards that come with the game, and at any one time, there will be 5 cheat cards on the board. These cheat cards are made up of things like stealing money from the bank, removing a hotel from someone else’s property, collecting rent for someone else’s property, etc, and players will try and achieve these tasks throughout gameplay.
If you succeed, you will get the reward that is on the back of the card, but if you fail you will have a penalty, also located on the card. Let’s look at the Shortchanged card for an example. The card reads “when you owe another player change, secretly give them less than you owe.” If you get away with it you will collect an extra $100 from the bank. If you fail though you will return all the money to that player and then go directly to jail.
Now, the Cheaters Edition will actually not have a traditional banker, encouraging the cheating behavior.
“For the first time in Monopoly history, there is no designated Banker,” says Berkowitz. “Players are in control of the Bank on their turn, and pass it to the next player when their turn is over, making it easier to pull of “cheats” such as a the Bank Heist.”
There are several other differences too, including certain spots on the board that have been “hacked” by cheaters. There is also an actual handcuff attachment that pertains to one of the cheat cards.
“We’ve finally decided to embrace our less-than-honest fans by encouraging them to partake in those iconic (yet sometimes unspoken) Monopoly moments that occur during family game nights,” says Berkowitz. “We’re excited to see what fans can get away with and how they’ll react to the new sneaky twists in the game.”
The Monopoly Cheater’s Edition will hit stores this fall for $19.99.