Two Favorites In One

*sits down and has a cup in hand and a box of cards. not the kind you think of but its a box*

*takes a sip*

Growing up, I loved playing board games. Especially Monopoly.

I remember many weekends spent at my grandmother's apartment where I would arrive and she would have it all set up on the table for us. We would play and play and play until it got dark then wake up and do it all over again the next day. It was memories made I will never forget.

My passion for Monopoly went further than my grandmothers when I started playing it at my friend's houses when I would hang out. Forget Dungeons and Dragons, popular game among my friends in my youth, I want to land me some real estate in Boardwalk! They enjoyed it as well, until I won too much and the game and it's pieces would be tossed in the air like I was playing against the Incredible Hulk when he was angry. But, they still played.

As an adult, I still enjoy the game when I have an opponent to play against. My wife isn't a fan at all but not everybody is. Though they are missing out I say!

So when I found out that Panini was coming out with a Prizm Monopoly, you better believe my excitement level was at a ten. This was almost if not more exciting than when Dunkin' comes out with Pumpkin Spice coffee in the fall. Though it may be a tie, I love me some Pumpkin Spice coffee.

*takes a sip*

With no Targets around and my terrible financial situation this year, I knew I would have to turn to trading to land myself the game or the pieces.

For weeks on Twitter, I tweeted my want/need for the game, the cards and the pieces with no success. That's until @MattKan59344689 saw my need and offered me everything I needed except the cards. Which I was more than happy with, and he sent it out fast and even sent it UPS.

Here is what the game box looks like.

This is what you see when you open it.

 

The Game Money which are tokens.

Basketballs are the game pieces and come in a variety of colors.

Game cards. (this games version of Chance and Community Chest)

And finally, the game board. It appears the game is not based on buying teams, it appears it is based on buying the matchups. Interesting.

I had started to read the instructions and it didn't seem like too challenging of a game to pick up on. I have played other new variations of the game such as Monopoly Star Wars, Monopoly Builders, Video Game Monopoly, Monopoly Junior and so on. I knew I would figure it out once I got some of the cards.

Which took only a few more weeks to do when my friend Rick on Twitter had a RAK loaded with an almost complete base set sent my way.

Here is an example of some of the base cards.

With cards and game board officially together, I gave the game a go and enjoyed it. I still think the OG game is the way to go, but I don't mind mixing in one of these types of games occasionally. I look at this version as more of a collectible one as well so probably won't play it a lot.

I am really hoping to add a few of the card parallels as well such as Black Icons, Free Parking and other game board related parallels. Will add this to my THE TOP WANTS list which I have been adding more and more stuff to on a daily basis.

Thanks again to Rick and to @MattKan59344689 for fulfilling these wants this year!

*takes a sip before finishing up today's post*

*takes another sip and contemplates finding someone to play Monopoly with and brewing another cup to do so*

I still can't explain why I enjoy the game as much as I do, I just do. Maybe it's for the memories I have made with it, maybe it helps me use my brain in a different way with strategies to win, maybe it is simply just fun or maybe it's just nice to be able to have a stack of cash for once in my life. I think that last part comes more from being an adult. I will admit there were a couple of times I tossed the money in the air like Scrooge McDuck. 

Picking that up afterwards wasn't fun however. If you thought 52-card pickup was bad, try picking up over 200 paper dollar bills.

So now I pass some questions onto you,

What do you guys think about board games being combined with cards? What game would you like to see this next done with? Do you play Monopoly?

Have a great Wednesday.

Until next time...

*Coffee Card Blogger Out*