monopoly » fun facts
  • More than 275 million games have been sold worldwide and it's available in 111 countries, in 43 languages.
  • The longest MONOPOLY game in history lasted for 70 straight days.
  • Many specialized editions of the classic game have been produced featuring your favorite sports teams, brands, television shows, cartoons and more.
  • The most expensive version of the game was produced by celebrated San Francisco jeweler Sidney Mobell. Valued at $2 million, the set fea tures a 23-carat gold board and diamond-studded dice.
  • The character locked behind the bars is called Jake the Jailbird. Officer Edgar Mallory sent him to jail.
  • Children play MONOPOLY all over the world, but where they live may determine what they call the highest rent property on the game board. In the U.S., it is named "Boardwalk" after a street in Atlantic City. In Spain, it is named "Paseo del Prado" after a street in Barcelona and in France, "Rue de la Paix" is the name of the most coveted property space.
  • Escape maps, compasses and files were inserted into MONOPOLY game boards smuggled into POW camps inside Germany during World War II. Real money for escapees was slipped into the packs of MONOPOLY money.
  • Every few years, national champions from around the globe meet for the MONOPOLY World Championship tournament. World Champions have hailed from 10 different countries, including: United States, Ireland, Singapore, Italy, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Japan and Spain.
1935
  • More than six billion little green houses and 2.25 billion red hotels have been "constructed" since 1935.
  • Since 1935, more than one billion people have played the game.
  • Over 20 tokens have been cast since the MONOPOLY game was introduced in 1935 such as the horse, dog, car, elephant, purse and lantern.
1940-1960
  • Demand for MONOPOLY skyrockets and it quickly becomes America's No.1 game!
  • More than just a game - MONOPOLY is used by British Secret Service in WWII.
  • Our beloved tokens! In the early 1950s, the lantern, purse and rocking horse were removed from the game. They were replaced by the dog, horse and rider, and wheelbarrow.
1960-1980
  • In the 1970's, a Braille edition of the MONOPOLY game was created for the visually impaired.
  • In 1972, the Commissioner of Public Works in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the real life model for the game,, threatened to change the names of the real Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues, but public outcry vetoed the bill.
  • In 1978, the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog offered a chocolate version of the game priced at $600.
1980-2000
  • Money and property ownership symbolize success in the 1980's and the MONOPOLY brand seems to match up. Localizations, licenses, and spin-offs of MONOPOLY allow people all over the world to live the dream of owning it all.
  • MONOPOLY develops strategic partnerships (MONOPOLY at McDonald's promotion) and brand extensions (first CD-Rom game) becoming a recognizable cultural icon including becoming a US postage stamp!
2000+
  • MONOPOLY has launches on seven platforms in 27 countries, and is localized into 20 languages with nearly 10 million worldwide mobile phone game downloads.
  • Tokens from the United States MONOPOLY: Here & Now Edition were flown into space aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2007.
  • In 2008, MONOPOLY fans around the world united to set the world record for the most people playing MONOPOLY at the same time to commemorate the launch of MONOPOLY Here & Now: The World edition. Nearly 3,000 people "passed GO" at events around the world.
  • "Best Mobile Game Award" at the 2008 Mobile Excellence Awards (MONOPOLY Here & Now on feature phone)
  • "Best Dice Game" at the 2009 Best App Ever Awards (MONOPOLY Classic on iPhone)
  • "Best Game inspired by a Board Game" at the 2009 AppAdvice App Awards (MONOPOLY Here & Now on iPhone)
  • In 2009, MONOPOLY and Google partner to launch MONOPOLY City Streets. The 3 month game had more than 1.4MM registered players, from across the world generating 17 million visits and nearly a billion page views while purchasing nearly 9 million streets and constructing more than 175 million buildings.
  • MONOPOLY's most recent extensions: Apple iPhone - February 2010
Pop Culture
  • In the movie Zombieland, Tallahassee and Little Rock pass the time playing MONOPOLY with real money.
  • Under The Boardwalk, a documentary about MONOPOLY is scheduled to debut fall 2010. It will feature interviews and profiles from the world's top competitors, commentary from a MONOPOLY expert, along with fanatics and collectors and a history of the game.
  • MONOPOLY Classic for iPhone was voted "Best Dice Game" at the 2009 Best App Ever Awards.
  • In the book and the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy joins the patients in a game of MONOPOLY. In the movie, the game gets so heated that McMurphy ends up hosing down the other players with cold water.
  • In one of President Obama's State of the Union addresses he referenced MONOPOLY money: The fact is, Washington is a place where tax dollars are often treated like MONOPOLY money, bartered and traded, divvied up among lobbyists and special interests. And it has been a place where waste - even billions of dollars in waste - is accepted as the price of doing business," said President Obama. "Well, I don't accept business as usual. And the American people don't accept it either, especially when one of the most pressing challenges we face is reining in long-term deficits with threaten to leave our children a mountain of debt.
  • MONOPOLY Here & Now for iPhone was voted "Best Game inspired by a Board Game" at the 2009 AppAdvice App Awards.
  • In a Chumbawumba song entitled "Don't Pass Go" they sing:
    Well the facts said 'yes'
    But the judge said 'no'
    Go straight to jail
    And don't pass go
    He didn't understand
    And he told them so
    Go straight to jail
    And don't pass go
    Don't pass go
  • MONOPOLY match-ups are common between the fictional Humphrey family on Gossip Girl. Wannabe designer Jenny Humphrey aptly chose the thimble token.
  • MONOPOLY Here & Now on feature phone was voted "Best Mobile Game Award" at the 2008 Mobile Excellence Awards.