AVA GARFINKEL
This project was briefed less than one year before the targeted on-shelf date, meaning it would have a significantly shorter development timeline than other projects. Due to the time constraints, I was one of three designers to pitch a concept for this project, and all three concepts were reviewed internally and tested by consumers. After evaluating all three concepts the team made the decision to move forward with mine, making this the first project I worked on at Hasbro.
BRIEF
The opportunity for a Monopoly GO! board game was huge. At the time of this brief and since the app's release release in April 2023, Monopoly GO! had gotten more than 76 million downloads, had 11 million daily users, and was the #1 top grossing app in the US. Because of the size of the opportunity, there were specific asks that the product has to answer.
RESEARCH
I began this project by downloading and playing Monopoly GO! to get a better sense of how the popular app differed from the classic board game. After playing for a while, there were a couple things that stood out to me.
EXCESSIVE OPULENCE
Every time you open the app or roll the dice you are guaranteed to win big. Millions of dollars and hundreds of dice rolls keeps you feeling on top of the world, and even when it's all gone it's so easy to get back. This means two things: one, money has less value in this game compared to the regular Monopoly board game. There's no penalty for going bankrupt and money flows in thousands of dollars at a time, making it feel less important. Second, players are used to getting something on every single turn in this game, and turns go fast. Especially with a feature that makes it unnecessary to physically press the roll button over and over again, players are used to watching their phone and raking in wins with almost no effort.
BUILDING IS BIG
Players progress in this game by building landmarks with the money they earn from moving their token around the board. Landmarks are unique to the Monopoly GO! app and are not present in the Monopoly, making them an important differentiator between the two games. Landmarks are also heavily integrated into the look of the app. Once players build enough Landmarks to level up they unlock access to a new Monopoly board. These boards are themed based on real places, fantasy worlds, holiday events, and more, and every board has its own set of unique Landmarks associated with it.
PLAYER INTERCATION
While player interaction is an integral part of Monopoly, it is present in a very different way in this single-player app game. All players have their own personal Monopoly board that gets upgraded as they continue to level up, removing the opportunity for player interaction on a shared board. In the Monopoly GO! app, player interaction is facilitated exclusively through mini games. When players land on a Bank Heist or Shutdown space, they can choose another player in the app to attack and either steal money from their bank or damage their landmarks. These interactions feel mischievous and playful by never setting back the attacked player by too much.
Everything considered, the Monopoly GO! app has a lot of differences from the classic Monopoly board game. In order to create a game that combines the experiences from both of these games, it would be important to leverage the strengths of a physical board game while using the fast and easy play pattern found in app games.
CONCEPT
I did my best to mimic the gameplay found in the Monopoly GO! app and translate it to a physical multi-player experience. The game includes a personal Monopoly board for each player and a central storage container that doubles as a dice tray. Everyone plays simultaneously, keeping the game moving at a fast pace. Every round, one player rolls dice equal to the number of players in the center tray, and all players move their tokens along their board according to their color die. Players then take landmark blocks from the central tray based on where they landed, and the first player to build a complete landmark wins the game. Shutdown and Bank Heist spaces allow players to sabotage their opponents and introduce variety into otherwise very simple gameplay.
TESTING
This concept went through two rounds of Funlab testing where families played the game while the team watched. This allowed us to receive real-time feedback from consumers as they learned and played the game for the first time. Through testing, I was able to further refine gameplay to make it flow smoother for younger audiences and introduced a "Chance" space to create more variation in gameplay.
“It does feel like you are playing GO, but not on your phone.” —Mom
“This was one was a little more entertaining—I liked building the properties.”—13-year-old
PRODUCT
The final product released to mass market in August 2024. The game received awards from PureWow and Good Housekeeping for Best Travel Game and Best Kid's Game, respectively. Finally, my work on this awarded me the title of Rising Star Innovator of the Year from the People of Play organization at the 2024 Toy and Game Innovation Awards (TAGIEs).
