Christmas Monopoly

1998: New Castle, England
The first Hill/Hui international monopoly game occurred in England. This board was a beautiful collector’s item that exhibited UK’s top properties. Park Lane and Mayfair were in place of the usual high roller Park Place and Boardwalk (US edition). Rather than Reading Railroad (the first railroad station after GO), was King’s Cross Station of Harry Potter fame. The most likely winner of the game was Alister Hill although never officially recorded.

Monopoly the way Milton Bradley must have intended it

2010: Sydney, Australia
On Christmas day, the four returning players from the 1998 match would be Jodie (age 16-21), Laurel, Alister, and I (age 21-25). The busy schedule of the holiday season and the rare opportunity for all of us to be together made this game a real precious gift.

The 2+ hour game was a grueling match of highs and lows, trades, and missed opportunities. In the 12 years since we’ve last played, the Hills moved from England to Australia, 3 of us have graduated universities, and we have all grown up a lot. Yet in the few hours we played, it felt like being transported back to a quieter, more peaceful time.

The final result mirrored our age as the girls made some quick trades and dominated the board early, but were victim of some unfortunate rolls. Alister and I would end up head to head, with him monopolizing the red properties and I the yellow and light blue properties.

That’s a scary street to go down. Rent on Fleet Street = 1050£!

Hopefully it will be less than 12 years before the four of us play on this board again.

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