San Francisco (AFP)
Who has not dreamed of talking to Mr. Monopoly? It will soon be possible with the new version of the famous game, activated by voice command and without banknotes, enough to make it difficult for cheaters.
With Monopoly Voice Banking, available July 1 in the United States, Hasbro brings his game into the era of vocal assistants: in this case, a cylinder shaped top hat, like that of the famous Mr. Monopoly mustachioed, to be placed in the center of the board, who speaks and listens to the players.
And he is ruthless: "You are ruined!" ("You're bankrupt!"), Will you launch if you fail to manage your assets.
It is by addressing the little hat, after pressing the button that corresponds to his character, that a player can for example ask the banker how much he has on his account, ask him to buy a particular property, build a hotel or draw a lucky (virtual) card.
The user manual tells players all the voice commands included with the hat.
To ease the task of Mr. Monopoly and speed up the game: four players maximum instead of six, fewer properties to buy and no electric company or railways to acquire.
With Monopoly controlling and managing all transactions, Monopoly Voice Banking makes cheating almost impossible. Especially since, like some previous versions, it has more bank notes, impossible to slip discreetly a few dollars in his sleeve ...
Note however, the prison box is still there.
? 2019 AFP