This article is more than 6 years old

Universities enjoying their Monopoly

Paul Greatrix passes go and rounds up the best of the university monopoly variants.
This article is more than 6 years old

Paul Greatrix is Registrar at The University of Nottingham, author and creator of Registrarism and a Contributing Editor of Wonkhe.

I posted a while ago about university record breakers which included most people dressed as Smurfs and the world’s smallest periodic table.

I subsequently happened across this giant effort by students and staff of the student association at Wageningen who created the world’s biggest ever game of Monopoly as this video shows:

It’s a terrific effort but to be honest does not actually look that exciting to play. Goodness knows how they move those houses and hotels.

Anyway, this reminded me of the fact that among the hundreds of specific tailored versions of Monopoly featuring towns and cities across the world, there are some which are university-specific.

The first which caught my eye was this from the University Of Notre Dame: “Irishopoly. What exciting features does this game offer?

  • Board spaces are specific to the university
  • For 2 to 6 players
  • Great gift for students, alumni, and fans
  • Opoly-style play

The Game Includes: Tokens (Alarm Clock, Pencil, Gym Shoe, Bicycle, Graduation Cap), Special College specific board spaces, Rent cards, money. Everything you need to play a full game.

Not sure about those playing pieces and not convinced this is actually an official Monopoly variant.

However, this version from the University of Leeds definitely is

It claims to be “just like the original, only based around the University of Leeds” and features local streets and landmarks. But Leeds is not the only university to offer an exciting higher education Monopoly experience. Also in first equal place in this particular ranking are:

  • Newcastle University
  • Leicester University
  • Manchester University
  • University of Kent
  • Lancaster University
  • Edge Hill University

There may be others I’ve missed. Does your university have a bespoke Monopoly set?

And are there any other tailored university-based games?

Apart from this University Challenge game of course.

3 responses to “Universities enjoying their Monopoly

  1. Opens up the possibility of some interesting ‘Chance’ cards: ‘Your V-C has accepted a large salary increase. Move straight to Go and collect £468,000’; or ‘It’s been discovered that you bought your final dissertation. Go straight to jail’

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