Manchester University version of Monopoly now on sale

Nope, this isn’t one of those articles with a completely misleading headline — the University of Manchester has genuinely launched its own version of Monopoly!

Available from the University’s gift shop, designers Creative Emporium spent almost three years making the special edition game as a keepsake for former staff and students.

Akin to the classic version of Monopoly, the rules remain essentially the same with players given a ‘salary of 200’ as they pass Go (there is a special Manchester-specific currency for the game).

The miniaturised red and green houses have been replaced by purple and yellow plastic houses — the colours of the University.

There are no railway stations dotted around the board on the UoM branded game. Instead, they have been replaced by the University’s cultural assets: The Whitworth, John Rylands Library, Manchester Museum, and the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre.

University of Manchester sports venues — the Aquatics Centre and the Armitage Sports Centre — have replaced the Electric Company, and Water Works — the utilities in the classic version of the game.

The cheapest property on the board is the student halls of residence on Moseley Road in Fallowfield, while the most expensive property is the University’s Old Quadrangle.

But the University insisted that the valuations were based not on the perceived value of the properties but simply the distance from the main university building.

Monopoly was first published by the Parker Brothers in 1935 and has since been adapted into dozens of different versions.

The aim of the popular board game is to make your opponents bankrupt by trading, selling, and developing properties and assets, and collecting rent.

But UoM bosses hope their edition of the game will inspire memories of good times spent in Manchester.

“It was two to three years in the making, and came about because it would be something nice for alumni and students to have to remember their time at Manchester,” a spokesman said.

“It was launched this year, and went down very well at graduation, with staff and graduates playing it.

“The stations are our cultural assets, and the utilities are our sports venues. They started with the old quad — our iconic area — as Mayfair, and worked their way around campus to end in Fallowfield.”

Just 2,000 of the limited edition University of Manchester branded games were made.

They are available from the university’s gift shop at University Place and online via the website for £29.99.