Sacramento edition of Monopoly enshrines the city in board game lore. Sorry, Land Park
If you’ve ever dreamed of owning California’s Capitol building for $400, or the American River for a mere $300, the opportunity has arrived.
In a board game, of course.
Monopoly: Sacramento Edition officially launched this week, putting a City of Trees spin on the Hasbro classic.
Immortalizing California’s capital city into the board game canon, the game includes some of the city’s most prominent landmarks, neighborhoods and businesses, including half a dozen bars and restaurants that have been enshrined as properties.
Somebody’s gotta be first: Land Park sits just left of “Go” and is the lowest-priced property on the board – the spot marked by “Mediterranean Avenue” in classic Monopoly – along with East Lawn Memorial Park (“Baltic Avenue”).
Don’t sweat it, Land Park suburbanites: the space appears to reference William Land Park itself, not the tony homes that surround it.
The two properties make up the brown set, with each piece valued at $60. (Technically, 60 Monopoly credits; we’re not sure on the conversion rate.)
At the high end, the California state Capitol replaces “Boardwalk” as the most valuable property at $400, followed by Golden 1 Center (in for “Park Place”) at $350.
Unfortunately for Kings fans, no purple victory beam is included for the NBA arena.
What else is on the Sacramento Monopoly board?
Speaking of colors, each property set on the board denotes a different theme.
Following the two brown-space parks, light blue represents museums, headlined by the Crocker Art Museum.
Six local businesses make Sacramento’s nightlife and restaurant scenes in the form of the magenta and red properties, respectively: Faces Nightclub, Old Ironsides and Goldfield Trading Post; and Nash & Proper, Binchoyaki and Frank Fat’s.
In between magenta and red, orange is made up of three historic landmarks, including Old Sacramento; and yellow includes Sacramento’s skyline plus two of the city’s biggest downtown hotels.
At the high end of the board, the green properties are larger landmarks in the form of the whole of downtown, the American River and the Tower Bridge.
In place of railroads, a Sacramento Regional Transit light rail stop bisects each side of the square board.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District takes the place of “Electric Company” from the classic edition, while Discovery Park replaces “Water Works.”
Like in the classic edition, there are three community chest spaces and two chance spaces. Two of the community chest spaces and one chance space are sponsored by local organizations: domestic violence prevention nonprofit WEAVE Inc., Outword Media and Kings fan-grassroots organization Crown Downtown.
The community chest and chance cards are Sacramento-themed as well: You can win a prize at the California State Fair, or finish second in (Eppie’s) “Great Race.” The chance card forcing payment for repairs on a player’s houses and hotels even gives a nod to Sacramento’s high flood danger.
And then there’s the standard Monopoly fare. There is no escaping “Income Tax” or “Super Tax.” Jail is jail, without any Sacramento-themed adornments. And the “Free Parking” corner space remains unchanged from the classic edition (perhaps because the creators struggled to find any on Sacramento’s grid).
The cover of the game’s box highlights the Tower Bridge spanning the Sacramento River. All of the board’s properties are based in the capital city proper, though West Sacramento’s pyramidal Ziggurat building also gets a cameo on the box cover.
There are no gameplay changes: It’s still the Monopoly you’ve likely been playing since you were a kid.
Sales representatives with Top Trumps USA joined business owners, local news outlets and other stakeholders for a launch event Tuesday at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel (which is a property on the board, in the yellow section, valued at 280 Monopoly credits).
Monopoly: Sacramento Edition is available now on the Top Trumps USA website and on Amazon, for $44.99.
This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
