Our kid is still small enough that we still get Happy Meals so we have had a chance to see the current Hasbro toys. Each one is a simplified, miniaturized version of a classic game and is functional. Well, for a certain measure of functional. (Happy Meal memories blur together but I swear not all past board game promotions were playable)
Some of the games, like Battleship or Connect 4, are the regular games with flimsier components like card-stock checkers or just using graph paper. Although there is something a bit funny about playing Battleship the way it was played before it became a marketed product.
We’ve gotten Connect 4, the Game of Life and Monopoly because there’s a real limit of how many Happy Meals you are going to let your child eat. And, yes, a simplified Game of Life is a marvel that is only forgivable by a nifty spinner.
I was the most curious about Monopoly since it is the most complex base-game that is being offered. And it did not disappoint :P
There is no money. Just roll the origami die and move. If you land on an property that hasn’t been claimed, you get it. Whoever ends the game with the most properties wins. Yes, it manages to make Monopoly Jr feel like Catan.
On the one hand, I can’t say that any of these games are ones I’d play. Even Connect 4 which I think is a decent game, I’d want sturdier pieces. On the other hand, I have to give them credit for making games that can functionally be played. That is something.
And this is a step up from a roll and move track printed on a place mat.
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