Monopoly Voice Banking Puts Mr. Monopoly in Charge

For the first time ever, Mr. Monopoly has a voice that will guide players on their quest for real estate riches.

Hasbro‘s Monopoly Voice Banking Game places the iconic Mr. Monopoly into the role of banker, allowing him to control the game through an electronic lights and sounds banking unit housed in a replica of his famed top hat. Buttons on the unit represent player tokens, and Mr. Monopoly will keep tabs on all the action.

The game is said to be faster-moving than traditional Monopoly since there’s no cash or bank cards for players to keep track of. Instead, Mr. Monopoly tracks all transactions, keeping the game moving at a brisk pace peppered with commentary.

To purchase property, players will simply press their token button and state commands into the hat, such as “Buy Boardwalk.” The game includes four tokens, eight houses, 12 hotels, 16 title deeds, four reference cards, and the ever-present “Get Out of Jail Free” card.

The traditional fundamentals are all in place, with players setting out to travel around the board in hopes of collecting the most money and the highest property value. As Hasbro points out — there’s no cheating when Mr. Monopoly is leading the game.

Monopoly Voice Banking will hit retail on July 1. Preorders are already live through Walmart.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.