Well, do you know that in one variant of Monopoly nowadays, you can actually shuffle the board around? Yup, that’s U-Build Monopoly.

Or in another variant, there’s no board, pieces and money, but just cards? That would be Monopoly Deal.

It’s worth noting that mass game manufacturers are keeping fans of such classic games interested by constantly innovating the old favourites. They are also most likely gaining new fans too.

The fun factor

Fans, both new and old, gravitate towards the new incarnations of the old staples.

One such fan is Wong Yik Siew, a 21-year old college student who loves nothing more than playing Monopoly Deal during his spare time and the weekends.

“It’s fun, simple and a lot more convenient if compared with the original or classic version. It’s a quick and exciting diversion, after dinner, and sometimes even when I’m outstation,” he says.

The likes of Monopoly Deal is winning over fans with its simple gameplay and convenience.

There is also a resurgence of interest in boardgames and card games (of both the non-collectible and collectible types), says Richard Chua, owner and founder of Outpost Toys, Services and Events that specialises in organising events, provides themed costumes and sells collectibles and toys.

Monopoly Deal

“After successfully organising Monopoly Deal tutorials and competitions late last year, we’re looking into giving the game more airtime, via additional competitions and exposure through other promotions, throughout 2011,” says Chua.

A lot of the appeal of these updated variants of boardgames boils down to their convenience and simplicity, he says.

“Boardgames and like are evolving and competing for play time, which is not the easiest thing to do. Given how many of today’s interests are online or Internet-related, such as Farmville-type of games, Facebook or console games. It’s commendable that these games have made some headway in a time when everyone has so little time and attention for everything,” summarised Chua.

He has run demonstrations of other games, such as Monopoly City and Boggle Flash, but Monopoly Deal is a strong crowd favourite.

“Well, honestly I actually think it’s the convenience and simplicity. I can’t find another game that can be taught in ten minutes or one quick session, and finishes in less than 20. It’s simply brilliant,” thinks Chua.

Other spin offs

So, what are some of the old classic games that have been given an altogether new spin?

The aforementioned Monopoly Deal is a hot favourite now, due to its extreme portability (110 cards and that’s it!) and quick victory conditions.

Players attempt to be the first to collect three complete property sets, but Debt Collectors, Forced Deals and the feared Deal Breakers can change things in a jiffy.

Each player starts with five cards and draws two at the start of each turn. On the respective player’s turns, they draw up to three. Cards go into a Bank Pile, Property Set or Action Pile.

The Bank Pile stores money. The function of money in Monopoly Deal is to pay other players (when required) and protect property sets.

The action is pretty much in the cards themselves. There are cards for instance, that force other players to pay you (rent cards for example). The strategy is thus balancing the management of the Bank Pile as well as your properties: do you pay using cash, or do you barter off your unwanted properties?

And that is Monopoly Deal in 200 words or less. With an average playing time of 15 to 20 minutes, you should be able to clock plenty of games within an evening, post-dinner.

Another variant of Monopoly, U-Build Monopoly, is slightly more fancy and complicated. Still, games of U-Build are expected to run only 30 minutes, all the way up to 90 minutes, according to the box’ description.

Instead of a fixed board, U-Build makes use of hexagonal tiles, which you use to build your board. You only need one property of a colour group to build on each hex, and you may build up to eight houses on each property, but only three per turn.

There are two types of properties: green residential houses which cost less, but are susceptible to hazards, and gray industrial buildings that cost double, but are protected from hazards.

Hazards come in the form of orange hexes that can be placed on the board in a number of ways. If a hazard is touching one of your properties, then it essentially blanks out all of the green residential homes there.

There are also green hexes that protect your properties. If a green hex is touching a property, then a hazard cannot also be placed adjacent to said property.

The game designers have turned the classic Chance cards into something quite unique. There are bridges in the game that can open and close on a hinge. If it is closed, you may pass. But if it is currently open, you have to pay to close it.

Also, if you land on a chance space, you change the position of the bridge and draw a chance card. The card will usually have two effects, one if the bridge is now open, and one if the bridge is now closed.

Overall, the feeling is a lot more high-end, visual and yet, challenging on a whole new level. Contrast this with the old-school Monopoly, which is a simple go-collect 200 dollars-conquer/build kind of game, and you’ll see where I’m coming from.

Some people have compared U-Build to Monopoly City, but I honestly think they’re built on very different premises. I’ve covered Monopoly City last year, but in case you missed it, it’s essentially classic Monopoly with a city-esque setting. The reason why U-Build gets the comparison is the presence of hazards in City, which also renders residential buildings worthless.

But slight similarities aside, I think U-Build is perfect for the crowd that’s looking for a fresh Monopoly title that’s a little more visual and grand than Monopoly Deal. And yes, you’ll have fun with all the little pieces too.

Finally, for the crowd that loves word-based games, do check out Boggle Flash. It’s an electronic tile game that asks people to find anagrams based on the letters provided.

There are five tiles that are electronic, and they each display a letter on a small screen. They are supposed to sense their relative position in a sequence, which allows them to indicate by beeping and flashing when an actual Scrabble-rules English word is spelled correctly.

Pretty impressive technology I must say, even though the innovation wears thin after an hour plus playing this.

(Yeah, we went back to Monopoly Deal – it was just too much fun, honestly!)

* CHEE YIH YANG is going to boost up his beloved Samurai decks. E-mail the esoteric gaming nut at yihyang@gmail.com if you have comments, questions, hot gaming news and tips, and trading lists and deck ideas, for both Magic and World of Warcraft.

Check out his blog at https://rage.com.my/category/cards-and-boards, and follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/arcturus mengsk.