Board Game Review: Chronicles of Narnia Monopoly

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Great theming adds to a fun game

Cons: Wish it included all seven Narnia books.

The Bottom Line:

Game for first two films

Would love one for all the books

But this is still fun

Just Try to Keep This Narnia Geek from Buying Cair Paravel.  And Lamp Post.  And....

Walking through Borders can be hazardous to your wallet.  Okay, so I learned that a long time ago.  I do love to read after all.  But on a recent trip there, I discovered the Monopoly: Chronicles of Narnia Collector's Edition.  Even better it was on sale.  I didn't know they had made such a thing, but I immediately had to buy it.

Like most of the official collectors versions of Monopoly, the theming is the only thing that has changed in this version of the game.  So if you don't love Narnia, playing your old, original version will give you the same thrills.  Even the property prices are the same in this game.

In case you've missed this classic American game, it's a board game.  You and your friends roll the dice to travel around the board.  As you land on property, you can buy it from the bank.  When you own a monopoly (all the properties of the same color), you can further increase the value by building houses and hotels on your property.  As your opponents land on the spaces, they have to pay you rent.  The object of the game is to be the last one standing, having driven your opponents to bankruptcy.  Depending on the number of players and how lucky they are, this can be quite a long process at times.

As I said, this version of the game has all the same rules.  It's just the details that have changed.  For example, the money in the game, while in the same denominations, has Aslan on it.  The six pewter tokens are of various weapons of the series.  You've got Peter's Shield, Susan's Horn, Lucy's Cordial, Miaraz's Helmet, Peter's Helmet, and Caspain's Shield and Sword.

The properties are all places in Narnia.  They include such places as Great Woods, Tumnus' House, Lone Islands, Shuddering Wood, White Witch's Castle, Telmarine Castle, Aslan's How, and Cair Paravel.  That last one is in the Boardwalk space, as it should be.  Likewise, the traditional Railroads have been replaced.  This time around, they are rivers.  The utilities are absolutely perfect in their replacements.  The Electric Company becomes Lamp Post and Water Works becomes Great Waterfall.  And the tax squares are now White Witch's Secret Police Tax and Miraz Tax.  And all of these spaces feature a picture of the property from the movies.

The Community Chest and Chance cards have been replaced by Magic Tree and Magician's Book.  But they still serve the same function of randomly assigning a benefit or extra cost to the player who lands on those spaces.  They do have fun Narnia twists to them.  Here are some examples.  "White Witch turns you to stone.  Pay $150."  "Enlist helpers with Turkish Delight.  Collect $50 from every player."  "Called back to Narnia.  Advance to Go."  "Captured by the White Witch.  Go Directly to Jail."  Every card has an appropriate pictures from the movies on it.

Instead of building with houses and hotels, you are now building with cottages and castles.  But if the title deeds didn't tell you, you'd never know.  These plastic pieces look just like the traditional pieces from the classic game.  That's the case most of the time with the special editions, and is one of my biggest peeves with the games.  On the other hand, the dice are gold and have some flecks in them to make them look almost sparkly.

And here comes the Narnia Geek in me to talk about one the biggest problem with the game.  It is quite obviously themed more to the two movies that have been made so far than the series of books.  All the locations and cards refer to events from the movies.  Now, as much as I love the movies, I would prefer to have a Monopoly themed to the entire Narnia series.  Just think of all the places you could buy then.  (Of course, I'd want Cair Paravel kicked out of Broadway for Aslan's Country.  But I'm dreaming again.)

I am competitive when I play any game, but I have discovered that this version of Monopoly makes me extra competitive.  Why?  Because I love these places so much I really want to own them all.  I mean really, really, really.  Really.  Of course, most of the time this game is won or lost on luck, but that doesn't make it any easier for me.

Yes, I wish the game include places and events from the other five books in the series.  But it's a minor complaint.  Chronicles of Narnia Collector's Edition of Monopoly is one impulse purchase I am quite thrilled I made.