Washington County-Opoly offers local spin on popular board game
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
A Washington County version of Monopoly created by Late For the Sky Production Co. is available at Walmart Superstore in Washington.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
A Washington County version of the classic board game, Monopoly, is available, and it features Washington County landmarks.
Move over, Park Place, Baltic Avenue and Marvin Gardens.
Washington County has its own customized version of the classic board game Monopoly.
Late for the Sky Production Co., a Cincinnati-based company, manufactures custom “-Opoly” games for cities and towns across the country and sells them at Walmart and Walgreens stores in their respective towns.
Washington County became the latest community to get a personalized game when Washington County-Opoly went on sale in mid-April at Walmart Supercenter in Trinity Point, Washington.
As players make their way around the board, they’ll find familiar landmarks like Montour Trail, Washington County Courthouse, Meadowcroft Rock Shelter, and the iconic covered bridges.
Other property squares Washington Countians can buy up are Wild Things Park, PONY League Baseball, Hillman State Park, Bradford House Museum, and Little Lake Theatre.
Players who draw from the “Contingency” and “Big Fun” decks can collect $100 for being crowned Miss Washington County, advance to Little Lake Theatre for a big night out, or lose one turn for turning off the alarm clock.
Token pieces are the same in all of the -Opoly games – a high-five, smile, heart, dog, sneaker and pretzel.
Late for the Sky launched in 1985, making licensed, collegiate board games.
About six years ago, the company began producing “-Opoly” board games for mid-sized and large cities.
“But we found there was a lot of interest from smaller cities,” said Michael Schulte, the company’s marketing manager. “People obviously are proud of where they came from, and now there’s a game they’ve known and loved that’s centered around their town.”
The company researches landmarks through chamber of commerce and other websites, and other sources.
“With county games, it gets a bit more challenging because counties include more points of interest,” said Schulte.
To date, the company has produced about 2,200 versions of cities and towns.
Jeff Kotula, President of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Promotion Agency, said the chamber was excited about the Washington County version of the game.
“Any interesting means to market Washington is welcome, as it leverages our existing efforts,” said Kotula.
Schulte said Late for the Sky has no affiliation with Hasbro, the maker of Monopoly. The game mechanics are not copyrighted, though, meaning any version of the game can be created as long as the board, pieces and names within the game are different from the original version.