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Now, I feel it's important to exhibit my bias up front. I hate Wal-mart.
Yea, I'm one of those people. But sometimes Wal-mart has things that
no one else does, making it tough not to buy there. This Monopoly game
is a good example. Yes, it's sad.
While it might appear I have a bias towards the Life game because of the
specific retailer, it's also worth noting that while I enjoyed both of these
board games as a kid, my prefered game was Monopoly. So while I have
my bias', they go either way, and are probably not going to end up effecting
my final verdict.
The Game of Life is about $20, while the Monopoly game is close to
$30. You can get them at the stores of course, or at their online
counterpart.
While the Monopoly game is technically Parker Brothers, and the Life game
is technically Milton-Bradley, remember that these are BOTH Hasbro
games. However, by the time you're done with this review, you'll
realize that same company but different divisions can make a huge
difference.
Packaging - Monopoly ****; Life ***
Here's a category where it isn't even an fair comparison.
The folks at MB give it a shot, but their attempt just isn't up to the
level of quality that is there with the Monopoly game. The Life box is
designed to look like Indy's suitcase, and they did give the cover a
textured, leathery feel. The straps are smooth though, as well as the
logos. The graphics are good, and it's certainly eye catching.
But that Monopoly box is SO cool, it's almost a good enough reason to buy
the game all by itself. It's an all wood box, designed just like a
crate in the Area 51 warehouse. While most of the sides say
"Monopoly", one side does say "Property of Dr. Jones"
with a serial number. On the top is also the Monopoly name, along with
the Indiana Jones name and a cool logo.
Remember when you were a kid and played around with a wood burning
kit? That's what the lettering on the box looks like, although in
reality it is a different printing process that sinks the logo and letters
into the wood without the scorching.
The lid of the box slides in and out, and all the pieces fit nicely
inside even after you've opened everything up. Don't you hate it when
you open up the pieces and put things together, and you can't get the damn
lid shut again? That's not a problem with the Monopoly game, but I did
find it to be a bit of an issue with the Life game.
Finally, the Monopoly game even comes with a cool parchment style
"Certificate of Authenticity" with a serial number. Sure,
there's no shortage of these games, but it's still nice to see they went the
extra mile.
Board/Pieces - Monopoly ****; Life ***
The Game of Life always has a cool board. Here there's several pieces
that attach to the board itself, including the spinner of course, as well as
the Museum, rock outcroppings, and bridge.
There are three plastic artifacts to get: the Ark, the Grail and the
Stones. Your token that moves around the board is a small plastic
Indy, done in a bright army man style plastic, like yellow or red.
Other pieces include paper money, thick 'life tiles', and a deck of
Adventure cards. The tiles have varying dollar amounts along with the
names of different artifacts on them, including The Philosopher's
Stone. Take that, J.K. Rowling.
The Monopoly game might cost more, but you can see why. If I was
just grading this on the board graphics itself, the Life game would
win. It's the more attractive board, with better graphics and
design. The Monopoly game isn't ugly, but it's pretty much the basic
board with new names on the properties, and some additional graphics in the
center.
But like usual, Monopoly has those cool tokens. They are metal,
painted a bronze patena style. There's the curled whip, the trademark
hat, the grail diary, the grail itself, the Crystal Skull, and the ore car
from Temple of Doom. All of these are very nice looking, and the Grail
is actually big enough to work as a sixth scale accessory.
Normally, there are hotels and houses with Monopoly. In this
version, they've replaced the houses with little plastic Fertiility Idols,
and the hotels have been replaced with Arks.
While the Life game has the spinner, Monopoly has dice. I was
hoping these would be artifact-like in their design, but they are just
standard white dice. The money (which has been renamed
"reputation points" for some silly reason, even though the dollar
sign is still present) has various artifacts
printed on it, but comes in the same denominations as usual. The money
in Monopoly has different graphics for each denomination, but the Life game
uses the same graphic with just a differing amount and color.
The Title Deeds look the same as always with the exception of the change
of property names, and the Community Chest and Chance cards have been
changed to Fortune and Glory cards, with lines and situations right from the
films.
In the end, the Monopoly game is the much better visual adaptation, and
does a better job fitting the Indy style to the original game look and feel.
Game Play - Monopoly ***; Game of LIfe **
Both of these games are near and dear to my heart, along with other classics
like Stratego, Yahtzee and Battleship.
If you remember how to play Monopoly, you'll know exactly how to play
this game. The property names have changed, the look of the pieces
have changed, and the text on the Fortune and Glory cards might be
different, but the game play itself is essentially the same.
That's not the case with the Game of Life. Let's face it, getting
married and picking a career, having little blue and pink pegs added to the
back of your car, really doesn't make much sense for an Indy themed
game. So they tried to adapt the play, but they came up woefully
short. You're merely trying to collect as much cash and artifacts as
possible, and getting to the artifacts will be the very first thing everyone
tries to do. Getting them is VERY easy too, and once they are gone the game
gets pretty dull.
The board has four different colored 'tracks' you can follow, three of
which include one of the artifacts. Traveling along these tracks, you
draw Adventure Cards, and based on the current color you're on, you do
whatever it says - collect or lose money, life tiles, whatever. The
game is designed for you to go through the full stack of Adventure Cards
once, and that's pretty much it. Yea, you can steal from each other, and there's some
use of "Partner" cards that make the game a bit more role
play-like, but it's too little too late.
Value - Monopoly ***; Life **1/2
You're getting a great value on the Monopoly game, even if you're paying
about eight bucks more. The box and tokens make it well worth spending
the extra cash.
Overall - Monopoly ***1/2; Game of Life **1/2
Yea, I might hate Wal-mart, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you the
Target exclusive board game is better. It's not. The fun of the
original Game of Life has been sucked right out of it, leaving a not
particularly attractive shell.
The Monopoly game is more expensive, but considering the exceptionally
cool box and the nice metal playing tokens, it's money well spent. The
cheaper plastic pieces in the Game of Life ain't doing it, particularly the
silly little Indy's that are merely different colors.
If you're an Indy freak, get them both, but if you're looking for a game
you can actually play with the family and have fun, stick with
Monopoly. They made some minor changes, but it's still the basic game
you know and love.
Score Recap:
Packaging - ***
Board/Pieces - Monopoly ****; Life ***
Game Play - Monopoly ***; Game of LIfe **
Value - **1/2
Overall - Monopoly ***1/2; Game of Life **1/2
Where to Buy -
Pick up the Monopoly game at Wal-mart (probably in the board game aisle),
and pick up the Game of Life at Target (usually on an end cap with the other
Indy merchandise). The Game of Life usually runs $20, and the Monopoly
game is around $28 or so.
Related Links -
Other Indy reviews include:
- another unusual Indy item is the Blockbuster
exclusive DVD case.
- I also put together a print article for the Toledo
Free Press on the various Indy collectibles out there.
- I reviewed the 12" German and Cairo Swordsman, as well as both
12" Hasbro Indy's.
- in the smaller scale, I looked at some of the deluxe two packs
and several of the single pack figures,
with a few more over at QSE.
- There's a number of cool Lego sets, inlcuding this
one.
- Gentle Giant did a 7" version for the Disney parks.
- Disney has done a few other Indy figures, including this wave of small
ones.
- and if you're looking for something a bit bigger, check out the very cool sixth scale Grail diary, or this
sixth scale figure.
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