msimpson@bbncca.ARPA (Mike Simpson) (04/16/84)
***
16 April 1984.
Well, it had to happen. Just as soon as Parker Brothers
couldn't have a monopoly on 'MONOPOLY', out comes GAY MONOPOLY,
by the Parker Sisters.
My partner brought this back from a trip to San Francisco
(fortunately for all concerned, he didn't bring back anything
else), and we played it a couple of times.
(Those of you who have the game can skip the next bit.)
The playing field is circular instead of rectangular.
One does buy and sell properties (the 'hot' streets in a given
town or a particular region), as in regular Monopoly. Boston was
represented by "Tremont Street/South End". I would have
preferred "Boylston Street/Combat Zone", but you take what you
can get. One builds bars and baths on properties, instead of
houses and hotels.
I have a rose and a thorn to offer the game.
The rose goes to the "Family Pride" cards. If you land
on the pink-triangled "Family Pride" square, a description of a
famous man who happened to be homosexual is read. If you can
correctly identify the person, you can advance to any square on
the board (great for building monopolies!). They are pretty
informative.
(***SPOILER WARNING***)
Until I played this game, I never knew that George
Washington Carver was not only gay, but openly so. They never
taught ME that in my Black History classes!
(*** END SPOILER ***)
The thorn is split between the 'campiness' of the game's
instructions and the fact that bars and baths become the Holy
Grail of the game. One small part of me, kicking and screaming,
says "Is that all there is?"
Anyway, try it. It's lots of fun. As Bill Cosby said, "If you're
not careful, you may learn something."
PS -- LESBIAN MONOPOLY is supposed to be out soon. I'll probably
check that out too.
--
-- cheers,
Mike Simpson, BBN
msimpson@bbn-unix (ARPA)
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617-497-2819 (Ma Bell)