Board game enthusiasts will be turned into real estate tycoons when the Monopoly Malta edition lands in local shops in October placing 22 familiar locations on this make-believe property market.
Monopoly Malta was launched yesterday kicking off the process that will lead to the selection of the locations by a team of people who will include representatives from tourism and culture industries, Maltese language experts and even a Malta Environment and Planning Authority representative, said Sabrina Mulligan, the managing director of Brainbox Limited and the brains behind the project.
In her enthusiastic unveiling of the project to the media, Ms Mulligan explained how the idea came to her when she was in Scotland with her boyfriend and, due to bad weather, they remained indoors playing Monopoly. The couple started arguing and debating as they purchased fictitious land and property - and that was when it dawned on her: Why argue about property they never even saw when they could be dealing in real estate they could relate to? And so the idea was born.
Ms Mulligan explained that the 22 localities selected will represent the southern, central and northern parts of Malta and two areas in Gozo in order to ensure that all Maltese could relate to the game.
Game rules will be in Maltese and English and the game's community chest and chance cards will reflect Maltese culture. While the four corners of the game will remain standard, the four railway tracks will be changed to relate to Maltese transport.
Once all is selected and set, the information will be sent to Ireland in the first week of June enabling the production of the game to start.
The game will arrive in Malta in September and will be available in stores, the following month.
The game will also be distributed among Maltese communities in Australia, America, the UK and Canada, Ms Mulligan said.
The curious public will be left to guess which localities would make the board as, Ms Mulligan said, she wishes to keep them secret till the launch.
In a run up to the launch, a televised charity event will be held in September during which a number of key people in Maltese business development will play the first round of Monopoly Malta with real money.
Michel Matschoss, from the game editor company Winning Moves, explained that the company held the rights (from Monopoly's mother company Hasbro) to specialise Monopoly games in Europe and had already tailored the game for various cities. He was thrilled to see the enthusiasm expressed for the Maltese version.
American Ambassador Molly Bordonaro said that, apart from offering entertainment, Monopoly also thought players about competition and strategy, compromise and even civic responsibility.
These values would now be extended to the Maltese public "who will be able to have the pride and pleasure of playing Monopoly Malta-style". This, she said, was another of numerous American products brought to Malta and highlighted the strong commercial relationship between the countries.