Have you ever thought about buying the National Aquarium? What about the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company?
Well, those could be potential possibilities in a special Charm City edition of Monopoly. It’s up to you to decide.
Submissions are now open to the public to weigh-in on which Baltimore institutions should be part of a special Monopoly: Baltimore edition, designed by Top Trumps USA under license from toy manufacturer Hasbro.
Timothy Barney, a game manager at Top Trumps USA, outlined his priorities for the 20-30 institutions that will become a part of the game.
“We want to make sure that they [the institutions] are engaged with the community in some way. We want to make sure that they're credible. And we definitely love to feature places with longevity or legacy. It's great to know that they've been around for a while,” said Barney, in an interview. He’s looking for representation across Baltimore and possibly even from institutions that are less than-traditional: like food trucks, fine dining or even a K-12 school.
Traditional choices include nonprofits, restaurants, attractions, historic landmarks, hotels, sports teams & arenas, zoos & aquaria, museums, schools & universities, transportation, finance, the arts and utilities.
There are a few spaces already under consideration, although Barney can’t say who will be taking those until the game is released, which is planned for the autumn of this year.
“Everybody stands a chance. Even some of the craziest, most unique things can find their way into the game,” he said.
Barney will be in Baltimore soon, he said, learning the culture, slang and the things that make the city feel authentic. It’s something he takes care to do with every game he works on.
“When I was in Detroit, they made a point to say when I worked with Faygo, they were like, ‘Don't call it soda,’”
Decisions on the board spaces will be made by the end of the first week of April but decisions could be made even sooner so Barney says interested parties shouldn’t wait.
Top Trumps USA has 36 special city version of Monopoly available for sale on its website.
Anyone can make a submission at https://us.toptrumps.com/pages/baltimore-monopoly.
