Just in time for the holidays, Anthony Newman reviews a handheld remake of the classic we've all come to know and love: Monopoly. The verdict? It's almost as good as the real thing.
Monopoly is a global institution: quaintly traditional, it evokes images of holidays spent playing it with family and friends around the table, perhaps with a drink or two alongside. With games lasting hours and taking acres of space, nothing could seem further from the fast-paced technological world that we now inhabit.
 | Handmark's version of Monopoly comes pretty close to the real thing, despite not being quite as customizable
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Handmark, however, have decided to shatter the image of this venerable game by bringing it to the Pocket PC, accompanying the Palm version which has been available for a while now, and their port of Scrabble, also available for both platforms. It is now possible to play this quintessentially multi-player game on your own, against the computer, and also to save your game. One can play a 5-minute snatch of Monopoly on the train - without having to leave the board out overnight! So, despite destroying two of the fundamental features of the game, have Handmark managed to capture the essence of Monopoly?
Upon starting the game, you are prompted to choose a number of players from 2-4. Each player can be named, assigned to be either human or computer, and have one of the familiar pieces, including the hat, car, dog, iron and battleship. Fabulous. Once the players have been set, a representation of the board appears, exactly like the real thing - only smaller, obviously. The rules of the game are replicated completely, as one would expect, and the experience is clearly the main priority - the computerized aspect is minimised. The menu, for example, is an unobtrusive tab hidden up by ‘free parking’. Below the square board is an indication of the current player, their amount of money, and their property cards, all clearly visible.
All the action takes place in the middle of the board - the dice are rolled by tapping, and the current square is shown, with offers to buy and auction, cards that are picked up, and other salient facts. The small pewter icons move round and remain, just as in the ‘desktop’ version. In fact, the conversion is so accurate that there’s very little to say in terms of gameplay. The AI is competent (and has a range of different ‘personalities’), but many players have found it somewhat lacking in strategy. I’ve never been very good at the game (and I’m a bad loser, too), so I found it perfectly satisfactory!
Behind the familiar user interface lies a swathe of options and features which make the experience even more fulfilling. These options, and indeed the whole menu system, use their own colours and fonts, which minimises the OS intrusion into the game. It’s possible to customize the game with a number of preferences, even down to which side you prefer the dice to sit. Also in the menu are the load, save and new dialogs, the rules of the game, a comprehensive help section and the ‘beam game’ button, which appears to allow you to play on two or more devices, rather than huddling around the one - although that is obviously an option too. Finally, there is a menu tab for all the game details, such as mortgaging, trading and viewing summaries.
Monopoly takes over your PPC completely, which means that none of the application buttons work - the game must be exited to do anything else. This prevents accidental launching, but is annoying. Fortunately, the game is auto-saved when it’s exited, so you can resume right where you left off. For those of us who play standard Monopoly with variant rules, the ‘official’ version can seem a little strange, and although there are a range of rule options, they don’t cover all eventualities. However, it’s not really fair to expect Handmark to cover all the options that fifty years of evolution have brought to the game! Other minor issues include the lack of music and the annoying inability to see where houses are on the board at a glass. However, neither really impact gameplay to any extent.
Availability
Handmark Monopoly is available for $29.99 USD from Handmark's website for all Pocket PCs. A Palm OS version is also available.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a near-perfect conversion of a classic game. Handmark have done a great job of capturing the authentic feel of the original, and minimising the intrusion of the computer aspects. There is a decent range of options (although some more would have been nice), and comprehensive help to get you started. All the menu options fall easily to hand, and there’s really very little that could be done to improve things. Good job.
- What's positive: Accurate, looks good, well organized, fun to play
- What's negative: US-only street names, not totally customizable
Overall: 
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