Pockeropoly: A Decades Long Exercise In Board Game Replication and Execution (1 Viewer)

Benjaminotaur

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Way back during the poker boom of the early 2000’s, I started playing poker with a couple friends on a Thursday night. We didn’t have classes on Friday that semester, so we could play cards and shoot the shit deep into the night. Over the next 20 years, we learned a ton about poker and each other, but I still talk with 90% + of the people that ever sat around that table, which is worth more than any pot I ever raked.

But I digress. One of the things that all our original players has in common is a DEEP love of the game Monopoly. There was more than one occasion where we set the cards aside for a week and played a cutthroat game of Monopoly instead.

I had an idea about 10 years ago to create my own custom Monopoly game. My job had given me plenty of background in graphic design, as well as a keen attention to detail. I felt like replicating a board game would be a good flex of my skills, and a hell of a surprise to the regular players when rolling out the finished product.

Having the skills doesn't mean you’ve got everything you need however. As a poor theatre practitioner transitioning into a poor student (again), I didn’t have the means to create everything I wanted exactly the way I wanted. You could say I’m a man of particular tastes. Mostly expensive. Despite this, I was able to put together a few of the pieces for the game that would mostly stand alone. Everything else only lived in spreadsheets.

Until now. (dramatic music)

I’ll be using this thread to (probably slowly still) document the progress of the board game. The biggest stumbling block I still have is getting my artist friend onboard. I’ve known a guy for 20+ years, and I’ve been trying to get him to illustrate the Chance, Community Chest, money, and board artwork for at least the last 5 years. And I’m getting closer, but still no dice. That’s the downside to asking talented people for their services. Their calendar can get busy quickly!

One of the things that I put to bed right away was the houses and hotels. I wanted a poker tie in, and my first thought was piles of chips for houses and bigger piles of chips for hotels. Eh.

What I landed on was so much better. All houses are represented by 3D printed suits, 8 per suit. The 5th structure would complete the flush, so the hotels are toilets. Gold, of course. This was the detail that sealed the deal for me. I laughed so hard at my own joke, I knew I needed to see this thing through just so I could continue to laugh at myself.
Blacks.jpeg
Reds.jpeg
All.jpeg


The movers are all cobbled together from existing Monopoly games. I don’t have them in front of me, so I can’t tell you what they all are, but they all call back to an event from our games’ history.

The money is still a work in progress, but I’m happy to say that all the materials have been procured, and are awaiting label design. Lets face it: Paper money is for chumps. Chips are not only awesome on the poker table, but also on the Monopoly table. My solid THC game really flexed hard here to put the lineup together, and I can’t wait to get a label designed and slapped on there. That’s going to be a great day.
IMG_1650 2.JPG
IMG_2635.JPG


And never mind the gold/butterscotch in the picture up above. They're being replaced with the perfect chip: 3 stacks of Grey Poupon! (That's high society for you Rounders loving folks)
IMG_6439.JPG


I’ll continue to document all the bits and pieces in the thread below. I might be the only one reading them, but I’ve been the only one who has known about this for 10+ years, and I’m still following along. Hopefully you’ll get some good entertainment out of it if you choose to do the same.

Oh, the name! It’s not a typo. It’s actually going to be called Pockeropoly. Way back in the first weeks of our games’ existence, one of the guys didn’t have any cash on him. It was his own house too, so I’m guessing the guy wasn’t pulling our legs. He wrote a check for $2.00 (We played pretty big stakes back in the day) and made it out, not to cash, but to Pocker. I honestly can’t remember if alcohol was involved with this one, but I give the guy the benefit of the doubt even though it wouldn’t surprise me either way. My brother was the "big" winner that night, but he didn’t cash the check. My friend gave him plenty of warning before closing that checking account, but my brother knows a good thing when he sees it, and he still has the check to this day.

Anyhow, thanks for making it this far. I'd love to have you along for the ride if you've enjoyed what's here so far!!
 
Way back during the poker boom of the early 2000’s, I started playing poker with a couple friends on a Thursday night. We didn’t have classes on Friday that semester, so we could play cards and shoot the shit deep into the night. Over the next 20 years, we learned a ton about poker and each other, but I still talk with 90% + of the people that ever sat around that table, which is worth more than any pot I ever raked.

But I digress. One of the things that all our original players has in common is a DEEP love of the game Monopoly. There was more than one occasion where we set the cards aside for a week and played a cutthroat game of Monopoly instead.

I had an idea about 10 years ago to create my own custom Monopoly game. My job had given me plenty of background in graphic design, as well as a keen attention to detail. I felt like replicating a board game would be a good flex of my skills, and a hell of a surprise to the regular players when rolling out the finished product.

Having the skills doesn't mean you’ve got everything you need however. As a poor theatre practitioner transitioning into a poor student (again), I didn’t have the means to create everything I wanted exactly the way I wanted. You could say I’m a man of particular tastes. Mostly expensive. Despite this, I was able to put together a few of the pieces for the game that would mostly stand alone. Everything else only lived in spreadsheets.

Until now. (dramatic music)

I’ll be using this thread to (probably slowly still) document the progress of the board game. The biggest stumbling block I still have is getting my artist friend onboard. I’ve known a guy for 20+ years, and I’ve been trying to get him to illustrate the Chance, Community Chest, money, and board artwork for at least the last 5 years. And I’m getting closer, but still no dice. That’s the downside to asking talented people for their services. Their calendar can get busy quickly!

One of the things that I put to bed right away was the houses and hotels. I wanted a poker tie in, and my first thought was piles of chips for houses and bigger piles of chips for hotels. Eh.

What I landed on was so much better. All houses are represented by 3D printed suits, 8 per suit. The 5th structure would complete the flush, so the hotels are toilets. Gold, of course. This was the detail that sealed the deal for me. I laughed so hard at my own joke, I knew I needed to see this thing through just so I could continue to laugh at myself.
View attachment 1132196View attachment 1132197View attachment 1132195

The movers are all cobbled together from existing Monopoly games. I don’t have them in front of me, so I can’t tell you what they all are, but they all call back to an event from our games’ history.

The money is still a work in progress, but I’m happy to say that all the materials have been procured, and are awaiting label design. Lets face it: Paper money is for chumps. Chips are not only awesome on the poker table, but also on the Monopoly table. My solid THC game really flexed hard here to put the lineup together, and I can’t wait to get a label designed and slapped on there. That’s going to be a great day.
View attachment 1132198View attachment 1132199

And never mind the gold/butterscotch in the picture up above. They're being replaced with the perfect chip: 3 stacks of Grey Poupon! (That's high society for you Rounders loving folks)
View attachment 1132200

I’ll continue to document all the bits and pieces in the thread below. I might be the only one reading them, but I’ve been the only one who has known about this for 10+ years, and I’m still following along. Hopefully you’ll get some good entertainment out of it if you choose to do the same.

Oh, the name! It’s not a typo. It’s actually going to be called Pockeropoly. Way back in the first weeks of our games’ existence, one of the guys didn’t have any cash on him. It was his own house too, so I’m guessing the guy wasn’t pulling our legs. He wrote a check for $2.00 (We played pretty big stakes back in the day) and made it out, not to cash, but to Pocker. I honestly can’t remember if alcohol was involved with this one, but I give the guy the benefit of the doubt even though it wouldn’t surprise me either way. My brother was the "big" winner that night, but he didn’t cash the check. My friend gave him plenty of warning before closing that checking account, but my brother knows a good thing when he sees it, and he still has the check to this day.

Anyhow, thanks for making it this far. I'd love to have you along for the ride if you've enjoyed what's here so far!!
We’ll need proof of the “Pocker” check…
 
This is amazing! I certainly will be reading.

Each player will use houses of a different suit? They look amazing
For gameplay purposes, all suits are equal and can be interchanged without putting a roadblock to a flush. That said, I am 100% sure players will try to use the same suit on the same property. It might even add another level of trading to the game haha!
 
That’s one of the versions I actually don’t have! At the high water mark, I had almost 300 versions of the game. :wtf:

I’ve got it down to about 10% of that total now, and it’s been in that range for the last 10 years or so. This will actually be my first new version of the game in about 3 years when my godson got me the National Parks version
 
That’s one of the versions I actually don’t have! At the high water mark, I had almost 300 versions of the game. :wtf:

I’ve got it down to about 10% of that total now, and it’s been in that range for the last 10 years or so. This will actually be my first new version of the game in about 3 years when my godson got me the National Parks version
I had no idea there were so many.
 
I have my grandma’s 1946 version. The box is a little beat up but it’s complete which is awesome. Houses and hotels are made of wood and the hotels have a name on them. We all know they don’t make things like this anymore which is such a shame.
View attachment 1136575View attachment 1136576View attachment 1136577View attachment 1136578View attachment 1136579
I love this edition!! In fact, those are one of my favorite hotels. From a time when companies actually cared about details like that. Before they would include an Apply-your-own-damn-decorative-sticker sheet somewhere in the box.

And it is very cool that you’ve got the game that’s been in the family for so long! You can tell it’s been lovingly played and cared for through the years
 

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