Calgary-opoly lets players own Studio Bell and the Saddledome
Calgarians will get the chance to own and charge rent on the Calgary Tower, Scotiabank Saddledome and Studio Bell this winter.
Victoria-based company Outset Media is releasing Calgary- Opoly, a locally themed clone of Monopoly, to Walmarts in time for the holiday season.
“I think it’s a pretty cool way to celebrate communities across Canada, and we’ve got a great response,” says Outset Media senior vice-president Jean Paul Teskey.
Calgary-opoly follows a series of “Opoly” games Outset Media created for smaller communities in Canada released last year, including Halifax, Moncton and towns as small as Gander, N.L. (less than 12,000 people). Walmart specifically asked Outset to make a Calgary version.
The Monopoly rules as you know them are intact — buying properties, collecting $200 if you pass Go, going bankrupt — but with a few small changes.
Outset Media partnered with American board game company Late for the Sky for the Canadian line of “Opoly” games; Late for the Sky bought the rights to the “Opoly” name from Parker Brothers, the company that brought Monopoly worldwide before it was, in turn, sold to Hasbro in 1991.
The perpetual rights require a few cosmetic tweaks to the game: instead of the familiar jail, players get caught in a traffic jam; and “they don’t allow railroads,” Teskey says.
Instead of railroads in Calgary-opoly, you can own streets such as Centre Street, 8th Avenue, Memorial Drive and Macleod Trail.
Calgarians might notice one tall omission from the board: the Bow Tower, which Teskey says they’ll try and get into the game if they do another version next year.
Until then, you’ll have to be satisfied with owning the whole Calgary downtown in the marquee, Boardwalk location of the board.
Calgary-opoly is available for $29.93 at four Calgary Walmarts: Deerfoot Meadows, Westbrook, Shawnessy and Mckenzie.