Smaller and more compact: Monopoly gets a square box to fit better in Ikea cabinet
© Belgaimage
Monopoly, just about the mother of board games, will soon be 90 years old. In honor of that anniversary, the iconic game gets a facelift. The 'Classic' version now also comes in a square box so that it would fit better in … a Kallax cabinet from Ikea.
It started as The Landlord's Game In 1903. One Lizzie Magic, an anti -capitalist feminist and game designer, wanted to criticize her board game to large landowners and their economic power that grows increasingly as they reinforced it – he – he – monopoly.
The actual brand name only came in 1935 after the Parker Brothers bought the patent and released the game as 'Monopoly'. Now 90 years, 275 million copies sold and no fewer than 300 versions later, the 'classic' version of the game is given a facelift. (Read more under the illustration)
Among other things, the fund cards and the money get a new look and the pawns will also be somewhat larger. But possibly the most striking novelty is the box. It is no longer rectangular, but Square says Habsro CEO Brian Baker in an interview with Polygon. According to Baker, that shape is more and more the standard under the boutique board games. “But it is especially useful because they fit better in a Kallax cabinet from Ikea. The board game cabinet par excellence that every collector has in the house. ”
More convenient and less air
“Now that you say it … indeed! It does cut wood, « says Charlie Hemmes, marketing manager at 999 Games. “Almost everything board game fans come to a point that their collection is getting large enough to display. And then they get such a cupboard. » The Dutch company – known for Catan (formerly 'the settlers of …') – still has games in boxes of both sizes. “We are also a distributor, so sometimes the size of the box is already determined. But for our own games we mainly look at the pricing: an expensive game of 50 euros in a small box? That doesn't feel right. That is why we still put the more premium board games, beyond 40 euros, in rectangular boxes. On the other hand, we see in the rest of the sector that square is becoming more and more the standard. ”
There are several explanations for: Jumbo – including the Publisher of Stratego – indicated that all their rectangular boxes were phasing out and switching to belittling (and also square) boxes because they are more durable. « You pack and transport less air, » says Hemmes. It is also cheaper because you need less cardboard and plastic. « Another important factor that determines the size of a box is the presentation in the store. » You would think: the bigger the better, because then potential customers cannot look next to the box. Not so, because: “buyers and shopkeepers sometimes say: 'The shelf is not from elastic.'The classic size of Monopoly simply takes more space than a square box. You get more games on one shelf. Because square becomes the standard more and more, you have to follow, you want to lie or stand between the others. And not on another shelf somewhere at the bottom right with the other 'crazy' sizes. ”
In the past, special versions of Monopoly have already been put into square boxes, but now it concerns the 'classic' version, as if it were the primal monopoly. Monopoly 'Antwerp', 'Club Brugge' and even 'Eeklo' are also still in a rectangular box.
