Ever fancied playing on a life size Monopoly board? Well now you can!
The world’s first giant Monopoly themed attraction was opened in our great capital in 2021. They billed it as an immersive West End show to begin with, but that’s not really an accurate description.
How do I know?
Well. A few of my non-parent girlfriends still live down in London. I try to visit them twice a year without my brood so we can pretend we are still in our 20s and hit the town. So when I visited last weekend we all booked in to meet Mr Monopoly and give it a go.
When they suggested life size Monopoly as a way to start our evening I must admit I was a little confused. I don’t remember playing board games at the weekend in my 20s. I’m pretty sure we would have laughed at anyone who suggested it.
But when I looked into it I quickly changed my mind. It had a bar that sold cocktails for one thing, so how bad could it be!?
(I’m off the mocktails now, they were great for summer but I’m back on the booze)
We got all dolled up and set off for the tube, coming up with our best Monopoly themed jokes along the way. I’m sure we irritated the hell out of everyone on the Northern Line with our gags about finding ‘free parking’ in London and our ‘chance’ of winning, but we were enjoying ourselves.
We arrived 15 minutes early like they ask you to, because we’re good like that, and the super friendly host welcomed us and invited us to have a look around in the waiting area.
There was a shop with merch (I wasn’t tempted) a bar we would visit later, as well as some lockers which were very useful – no one needs to be juggling a clutch purse when they’re rolling a giant foam dice. The attention to detail was very impressive. The lockers were made to look like little safes, for example, and every inch of the place was decorated.
After 15 minutes it was time to get started, so we went to meet the man himself.
Playing the Game
The whole experience last about 75 minutes, and it starts with a fun introduction given by Mr Monopoly himself. He introduces himself and the game, but he’s not alone.
One of the really fun elements to this is that instead of choosing a piece to go around the board (you know, like the iron or the dog etc.) you are given a human being who sort of embodies that piece. They act as a kind of guide/presenter, and inject loads of extra fun and energy into the whole thing.
Each team is given one of these actors as their mascot I suppose. They will root for you, give you advice, and engage in banter with the other ‘pieces’ while encouraging you to do the same. They are all dedicated to their roles, I had huge respect for them because I would feel a bit of a wally dressed up like that, but they made the whole thing so much fun.
Up to six people can be in a team, so smaller groups might end up being put together with another group. With four teams in each room, that means you could have 24 people in a single game. We didn’t have quite this many but it was already feeling a bit cramped.
There are four rooms/games you can book onto:
- Classic Board
- Classic – Own it All
- City Board
- Luxury Board
We booked onto the Classic Board – I know, we are sooo vanilla – so I can’t talk about the others, but this is how the game worked for us.
You take turns as a team to roll the dice and mover around a miniature game board. It’s not the full size board sadly, I guess that would take too long, so it’s a 5×5 board instead.
When you land on a property you actually go into that property to complete a challenge. Don’t get too excited, it’s just a tiny room with a game in it, but the set design is amazing. Anyway, if you complete the challenge you get to put a house on the property, and if you don’t the property goes up for auction and everyone bids for it.
There are all sorts of challenges to complete for extra money, there’s a strategy round, chance cards, everything you would expect. And yes, you can go to jail (there’s a real jail cell 🚨😂), but you can buy your way out or earn your freedom by completing a task. You actually need to think about your choices because you need to earn money throughout the game, and there are different ways to do it (and to get money from your opponents) so there is a strategic competitive element to it as well.
I wanted to video some of it for you but they have strict rules about photography so I couldn’t. Here’s a video from an official reviewer instead to give you a bit more insight:
With over 15 challenges on each board, there’s never a dull moment at MONOPOLY LIFESIZED! 🎲 Got any questions? Drop them below! ⬇️#MonopolyLDN #Monopoly #London pic.twitter.com/HoTqRy3o2G
— Monopoly Lifesized London (@monopolyldn) August 28, 2024
Apoligies for the annoying voice over voice.
Anyway you get the general idea. Think of it as a mashup between regular monopoly and The Crystal Maze. It’s much more fun than the real thing, and you won’t fall out with your in laws while playing it either.
The winning team get a voucher for the Top Hat Bar and Restaurant too, so there’s actually something to play for. We didn’t win, but hey, we were competing in heels so it was hardly a fair contest!
The Top Hat Bar and Restaurant
If you are thinking this is some lame theme bar bolted on the side of the experience you’re wrong. It’s a really good venue in its own right and is open to the public. Obviously it is Monopoly themed, but it’s pretty classy actually.
We had booked the Game and Dine tickets, which gets you a 2 course meal for another £10 on top of your ticket price. I’m glad we did this because for a meal in central London that’s a bargain, and the food was really good. If you’re veggie there’s loads of choice, not that I am, but my friend is and she was impressed with how many options she had.
The menu is designed just like a Monopoly board. It was so creative. You can see the designers have put huge amounts of effort into making every second in the venue as immersive as possible.
We had a couple of cocktails with our food to get the night started, and let me tell you, as an experienced cocktail drinker these were good. Well made and yummy with quality ingredients, not just full of cheap booze and sugar.
The place has been open a few years now but you would never know, it’s been kept in great shape and I only have good things to say about it.
The Verdict
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but honestly it was great fun.
The beauty of it is you can go as a family or as a group of friends. It’s going to appeal to a huge range of people and is genuinely suitable and enjoyable for them all too. It’s open until 11pm so you are more likely to get groups like ours in the evening, but then that’s what you would expect, and families are much more likely to go earlier in the day. What I mean is you are fairly likely to bump into other groups like yours based on the time and day that you book.
It’s not cheap. Tickets start at £39 apparently but we paid £64 for ours including the food. I don’t think that’s bad value at all, but it’s a fair amount of money. Booking as a family or a large group can get you a discount though so check those options out.
Is it worth it? Absolutely! We had a blast, and it was a great way to start the night. We left in such a good mood and were talking about it on and off all evening.
If you have kids of around 10 years old or above I would recommend it as a family friendly experience, younger kids would struggle I think. You don’t need to be particularly mobile or physical to join in either so you can even take your Nan – it’s great for anyone.
So it’s a big thumbs up from me – and the girls.