Gamer alert: Monopoly uses Google Maps to go live online

Computerworld - Think you're a Monopoly whiz? Remember running the board and shaming your property-less competitors when playing board games on the living room floor? Think you're the Donald Trump of gaming and could rule the world with a good roll of the dice?

Well, Hasbro has a game for you.

Monopoly, the age-old game of buying property and making your rivals pay big for landing on your Railroad, is going global. The new free Web game will use Google Maps and Street View to make the whole planet the game board.

The online version of Monopoly is set to launch on Wednesday.

"This autumn, Monopoly is launching a game of property empire building on an unimaginable scale in a bid to uncover the greatest property magnate the world has ever known," Hasbro, the company behind the 74-year-old game, noted in a blog post. "The entire planet will be pitted against one another in an online game of Monopoly, turning the globe into one giant game board."

The game company noted that Hasbro's UK digital agency Tribal DDB built the application with help from Google.

"This global game will feature an incredible amount of amazing new buildings and building types from Monopoly," the company blogged. " From humble houses to stupendous skyscrapers and everything in between, never before will you have had the freedom to tailor your property empire exactly the way you want it."

While Hasbro hasn't released much information about the new online version of Monopoly yet, it did say that players will be able to own any street in the world and build anything from houses to castles in an attempt to collect rent and build an empire. Players also will be able to sabotage other players by building hazards on their streets.

Google did not reply to a request for comment.

According to Hasbro, more than 200 million Hasbro games have been sold worldwide and the game is published in 27 languages. The company also noted that the longest game on record lasted 1,680 hours.

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