A Naperville-themed Monopoly game is set to launch this fall — and Mr. Monopoly wants to hear from you.
Submissions are now open for residents who want to give their input on which businesses and iconic Naperville landmarks should be included on the board.
The themed game is a collaboration between Hasbro and toy company Top Trumps USA, which has made city-specific Monopoly games for dozens of communities across the the country. Top Trumps’s website showcases 48 different city themed-editions for Monopoly, including versions for San Diego, Detroit and St. Paul, Minnesota.
“We look for kind of like the sweet spots in the United States to create these long-lasting editions,” said Lindsay Wallace, sales executive at Top Trumps. “(Naperville) definitely holds a unique blend of the small town charm while also having big city amenities and a community that’s just really proud of its roots.”
As a Hinsdale native, Wallace said she was particularly excited to work on the Naperville edition. When she was in middle school, she would often take the train to spend time at Centennial Beach or treat herself to something sweet from Cookie Dough Creations.
“It feels like I’m giving back to a community that’s close to my heart in a way,” said Wallace, emphasizing that she is excited to hear from Naperville residents and business owners. “We want to know all the date night spots, the kid friendly spots, if an out-of-towner was visiting we’re looking to the community to see what they would recommend, and things like that.”
Everything on the board, other than the four corners and the tokens, will be Naperville-based.
“Business owners who decide that they want to be a part of this project will have the opportunity to create custom Community Chest cards as well as (choose) some imagery,” Wallace said.
For example, in Top Trumps’s edition for Queens, New York, players can own everything from Astoria Park to the New York City Subway. As for the cards, players might draw a Chance card to “advance to Chinatown with your family for unforgettable soup dumplings” or draw a Community Chest card to go on a hayride “through the historic 47-acre grounds of the Queens County Farm Museum,” according to the company’s website.
The themed editions are always big hits with communities. Wallace recalled her time working on the edition for Grand Rapids, Michigan, which launched in October.
“Their community ate it up so quickly. … It’s always the Midwest that loves their board games,” she said. “I had long conversations with the (John Ball Zoo). That’s actually where we launched the edition, and had the official reveal, which was really great. … We got to have some of their, you know, animals come out, which I thought was cool.”
Wallace said she similarly expects the Naperville Monopoly edition to be a major hit with the community.
Nominations are due March 6. Ideas for the Naperville board can be emailed to naperville@toptrumps.com or submitted via an online application available at us.toptrumps.com/pages/monopoly-naperville-il-edition.
cstein@chicagotribune.com
