Advance to Boardwalk

 

Advance to Boardwalk is a Monopoly spin-off released in 1985 by Parker Brothers. The game is set on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. The goal is to be the richest builder on the Boardwalk by owning properties with the highest total value. This is for 2 for 4 players. To begin players roll both dice and the player with the highest number goes first. 

The first player rolls 3 dice, 2 number dice and the color die. The numbered dice indicate the funds available to build with and the color die indicateds which color zone they can build in. If a "W" is rolled on the colored die, it's a wild and the player can choose any of the color zones. If a "F" is rolled on the colored die the player takes a Fortune card and disregards the numbered dice.

The spaces on the board have an assigned million dollar amount. A player may build on a space that is equal to or less then the amount rolled. They may also choose to build on more then one property, with the sum totaling the amount rolled. 

Conditions to Build are:

a. You can only build one unit on any vacant property at a time.

b. You may build more than one unit on an occupied property.

c. You may build units on top a hotel which contains units previously built by an opponent.

d. You may build units on properties worth less than the sum of the dice.

e. You must build at least one unit on a turn, unless you roll an "F" on the color die.

Once the player becomes owner of a property they must take the property card from the side of the board or the player holding it. You can take ownership of a property from an opponent by building a greater number of properties on the same hotel. In the case of a tie, the player with the property piece closest to the bottom is the hotel owner.

Next move your token along the board. The sum of your property cards' values must equal the value of the space of your token on the board. You may need to move an opponent's token backwards. 

If you land on the Fortune space you get to take a Fortune card. These can be played at the end of your turn, unless the card states to play immediately. The Fortune cards always yield a positive outcome so they are good to acquire. They can help you build more units, aquire more property, or penalize an opponent. After played they are put face up in a discard pile, they can be shuffled and used to replace the Fortune card pile once depleted.

The game ends when one player has no hotels left to build with at the start of his turn, or when one player has reached the last space on the boardwalk. The player who controls the most millions of dollars worth of property is the winner. In the case of a tie the player with the most properties wins.

I liked how the game play here is different then standard Monopoly, but the end goal is the same. It could almost be considered a mini game add on for the Boardwalk space on the standard Monopoly board. I would like to try merging this into a Monopoly game and seeing how it goes, but I don't want to be responsible for the extra time needed to play. The board itself is an interesting concept, we have the boardwalk, beach and beach goers. It does try to mimick the Atlantic City Boardwalk. However, we are missing the boardwalk stores, hot dogs, cotton candy, souveniers, the kids arcades and Steel Pier. Rick Uncle Pennybags does make his appearance on the board and is featured pushing a baby carriage and holding our favorite scottie dog.