Napier city councillors Sally Crown (left), Ronda Chrystal and mayor Kirsten Wise play the new Napier-themed Monopoly.
Napier city councillors Sally Crown (left), Ronda Chrystal and mayor Kirsten Wise play the new Napier-themed Monopoly.
To mark Napier’s 150th, the city is getting its own edition of the classic board game, Monopoly.
For the past 10 months, Napier City Council has been quietly working on creating the perfect Napier-inspired Monopoly board to celebrate the city’s milestone birthday.
The unique board will include squares dedicated to some of the most iconic buildings, favourite gardens and landmarks across wider Napier.
Councillor Sally Crown has been involved in planning the 150th commemorations and said the special Monopoly edition is a fun way to tackle a big issue.
Because the council pays for the board game’s production, it receives the proceeds from sales and plans to use the money to help offset the costs associated with holding community celebrations.
Crown said: “Everything we do needs to be fiscally responsible. So while we do want to throw a party and create events that the community can enjoy, we also have to make sure we’re doing it in a financially astute way.”
Napier releases Monopoly to celebrate the city's 150th birthday.
A limited-edition run, only 3000 board sets of Napier Monopoly have been produced. Selling for $69.99, the game will be available for pre-order in early October and will be in stores in early November.
Napier Monopoly pre-orders can be made through www.ourplacenapier.nz and, when released, can be purchased at Napier iSite, the National Aquarium and the Faraday Centre.
Crown said: “Judging by early interest, all 3000 sets will be snapped up by locals and by visitors who have a long-distance love affair with Napier.”
The council believes Monopoly, which harks back to the 1930s, is a fitting memento for a city whose architecture also dates from that era.
“The Napier board embraces Art Deco, not just in its choice of landmarks but in its iconic Art Deco colour palette,” Crown said.
While most cities will use photographs of landmarks when creating their Monopoly, Napier opted to feature custom-designed illustrations on its edition.
Some of the Art Deco landmarks that have made it onto the board include the Napier Soundshell, Tom Parker Fountain and the National Tobacco Company building in Ahuriri.
Chance and Community Chest cards have also been written specifically for Napier. The game will feature some community favourite facilities, parks, and landmarks, such as the Spirit of Napier statue, libraries, the National Aquarium of New Zealand and Bay Skate.
The council has selected the Mission Estate Winery, at $400, as the most valuable property to acquire, while the cheapest is the Bay Hawks team, which goes for $60.
The council has also picked out three adjacent Hawke’s Bay player tokens - a ute, coffee cup and bike - to go with five of the classic Monopoly player tokens: the car, cat, dog, boot and hat.
“The board is full of places and spaces that make Napier special, icons we all love, so locals will feel real pride about this game,” Crown said.
“Anyone who loves Napier will love this as a gift or a memento, and for anyone who loves a bit of fun competition, this is a must-have limited edition for their board game collection.
Maddisyn Jeffares became the editor of the Hawke’s Bay community papers Hastings Leader and Napier Courier in 2023 after writing at the Hastings Leader for almost a year. She has been a reporter with NZME for almost three years and has a strong focus on what’s going on in communities, good and bad, big and small. Email news tips to her at: maddisyn.jeffares@nzme.co.nz
