BYU flips for new version of Monopoly
Students help set first world record for simultaneous play
Similar dice simultaneously tumbled across game boards around the world — London, Madrid, Tokyo, more than 20 cities — and an estimated 3,361 players established the first Guinness record for most people playing Monopoly at the same time.
Exactly 48 of those players, many of them the very freshest of a new crop of BYU freshmen, sat in brown folding chairs and played from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. They played under tents along what is now being called "Wilk Way," the area between the campus library and the BYU bookstore inside the Wilkinson Student Center.
The entire scene was a publicity stunt for a new version of Monopoly, the World Edition, but the pink dice and board belonged to the hit game board of the morning, the decidedly pink and girlish Boutique Edition. Only two sets of the female-friendly edition were available, and they were coveted like the first spot in line at a big sale.
"When I saw it, I was certain it was going to be mine," 22-year-old BYU public relations major Elizabeth Jenkins said.
At the other pink board, Russia native Kseniya Kashina quickly ran out of money. The 23-year-old chemical engineering major was pummeled by her friend and co-worker at the library, Randi Barron, 21, of Long Beach, Calif.
The pink edition clearly brought the inner girl out in each player, but the normal financial perils of Monopoly irked Kashina.
"You Americans are such capitalists," she complained when Barron asked her to pay off her debts.
Kashina's game piece was the flip flop.
"With as little money as I have, that'll be the only thing I'll have left to get around," she complained.
Then things got worse. Barron got a text message that said, "Hot boy band in town. Collect $50 from each player."
That was $50 Kashina didn't have.
"If time runs out and you still haven't paid me," Barron said, "you're going to owe me in real dollars."
When a small windfall allowed her to pay her fake debt to Barron, Kashina blew a very real sigh of relief.
The youngest player was Brittany Page, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Sprucewood Elementary in Sandy. Her brother is a public relations major at BYU. The student-run Bradley PR Agency got paid for every person it brought to the event.
Recent comments
I saw that yesteday as I was on campus, It looked really cool some…
How Fun | Aug. 28, 2008 at 7:15 a.m.
