George Ellis, a young Monopoly games collector from Stafford in the West Midlands and a regular visitor to Salcombe says he is ‘very disappointed’ that the town is now unlikely to get its own version of the game.

Last May he read about plans to produce a Salcombe Monopoly game which was due to launch this Spring.

However Winning Moves UK, an official MONOPOLY maker, said the project is on hold due to a lack of interest from the public.

Custom Games Executive at Winning Moves UK Yasmin East
Custom Games Executive at Winning Moves UK Yasmin East (Richard Harding)

The company was due to produce the Salcombe Edition board game, under licence from Hasbro, a leading toy and game company and had asked the public to suggest iconic locations for example leafy Overbeck’s Garden could be featured on a green space, the Harbour on a blue one and Fleet Street could become home of the local paper, one of the beaches (or both) on a yellow square, and Oxford Street could become a local shopping destination.

When things went quiet, 17-year old George decided to contact Winning Moves UK to find out what was happening.

He received a reply that said: ‘Unfortunately, due to a lack of interest, this project was put on hold and replaced with the Whitstable & Hearne Bay Monopoly, which garnered far more interest.’

George told us he was really gutted at the news saying: “I come to Salcombe every year and I thought it would be fun to play and also good for the town.

I was very disappointed and had been telling my dad about it who felt the same way.”

The town had originally beaten West Country coastal tourist rivals: Bude, Lyme Regis, Minehead,Padstow and Woolacombe to secure the coveted regional MONOPOLY edition.

Mr Monopoly with Yasmin East at North Sands
Mr Monopoly with Yasmin East at North Sands (Richard Harding)

In selecting Salcombe the Winning Moves UK selection panel considered a variety of factors including: ‘Outstanding Natural Beauty, UK Profile, ‘Sense of Community’, ‘Identity’ and ‘Heritage.’

In this new game, 30+ Salcombe landmarks and favourites – like North Sands, South Sands and Salcombe Harbour – would have been showcased on the board, replacing the likes of ‘Mayfair’ and ‘Park Lane’ from the classic MONOPOLY original.

The tokens would have been customised too, with the original MONOPOLY counters like the Scottie dog and boot getting the boot.

In their place a speedboat could feature instead of the racing car and a crab could have replaced the dog.

The Chance and Community Chest cards will be customised as well.

For example, in the original MONOPOLY classic there is a Community Chest card that says, ‘You have won second prize in a beauty contest.’

For this edition, players could be rewarded with MONOPOLY money for the “best dressed beach outfit”.

And instead of players being ‘Sent to Jail’ they could be despatched to Cornwall!

Monopoly is a multiplayer economics-themed board game.

In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels.

Players collect rent from their opponents and aim to drive them into bankruptcy.

If you, like George, are interested in having the Salcombe version of the game reinstated you can e-mail: [email protected]