A new board game has been launched which looks like a variant of Trivial Pursuit – but with a distinctly London theme. The “City of London board game” is also a fund raiser for the Lord Mayor’s annual charity.
The idea seems to be that the players vicariously roam around the City answering multiple choice questions to proceed with the aim of getting to the Mansion House and claim the prize of being the Lord Mayor. In real life, a poisoned chalice of sorts as the Lord Mayor has to pay for some of the annual entertainments out of his own pocket, so I’d guess the winner of the board game should pay for the next round of drinks in the pub?
Looking at the picture of the board game though, I am rather disappointed that the playing pieces are just lumps of plastic – I was expecting a “Monopoly style” collection of London themed playing pieces, such as the Lord Mayor’s coach, a cat, a miniature Monument etc.
The game is £30, or you can collect a copy in person from Mansion House and save on the P&P. Or from August the game will be available in John Lewis and Peter Jones London stores (but not Hamleys?).
The box also proudly exclaims that it is the “official boardgame”, which makes me wonder if there is an unofficial board game out there, and if they are about to be prosecuted under one of those quaint 800 year traditions that I tend to enjoy writing about.
More details to order a box for yourself here.
Now that the Lord Mayor has launched a board game, will the Mayor of London do the same? Maybe the playing pieces can be tiny blonde wigs.
Oo, looks like a necessary purchase. Hope it’s better than Tour of London, which gets its buildings mixed up:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/londonmatt/2955128346/
To be honest, I did initially think that £25 for a some cardboard and plastic was excessive, but it seems comparable to the price that other board games charge.
Which is a bit depressing really.
played this game at a london board game club yesterday and it was surprisingly great fun; suppose they used plastic parts to keep the costs down?
Definitely added to the shopping list. Agree that some more exciting playing pieces would have been nice, though – perhaps the Mayor of London’s version should have taxis, routemasters and Boris on a bicycle!
Have checked with Hamleys – they expect to stock it from September 2009.