Fairy-opoly by Late for the Sky, is a version of Monopoly.  It is the only Monopoly board game that my daughter enjoys, and I’m pretty sure it’s due to the theme.

Game Play

                Fairy-opoly is focused on the world of fairies.  Game pieces are nature themed, players have a choice of 9 tokens to play, such as a butterfly or a toad. 

                Instead of properties, players acquire fairies.  There are female and male fairies and each illustration shows a bit of their personalities.  All the fairies are named, such as Moss and Stormy.

                Players begin with a set number of fairies, which varies dependent upon the number of players.  More fairies can be acquired while traveling around the board.  Players are given colored wings to place on the board to mark the locations of their fairies.

                Purchases are made using “acorns”, which is similar to monopoly money. It consists of printed colored papers marked with an acorn.  I think it would have been interesting if they were designed as actual acorns.  Anyway, money and charges are written as single digit values.  For instance, Summer costs 5 acorns. Summer’s board location is marked by five acorns. The money is numerically labeled from one through five acorns.

                When a player lands on another player’s fairy, they must pay the owner of the space.  However, the owner must first say, “Twinkle!  Freeze!  Acorn Please!”  Admittedly, this is just one of the funny aspects of the game, especially if other adults are playing along with the kids.

                Acorns are also gathered when a player lands on or passes the space marked “Twinkle”, this game’s version of the Monopoly “Go” space.

                There are new versions of other familiar Monopoly spaces as well.

• “Spooky Forest” replaces Jail
• “Go to Spooky Forest” instead of “go Directly to Jail”
• “Free Berries” is the new version of “Free Parking”
• And “Fairy Dust” replaces both “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards

                The “Fairy Dust” cards, unlike their Monopoly counter-parts, may sometimes require the person who draws the card to do something.  Occasionally, it calls for everyone playing to participate in an action. 

                Play ends when one player doesn’t have enough acorns to pay their debts.  The player with the most acorns at the end, wins.

My Opinion

                Fairy-opoly is a cute game.  And it takes less time to play than traditional Monopoly.  Play is pretty silly.  It’s a great game for developing self-confidence in expressing yourself as players ask for payment with the magical phrase and act out what is written on some of the Fairy Dust cards.

                Early math skills get a lot of opportunity for practice in this game as well. 

• There’s mental math by adding and subtracting. 
• Comparing fairies to determine which may bring you more money. 
• Probability: How often particular fairies are landed on? Are some fairies more commonly landed on than others? 
• Number sense with using the die and counting the corresponding spaces.  Also with translating the acorn amounts on the board into numerical values.
• Use of a monetary system; developing a sense of cost; making purchases; the value of money versus the value of the purchase (This includes saving for that fairy that has the player’s favorite color.)

                There’s also a lot of movement with this game.  Players must perform different actions as directed by the “Fairy Dust” Cards. They are rewarded for successfully completing the tasks.  It helps break up the sitting time for those players that need to move.

                Fairy-opoly is varied enough to set-it apart from traditional Monopoly.  There’s also plenty of silliness, with the very real possibility of everyone dissolving into a mess of laughter.

Are there any alternative versions of original games that your family enjoy?