Seeing as how there are about as many editions of Monopoly as there are Korok Seeds in Breath of the Wild, it’s only right that The Legend of Zelda should have its own version of the beloved board game. As soon as that version released in 2014, I made sure to grab it right away and play it at the earliest opportunity. The Legend of Zelda edition has provided my circle of friends with plenty of game nights highlighted by shrewd business transactions, miraculous dice rolls, crushing instances of bad luck, and even a few twists that you can’t find in a traditional Monopoly product.
One look at the game board reveals that this special edition has all of The Legend of Zelda flair that a longtime fan could ask for. The properties you purchase are iconic locations from a number of the franchise’s most acclaimed entries. Appropriately, the prized Park Place and Boardwalk are Hyrule Castle and the Temple of Time as seen in Ocarina of Time. Taking the Railroads’ place are the Spirit Train, the King of Red Lions, the Loftwing, and Epona, while the Electric Company and Water Works have been cleverly repackaged as the Potion Shop and the Bomb Shop.
The numerous accessories are just as flavorful. Chance and Community Chest cards are Empty Bottle and Treasure Chest cards, all featuring familiar The Legend of Zelda characters and series tropes as they yield rewards or penalties. Monopoly money is printed as Rupee notes, and the tokens you move around the board are some of Link’s most famous tools used in his adventures. The selection includes the Triforce, the Hookshot, the Fairy Bow, the Gale Boomerang, the Hylian Shield, and the Slingshot. If you happened to preorder the exclusive version released through Gamestop back in 2014, you got a token of the Ocarina of Time instead of the Slingshot.
The other perk from the GameStop exclusive can really create a wild time. At the start of the game, each player will receive one of six special Item cards, which features a legendary relic from The Legend of Zelda’s storied history (the Ocarina of Time, the Wind Waker, the Goddess’s Harp, the Minish Cap, the Phantom Hourglass, and the Spirit Flute). Each card grants you a momentum-swinging ability to be used once per game at any time, such as removing all houses or hotels from a property, moving an opponent’s token to any space on the board, stealing a property immediately after another player purchases it, and other effects that are sure to create havoc. Perhaps the most hilarious of these is the Spirit Flute, which allows you to swap your lowest valued property with another player’s highest-valued property, very much against their will.
I can recall one session playing The Legend of Zelda Monopoly with some of my friends when the Spirit Flute was the centerpiece of a rather intricate scheme. My good buddy Bill owned two of the yellow properties (based on Majora’s Mask locations), and one of the greens (Skyward Sword). Bill really wanted the last yellow property to secure the monopoly so he could build houses, but it had already been purchased from the bank by our friend Jess, and she wasn’t relinquishing it no matter the offer thrown at her.
So, at some point, Bill decided to inexplicably trade away his green property to our friend Dave for just one of the brown properties (based on the Minish Cap, and the lowest valued properties in the game). His plan unbeknownst to the rest of us, it seemed like he took a major loss for no reason. But moments later, Bill proceeded to employ the Spirit Flute and forced Jess to give up the third and final yellow property, Clock Town. Bill got his monopoly to build improvements, and Jess got the cheapest space on the board, a measly Elemental Sanctuary.
I’ve played lots of Monopoly in my lifetime, but The Legend of Zelda edition has by far been my favorite. I have too many fun memories to count from the game nights spent wheeling and dealing with friends. Nothing makes an entire table of people burst into laughter quite like the first time they see the Empty Bottle card titled “Water Temple Woes,” which very appropriately sends you directly to Jail. I will never doubt the Railroads’ effectiveness after I watched my friend Alex accumulate $3200 in a single game from people landing on them a combined fifteen times. Yes, we kept track of the totals as he bled us dry.
The third red property (Illinois Avenue in the traditional version) is commonly cited as the most landed on space in Monopoly, and I can attest to that after once winning a game (and taking out every other player) when only owning the reds. While everyone else was gobbling up any and all properties, railroads, and shops, I quietly collected just the Gerudo Desert, Zora’s Domain, and the Twilight Realm from Twilight Princess before adding a hotel to each. On that night, all five of my opponents eventually went bankrupt on that corner of the board. I like to think that the synergy was meant to be, considering that Twilight Princess is one of my all-time favorite games.
If you appreciate a good round of Monopoly, and all of this sounds like a great way to spend a game night, I can’t recommend The Legend of Zelda edition enough. You can still find it on Amazon, and I’m sure with certain gaming retailers, as well. If you’ve already played it and have any memorable stories of glorious triumph, or agonizing defeat, we’d love to hear them!
