History records that board game Monopoly was devised as an educational tool to illustrate the risks of landlords who own too much.

Monopoly

Source: Shutterstock / txking

Today, 120 years later, most people see the game as harmless fun, albeit with a tendency to send younger players screaming from the room complaining that life isn’t fair.

The latest special edition of the game is based on the Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe, with familiar London streets replaced with local attractions. Interestingly, two of the worst squares to land on, Income Tax and Super Tax, are replaced in the High Wycombe edition with estate agents. Players who land on JNP Estate Agents must pay £100, receiving nothing, while those who stumble on to Kinghills Estate Agents must cough up £200 to no avail.

Aside from the suggestion that estate agents are as welcome as the taxman, and provide nothing, there is also the question of why one charges twice the other.

Eye wonders if the firms are totally cool with this or, like thousands of children before them, they are gearing up to wail: “That’s not fair!”

Topics