'Community Chest' of variations



Many groups have created their own versions of the classic game.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Some variations of Monopoly have triggered lawsuits. In 2003, Hasbro successfully sued the maker of Ghetto-opoly, a controversial knockoff in which players built crack houses instead of hotels. Ghetto-opoly was reminiscent of a 1970s National Lampoon spoof called Welfare Monopoly.
In February, Hasbro sued New Hampshire-based RADGames over an accessory board that fits in the center of a regular Monopoly board. The idea germinated when RADGames co-founder Robert Wilkins was 12 and wanted to avoid landing on his opponents' hotel-laden properties. He created "Elevator" squares that transport players to a second level of spaces. The board-within-a-board includes a "Subway" square that enables players to travel to any spot on the board. (Hasbro's lawsuit is pending.)
Most Monopoly clones, which reportedly number in the hundreds, have escaped legal trouble. Although Hasbro owns the rights to "Community Chest," "Go" and other standbys, such as the colored bars atop each property space, the rules to the game became public domain in 1952, said Monopoly historian Phil Orbanes.
Today, the (blank)-opoly industry is thriving. In Cocktailopoly, for instance, players get sent to Hangover instead of Jail. In Catopoly, contestants buy litter boxes instead of hotels. Other copycats include Gayopoly, Motownopoly, NASCAR Monopoly, Coca-Cola Monopoly, Lighthouse-opoly, U.S. Army Monopoly, America's National Parks Monopoly and 60's Monopoly, in which players pass Go Go instead of Go.
The most common spinoffs are geographical, such as California-opoly and Canada-opoly, many of which are licensed by Hasbro.