If you’re a loyal reader of my posts, you know that I’m always looking for what I refer to as “perfect fit” brand licensing collaborations – when two successful brands with complementary or common attributes come together to create a unique licensed product that’s certain to connect with their collective target audience on an emotional level. I’ve highlighted quite a few here in previous posts, including Rovio’s Angry Birds catching some air on Capsule Skateboards, and Fizz Creations’ Tetris Tetrimino Waffle Maker.
When Winning Moves Games USA introduced their new MONOPOLY® SCRABBLE® game this past June, I can honestly say that I never saw this one coming. Think about it: two highly-successful games from one game manufacturer cleverly combined into a single, innovative game by another game manufacturer through a mutually-rewarding licensing partnership between the two companies. This is absolutely unprecedented, and a completely different kind of “perfect fit!”
Yeah, okay… but, how does this mashup work?
My first thought after hearing about the crossover between the two games was, “how?!” I mean, these two games have completely different play patterns and literally nothing in common. Well, here’s how: the new mashup combines the best elements of MONOPOLY® with the crossword-building play of SCRABBLE®. Instead of rolling the dice to determine how many spaces to move your MONOPOLY® token around the board, you build words using SCRABBLE® tiles, then move your token ahead according to the word score. You earn properties by creating words on property spaces.
There are clever gameplay twists as well as custom Community Chest and Chance cards, which keep things moving quickly. To win the game, you must have the highest amount of cash and total property value when your last letter tile is played. And, the entire game can be played in under an hour!
Casey Collins, President of Global Licensed Consumer Products at Hasbro says, “We’re always looking for innovative ways to deliver more joy and new opportunities for our fans to interact with their favorite brands. MONOPOLY® SCRABBLE® is a winning combination that celebrates the iconic qualities of two classic Hasbro games with a fresh twist.”
Philip Orbanes Jr., President of Winning Moves Games USA said, “We just know that adults and kids of all ages are going to love this exciting new game! It is only through our wonderful licensing partnership with Hasbro that this one-of-a-kind gameplay experience is possible.”
Combining visual assets without compromise
I needed to see the game in action to appreciate not only the gameplay, but also the way in which the iconic visual assets of both games were combined into a single game board. This was actually managed in a very simple manner. The spaces along the four sides of the MONOPOLY® game board serve as the outside framework, while the grid of tile spaces of the SCRABBLE® game board fill the center, with properties and railroads integrated into the grid. None of the equitable assets of either game were compromised in the creation of new assets for the game board, or the new card and money designs for this mashup. Everything coexists in complete harmony!
Even the package design for MONOPOLY® SCRABBLE® has been developed with careful attention to each game’s branding. It leverages red as an overarching brand color, since the color is associated with each game’s original packaging. And, it pulls together both games’ identities in a way that feels visually cohesive. Beneath the red header: a dynamic view of the mashed-up game board with an animated Mr. Monopoly and Scottie token endorsing the crossover.
Here’s a closer look at the MONOPOLY® SCRABBLE® product and gameplay.
Questions:
- What are your thoughts on this unique licensing partnership? Do you think it makes sense for one game manufacturer to license its game IPs to another game manufacturer?
- What are your thoughts on the game mashup product concept? What other successful toy or entertainment industry mashups of similar brands can you think of that have been successful?
