Monopoly Poker is another Poker Game from Playtika, the developers of the Governor of Poker Games. This time however they are using the popular Monopoly franchise to attract players.
To be honest I expected this to be a mix of actual Monopoly and a Poker game, which turned out to be a false expectation. The game is to 90% just your regular Online Poker Game, but there are two Monopoly connections. Most other Poker Games have generic card dealers, but in Monopoly Poker the Monopoly Man is the card dealer. That is actually really cool. I believe that the quality of the presentation is one of the most important elements to a Poker Game, since the gameplay is so similar between them. Even though the players have no character models and are only symbolized by their profile pictures, is having an iconic character, like the Monopoly Man, as a card dealer, a big benefit for this game. In comparison to the many Poker games with static 2D card dealers, like in Pokerist, or ugly animated dealers, like in the Governor of Poker games, is the Monopoly Man much more atmospheric. Seeing him giggle or smoothly deal some cards is a big plus.
The only other Monopoly connection is the Monopoly Board, where players can once a day throw some dices to move on a virtual Monopoly Playing Board. Depending on the field they land on, players will get more or less money. The street fields can also be upgraded with a gold currency, which can be bought with real money. The bigger the upgrades the more money players get, if they land on the field.
Even though these elements are somewhat cool, it is a bit disappointing to see that there are not more connections to Monopoly in the game. Because otherwise Monopoly Poker is actually pretty similar to the Governor of Poker games, which is not so surprising, since they share the same developer. This also means, that many of the bad mobile features, like the UI and monetization practices, are present here.
That being said, everything seems to have been turned to down a little in comparison to the previously released Governor of Poker 3. There is no longer a world map to progress on. You can choose directly from the main menu between different unlockable 'Sit and Go', 'Cash Game' and 'Spin and Play' tables. The only side modes are 'Black Jack' and 'Lucky Dice', a dice roll mode. That being said I do like, how Monopoly Poker rewards you for winning multiple Sit and Go Tournaments with rare Rings, that can be displayed next to your profile pictures. This definitely felt more rewarding than the badges in Governor of Poker 3, which nobody could see outside your profile. There is also a Skill ranking aside from the account level, that values skill over pure gameplay time. Whether the lack of character models is worse than the ugly Governor models is obviously a matter of personal preference, but both games can't compete with the likes of Prominence Poker or Poker Night at the Inventory.
A reduction that I undoubtedly welcomed was the removal of paying incentives (the prices are also often lower) and UI symbols. Nevertheless, there are still more than enough mobile UI elements and purchase "opportunities" to annoy players.
Result:
Monopoly Poker is at the core not too different from the Governor of Poker games. The removal of the world map is a bit of a letdown, especially since you could have used the monopoly board for that. Nonetheless, I preferred having the Monopoly Man as a Card Dealer and less mobile features and paying incentives are always at least a small plus in my book. That beings said, Monopoly Poker might be worth a look, especially if you like Monopoly, but it still lacks noticeably in the presentation department in comparison to the best Poker Games.
5.5/10
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