Friday March 29th, 2024
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Egytopoly is Egypt’s Answer to Monopoly

Nilco’s Egyptian games are the local answer to global pastimes.

Staff Writer

Egytopoly is Egypt’s Answer to Monopoly

Monopoly, Bank El Haz, the game of a thousand agonies because your little brother got all the railroads and your cousin won't trade with you and you just rolled your third doubles in a row - whatever you want to call it, you know you can find this iconic board game in just about every home in the world. With names like St. James Place and Pennsylvania Avenue, it can feel like a nice little slice of Americana to visit now and then... but when a lot of our entertainment American, it's nice when we can have something with an Egyptian flavour to fall back on. Nilco Games is looking to give us just that with Egytopoly— the first release in their collection of Egyptianized games.

Using every governorate in the country, as well as the names of our streets and court institutions, Nilco’s reinvention of Monopoly puts a local spin on a pastime that has remained unchanged for as long as we can remember. “We wanted to make things more accessible to Egyptians in a practical way," Shahina Ahmed Khairy, Nilco’s marketing manager, told CairoScene. "That’s our whole goal - to create a bigger connection with people to their country through fun games.”

Egytopoly is just one of many localized games due for release, including a card version of Aflam, or charades, that is already available in stores. Egytopoly is available in English or Arabic for LE199, and even comes in a waterproof version for Sahel season. You can find these gems at any gift store, hypermarket, and most gas stations in Cairo and Giza.