It was a sad day in Maitland when it was announced the city did not make it onto the Monopoly board world edition.
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We were beaten by the town of Giethoorn in the Netherlands, despite an international campaign to get the Maitland name on the board.
But the city has risen from the ashes of defeat and, thanks to one Hunter man, Maitland will take its rightful place on the Monopoly board.
Hayden Moore from Raymond Terrace had the idea to create a youth Monopoly board to use as a resource for organisations that help young people.
“We want to get in touch with the local youth and the local support services that help them and we want to get them helping to make this game,” he said.
“We want to put in all the information that can help the youth and all of the issues that affect them.
“Maitland is finally, technically going to get on the board.”
Last year, the makers of Monopoly Hasbro agreed to join the project and let Mr Moore brand his game with the famous name.
It will look and play in a similar way to the traditional board game, but it will have adapted locations more suitable for a younger audience such as juvenile detention instead of jail.
Mr Moore hopes to get youth services to sign up to be on the board, as well as small businesses and any companies that can help with printing and other costs.
The game will be not-for-profit and distributed between the services that sign up to the project.
Mr Moore will conduct workshops to decide what needs to be included on the board and aims to have the game ready for production by the end of the year.
“I want to teach kids you don’t always get the same things in life,” he said. “Life changes and this will be reflected in the game.”
As for Maitland, the Mercury has suggested we take over the Mayfair game space, which Mr Moore said was a definite possibility.
Anyone interested in the project should email kifocus@outlook.com.