Qatar Tourism Chief Operating Officer Berthold Trenkel launches the Monopoly board game Doha edition at The Pearl-Qatar, yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
The famous board game Monopoly Doha edition has officially been unveiled yesterday at The Pearl-Qatar.
Doha is the second in the MENA region to have an official Monopoly board game, first was Dubai in 2019. The board game was first marketed in 1935.
Qatar Tourism Chief Operating Officer (COO) Berthold Trenkel told The Peninsula that the board game is for both locals and the international audience.
“For our locals to cherish their home country, and the main idea is for the international audience. This is for them to take home the board and bring on vacation, this is something that they keep and remind them about Doha and hopefully they will come back,” he said.
The COO also advised the public saying, “Get a game, play the game, switch off your TV, switch off your mobile phone, talk to each other and have a good time, something most people have forgotten to do.”
Winning Moves Partnership Manager—Europe, Robert Osborne, said that the Doha edition board game is the most beautiful edition made. Winning Moves is a leading maker of board games, card games and puzzles, including Monopoly.
“What we try to do is encapsulate the past, present and future of the city for the last 50 years and where we see Doha in the next 10 to 15 years. Doha is not just a holiday destination, or a kind of transit hub, it’s actually a beautiful city, beaming with lights, history, culture, arts, shopping and beautiful people,” Osborne added. Time to roll the dice, the board game features famous attractions in the country including Katara Cultural Village, Aspire Park, Museum of Islamic Art, National Museum of Qatar, and Unesco world heritage site, Al Zubarah, among others.
COO Trenkel said the board game took a year to conceptualize and produced. “We did not select the attractions, we guide them [Winning Moves]. We work a little bit on the design, and on providing images.”
Meanwhile, Osborne disclosed that making the Doha edition is a lot of fun. “It’s genuinely been a lot of fun, logistically it’s been very difficult because of COVID-19 pandemic. Was so happy the board is done, I’ve done 17 editions around the world,” he said.
The Monopoly Doha edition will be available across all toy stores in the country as well as bookstores. It can also purchased via online.
