Ever wanted to purchase your favourite Moose Jaw landmark for yourself? The good news is you can — in a new Moose Jaw-themed board game, which should soon become available again after selling out almost immediately after its launch.
Moose Jaw-opoly has taken the city by storm since it hit shelves in Walmart two weeks ago, quickly becoming a coveted collectable for locals.
The game features well-known locations around the city — including 15 Wing airbase, Casino Moose Jaw, and of course Mac the Moose — but also local festivals, streets, schools and even businesses, like Maple Leaf Bakery.
The Monopoly-style board game is part of an ongoing series from game company Outset Media, in partnership with Walmart Canada. The idea was to produce games featuring Canadian communities and their individual landmarks, as a campaign to celebrate all the nooks and crannies of the country.
“We thought Moose Jaw, being an iconic, well-known Canadian town, would be a perfect fit,” said Outset Media’s senior vice-president Jean Paul Teskey.
The ongoing series has been a huge success for Outset Media, which first approached the idea by producing versions for larger centres like Toronto and Vancouver.
But things really took off after the Canadian company released a Monopoly game featuring the smaller community of Sarnia, Ont. and realized that the smaller cities were bursting with enthusiasm for the limited edition games — even outselling their metropolis counterparts.
“It really shows just how proud people are of the communities they’re in,” said Teskey.
Outset Media originally launched Moose Jaw-opoly with 720 copies available, which flew off the shelves within 24 hours, rumours say.
But thankfully, there are another 180 copies of the popular game currently on route to Walmart and expected very soon, said Teskey, and the company has plans to produce more later this fall closer to the holiday season.
“It was unbelievable how quickly it sold out, which is great. It’s so nice to see people embrace the idea, which is meant to be fun and a celebration of community,” said Teskey.
Launching a new board game isn’t usually a summer endeavour, admitted Teskey, but the previous success with small community launches paired with the increased interest in board games due to COVID-19 prompted Outset Media to go ahead anyway.
“I think given the unusual conditions, with COVID-19 and people spending more time at home, we’ve had an incredible year with our sales,” said Teskey.
The games are produced in a North America factory, which is why there are limited quantities available, said Teskey.
This year, Moose Jaw and Regina are the Saskatchewan communities new to the Monopoly series, and the games will be a limited production item.
Outset Media will be moving on to produce new communities in Monopoly form after this fall, so Teskey says to grab a copy of Moose Jaw-opoly while you still can because they will be something entirely unique to 2020.
