Monopoly Go: Which Designs Make It Such An Addictive Game?

Want to get to know how Monopoly Go board game such a charming game? Then let’s take a closer look at its digital predecessor. Monopoly Go, as the culmination of interactive entertainment company Scopely, took researchers nearly six years to design and innovate. In the end, it lived up to the expectations of the production team and earned $2 billion in revenue in the first 10 months of the game’s release.

With the popularity of Monopoly Go, everyone will conduct a summary analysis and evaluation of the factors of its success. It is undeniable that his inspiration and innovative designs contribute the most significant part of its enormous success.

Souce Of Inspiration

Based on the analysis of Massimo Maietti, general manager of Monopoly Go, this mobile game seeks to capture the “core emotions” that the original Monopoly game invites. The original Monopoly’s wealth risk and the relationship between individuals and wealth are pretty realistic.

It is well known that there is a tremendous challenge in converting the original game to an app, that is, how to keep the game playable. The solution given by Scopely is to enable users to join in the game with real-life family and friends, and further bring real-life emotions into the game.

Dopamine Boosts And Strategies

Levels have basically consisted of the overall structure of Monopoly Go. Every player has their own boards and plays a role of greedy landlords resides in New York City or Space Metropolis. The mechanic of “bank heists” and “shut downs” allow players to visit their relatives’ boards and destroy their builds and property.

The overall design of the game actually lacks the strategy in the original Monopoly. On the contrary, it gives much emphasis on dopamine boosts and addictive experiences. Maietti said that they abandoned the first version that the entire team spent three years to build because it requires players much more effort and cognition. The relaxed design makes players addicted to Monopoly Go an indispensable factor.

Frequent Notifications

Monopoly Go excels in enticing players by sending notifications from time to time. These notifications mainly lure players to play for a minute here and a few seconds there, almost occupying a part of the players’ lives.

According to relevant statistics, in the past year, Scopely’s 500 million users played about 5 billion hours of games, which equals to approximately 570,000 years of all human beings.

Intermittent Rewards And Low Price Of Items

Besides attracting users’ time, Monopoly Go is also very good at enticing players to invest in some minor items. A variety of virtual items like Monopoly Go Stickers, skins, boosts, spins and dice rolls are designed to attract players to devour in. The prices are generally cheap. Monopoly Go uses a small incremental method to bring Scopely a very shocking revenue, which has contributed one of five of the overall revenue of Scopely in total. The average user spends about $90 per month in the game.

While the rest of the mobile gaming market stagnated last year, Scopely continued to grow rapidly and became the highest-grossing US game maker in iOS and Google Play app stores in 2024.

The game uses intermittent rewards and other methods to attract players’ attention. Daily updated activities and other makers’ activities have made the entire game full of vitality and vitality. For example, the recent cooperation with Marvel is undoubtedly an immense surprise for players who love superheroes and sci-fi experiences.

Dice Rolling Design

The main way to move forward in Monopoly Go is to roll the dice. And “I Can’t Stop Rolling” also expresses the enthusiasm and expectations of the production team for the game. But what is surprising is the details of rolling the dice.

For example, when a player rolls a disappointing 2, then dice tend to teeter between one number and another to create a feign that you have not rolled a bad number. And when If a player rolls a 12, the game piece moves early, before the numbers even settle. This grasp of the overall rhythm is also particularly attractive.

Playgami Feature

Playgami is an internal tool developed by Bulsara and is the core of Scopely’s strategy. It mainly collects and analyzes a large amount of game data, such as user login time, game time, and which projects have high click-through rates. This big data clusters and segments disparate types of players, and then conducts targeted promotions and notifications.

Just One More Billion

The value and significance of virtual currency lies because players can really exchange and create with it. In Monopoly Go, you are available to create entire worlds. Virtual currency is used on various occasions, such as to establish little monuments and buildings, and keeps upgrading until a larger scene is completely realized. New York City, with Mr. Monopoly’s face on Statue of Liberty serve as vivid examples.

After upgrading to a new scene, the cost of construction gradually climbs, and the price of everything is rising. You will unknowingly need more virtual currency.

Monopoly Go also has a sinister trap, which is that other players may have the opportunity to demolish your buildings and steal your money when you set your phone down. This mechanic consolidates mountains of players into the game. If you don’t want your hard work to go to waste, then you must play the game often.

These are the reason in the aspect of designs why Monopoly Go has achieved such brilliant success, which is aimed at bringing players more immersive and additive experience. Thanks for reading.