Venice-Opoly: The board game that celebrates the world-famous California beach community!

I have lived in Venice for over 25 years and I’ve been working on VeniceOpoly in my spare time since June of 2022. A lot of my family is from Atlantic City NJ, where the original board game of Monopoly was created and I've had this idea for many years. If you do a quick search, hundreds of cities all over the country (and the world) have one: Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Irvine, Compton etc. I figured a Venice version would be done eventually by someone, so I took it upon myself to take on the project for multiple reasons, but mostly because I didn’t want it to be horribly gentrified or biased, or done in a way that would omit or overlook important aspects of our historic community. Also, I wanted to celebrate the small businesses that have lasted for so many years, so instead of street names as spots on the board, I’ve included the oldest small businesses that have kept the same name the longest.  I know many business owners here, but I felt this was the best and only fair way to decide which ones should be included, and where their position on the board should be.  Each business on the board (and a few mentioned elsewhere in the game) have kept the same name as far back as 1911 up to 1980, and THE OLDER THE BUSINESS, THE MORE VALUABLE THEIR POSITION ON THE BOARD (except Ocean Front Walk and The Canals which are in the spaces of Boardwalk and Park Place). A brief history of each property, business and historical landmark are written on the back of every deed card.  

I’ve done a lot of research and there are a few businesses older than 1980 that have kept the same name that are not included, but I tried my best to include them and some very tough decisions had to be made. (FYI The Whaler, has NOT been in business since 1944. It used to be called the Crab Shell and was a seafood restaurant until the mid-80’s when the name changed to The Whaler.) Also, you’ll notice a handful of businesses or entities (that are not a property on the board) that are more recent then 1980 that I thought were important and fit well, and were able to be included.

Other notes: 

Yes, Dogtown originated in Santa Monica, but the influence in Venice is obviously massive.

A few people did not want to be a part of this project for their own reasons, but I did try.

Two small businesses were lost during the 3+ years it took to make this happen: Candle Café (1973) closed and Sarlo Tax Service (1953) moved to Playa del Rey.

Venice-Opoly is completely custom-designed by myself and manufactured by a company that has been in business since 1984.  It is completely Made in the USA and does not infringe on any copyrights or trademarks owned by Hasbro. With the exception of some colors, fonts, the instructions, and the layout for the back of the box that the manufacturer designed… I designed, wrote the text, chose the photos, took many of the other photos, and signed off on every aspect of the box, the board, the cards and the pieces. A few of the businesses submitted their own photos and wrote their own history.  I'm a perfectionist, so I still don’t think it’s 100% perfect, but I’m not a professional graphic designer and it was a very long and difficult process of trial and error with different photos, layouts, fonts, sizes and colors, endless research, learning photoshop, having discussions with tons of locals, businesses, the museum, going back and forth countless times with the manufacturer, getting permissions for trademarks and photographs, trying different artists and layouts, finding ways for so many things to be represented, and a whole lot of second-guessing almost every single decision, not to mention making this website.  It was like putting together a giant ever-evolving puzzle and it has been thought through hundreds of times, and because of time restraints and other factors, I was still making corrections and changes up to the very last minute and there's still things I'd like to change. It was a lot to keep track of and I tried my best to do Venice right and adhere to its vast history and diversity. 

Every person doing a project like this would have done it differently, so I hope you like my version and enjoy many nights of fun, in addition to learning some new things along the way.  Because of time restraints, indecision and other factors, I did take a few personal liberties, but most are like hidden surprises for those who know me. 

VeniceOpoly can be a ruthless and merciless game, so play nice! 😊  I recommend reading the brief Game Playing Instructions that are included and agreeing on the rules before playing.

10% of every purchase is being donated to the Venice Heritage Museum. 

https://www.veniceheritagemuseum.org/ 

Dedicated to Bob Rago who grew up on the Atlantic City boardwalk and loved visiting Ocean Front Walk as it reminded him of A.C back in the day, and had the great quote, “Every time I visit here, I see something I’ve never seen before!” 

For questions or contact – blueboardwalk2023@gmail.com  (yes, 2023 :) )

Venice Forever,

Mark Rago

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