Fourth Wing Monopoly: Is It Actually Worth It?
- Fae Style Game Testers (Ella, Jack, Zoe)
- Jul 10
- 4 min read
When was the last time you played Monopoly? It's been about 10 years for us. Why? It was the same thing game after game, and eventually we just stopped getting any satisfaction from it.
But, HELLO Fourth Wing Monopoly
If you're a little late to the party, Fourth Wing now has a growing collection of games attached to it. There's Rise of the Wing Leader, Priorities, and of course, Fourth Wing Monopoly (links at the end). So of course, the Fae Style Game Testing Team had to find out whether Fourth Wing Monopoly was actually worth the hype. So we grabbed a copy, gathered around the table, and spent a week of afternoons putting it through its paces so you don’t have to.
First impressions
We opened the box and fell in love.
"This is going to be perfect on my bookshelf, I'd buy it for the box alone" ~ Ella
The packaging is beautiful, the box is designed like a book! It will feel right at home alongside the Empyrean series on your bookshelf and definitely won't end up in the back of your cupboard. The game board itself is unmistakably Monopoly, just themed around Fourth Wing. One thing we were a little disappointed by was that there wasn't more of an Empyrean twist to some of the classic Monopoly spaces. "Go" is still "Go,""Go to Jail" is still "Go to Jail", and "Free Parking" is still "Free Parking" (car image and everything). It would have been nice to see those iconic spaces reimagined for Basgiath we understand that's part of what makes Monopoly... Monopoly…BUT! With everything else so “Fourth Wing” they feel a little out of place. Does it affect gameplay? No. Immersion? Perhaps.
The details
Let's talk about the components. The player tokens are dragons, which we love but perhaps they could have had more distinct designs between them and could have been a little heavier and some of the darker colours are also quite similar, making them harder to distinguish during the game. It's a small thing and just meant that we avoided those tokens being played together.
The biggest dissapointment.
No paper money. Now, we understand why they went with themed cardboard currency to reflect the books, but for us it takes away one of the most satisfying parts of Monopoly. There is something strangely enjoyable about dealing out notes, stacking your winnings and dramatically paying someone rent with actual paper money. If we could change one thing about this game, it would be replacing the cardboard tokens with black-and-gold paper notes inspired by Navarre's currency. Also, stacking cardboard tokens was painful and mostly ended in piles by the end of the game.
Storage is another thing worth mentioning. You'll probably want to grab yourself a few small zip-lock bags before you pack the game away. While there are separate compartments for the cards and dice, everything else shares one large section. Player tokens, outposts and currency all end up together, so you'll find yourself sorting everything again every time you open the box. We also noticed that when the game is stored upright, some of the smaller pieces can slip between the compartments. The outer slipcase is another area where we think the quality could be improved. After just one unboxing, the seam along the edge had already started coming apart. It's not a deal-breaker, but for a collector's item we'd hoped it would hold up a little better. We’ve added glue to the shopping list!
Gameplay
If you're wondering whether the gameplay itself is completely different...Not really. At its heart, this is still Monopoly.
If you enjoy Monopoly already, you'll feel right at home. If you don't enjoy Monopoly... this probably won't change your mind.
What Fourth Wing Monopoly does well is immerse you in the world of the books. There are plenty of references to characters, dragons, locations and lore throughout the game, and spotting those little details became one of our favourite parts of playing. So it did give the vibe that it was designed by people who actually read the series (we are most certain Yarros wouldn't have given her tick of approval otherwise!).
Are there spoilers for the books?
This was one of the biggest questions we had before opening the box. Our answer? Not really. There are references to events, places, dragons and characters from across the books, but nothing we would consider a major spoiler. But that does present another issue, if you haven’t read the books, you may not enjoy it as much. If you have read them, you'll understand all of the little nods and inside jokes.
Our final verdict
So...the big question is…Is Fourth Wing Monopoly worth it?
If you're hoping for a completely new board game experience, probably not. At the end of the day, it's still Monopoly wearing a Fourth Wing cloak. But if you're a Fourth Wing fan, enjoy game nights, love collecting special editions and appreciate all the little references hidden throughout the game, then absolutely. Despite a few cosmetic issues with the components and storage, we genuinely enjoyed our afternoons around the table.
Fae Style Verdict
⭐⭐⭐(3.5/5)
Beautifully themed, packed with Fourth Wing references, and a fantastic addition to any Empyrean fan's collection. Just don't be surprised if you end up buying a few zip-lock bags... and wishing it came with proper paper money.
A quick note: This isn't a sponsored review, but, if you'd like to support Fae Style, you can purchase Fourth Wing Monopoly or the other Fourth Wing games using the links below.
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