Name the games you are looking most forward to that are coming out in the next few years.

Bioshock 2, Assasin’s Creed 2, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, WoW Expansion 3, Left 4 Dead 2, Super Mario Brothers #, Valkyria Chronicles 2,… a few I am watching closely. Do you note a trend? Not that being a sequel means any of these games will be any less awesome than their predecessors, but in the game industry, if your game is good and sells well, expect a sequel or a long string of sequels.

This reinforces the general population’s love for something familiar. Which reinforces the sales of said familiar games. Which drives publishers to want more of them since they sell well. Sonic the Hedgehog shows where this can go way beyond reason and logic. In the end, all it does is cut down on the number of studios working on original ideas. Original Ideas are expensive. There is every chance they might not be fun, and even further, they might not be liked by the populous at large. There are dozens of exceptional games that bombed at retail and have ensured that not only were sequels not made, but the studios likely closed as well. It costs a great deal of money that might be wasted to get an Original Idea off the group.

Every so often and idea comes along that makes you stop and think, “My God, not only is this BRILLIANT, but is also obviously a superb idea and is going to be a blast to play.” This is the point where a developer finds a great publisher, gets a ton of money, works really hard, and makes an amazing game. Apparently unless you are the developer of Monopoly City Streets.

The concept is blindingly simple, which is part of it’s genius. Take Google Maps and overlay the game of Monopoly. Throw in a few more buildings, some ability to protect and sabotage streets, and watch the hilarity ensue. In fact, looking at it, it is so obvious, and so simple, I am astonished it has not been thought of before. Everyone starts with 3 million, streets vary in cost according to length. You collect rent each day. You build buildings which increase rent. Bigger buildings, bigger rent.

Where could you possibly go wrong with this gem of an idea?

For starters, hire a team who has obviously never worked on a web based massively multiplayer game before. One of the initial problems included being able to “take over” someone’s account by simply registering an account with the same name.

Second, grossly underestimate your possible audience. It is understandable to be modest in your player base estimations. But when throwing marketing weight behind a name like Monopoly, expect massive numbers. The resulting lag, server issues, and inability to play will drive players away.

Third, change the game rules mid-stride without informing the players. This is such an obvious common sense design thing, it really goes to show that a publisher gets what it pays for. Changing the rules is not only a stepping away point for players, but exceptionally jarring, unfair, and a way of showing your player you care nothing about them.

Fourth, if it is a basic function of your game, don’t worry if it works, as long as it appears to, it’s fine. There are Bonus Buildings that protect your streets, and Hazard Buildings that stop rent for that street. A nice gameplay addition to encourage PVP. Except they didn’t. Bonus buildings didn’t protect. Hazards, despite appearing to stop rent, if you calculate the amount you get in a day, you actually get it.

Fifth, set a win goal, then make it completely counter to what the game supports. What is the point of Monopoly? Own it all, make tons of money. Simple. Initially, the game was like this. You bought dozens, even hundreds of streets, and built thousands of buildings. The players with the highest score had the longest streets, the most streets, and the most buildings. But then, when they changed the rules, they added a tax. Not a bad idea, except it scales based on the number of streets you own. All the way up to 100%. That’s right, you can receive a 100% tax on your rent.

Sixth, ignore the cheaters, assume all your players are going to play fairly. Seriously? Even ignoring cheating like multiple accounts, they didn’t consider their game would be the target of players who would hack the game and make themselves winners. Of course, this goes away if you don’t care about your players, as per way #3.

I could go on… wild bugs, poor ui design, poor community communication… But these six things so effectively killed this game before it ever got a chance. The saddest thing is, it was genuinely fun and enjoyable. And they didn’t even charge! What a gold mine they had! There are dozens of ways to easily add micro-transactions and have this game PRINT money.

Hasbro needs to rip this game away from it’s current developers, pour some funds into it, and hand it to a legitimate developer and make a real game. I would play it.