Wartime Easy Money

While Canadian publisher Somerville clearly licenced the name Easy Money from Milton Bradley, it published a very different version of MB's 1935 game during WWII. The Monopoly-like mechanics are the same: roll and move, buy properties and businesses and make money.

However, while the MB board had 48 spaces, the wartime Canadian game has only 28 spaces (six spaces and only two properties per side plus four corner spaces labelled "Town Square" (start); Hospital; Victory Bonds; and Income Tax. In addition, there is an inner Chance Circle of 24 spaces, each tied to one of the side spaces. Players who throw doubles on 2D6 take the result from the corresponding inner circle space without moving, and then roll again.

The theme of wartime sacrifices is strongly represented: even when collecting $200 for passing the Town Square, $100 must be donated to the Victory Bond space, and a player landing on Victory Bonds takes only half the money there. There also are spaces for Blackout Regulations, Air Raid Defense Plan, Soldiers Welfare Project, War Project and Red Cross Project on the outer square, and spaces for Buy War Savings Stamps and Extra Call for Victory Bonds on the inner circle.