London

Monopoly

Scotland Yard
(1983, Milton Bradley)
A sort of cross between the two Sherlock Holmes games, Escape from Colditz and the various taxi games, this cracker has you chasing the elusive super-spy Mr X around London using a combination of cabs, tubes and buses. Devised by Germans, the clever devils.
Special features If you are Mr X, you get to wear a visor.
Should include A vial of polonium-210.
Map quality Excellent detail that even dares to go south of the river.
Verdict Pulse-quickening. 10/10 Feature continues

Monopoly
(1936, Hasbro)
Monopoly received its Big Smoke makeover in the 1935 when Yorkshire games company Waddingtons was sent a copy of the US version from Parker Brothers. A Waddingtons employee, Victor Watson, and his secretary were promptly dispatched down south with a view to finding London replacements for the anodyne Atlantic City locations on the US original. The result was the rather idiosyncratic view of London familiar to millions.
Special features A 2005 updated version introduced venues such as Hammersmith Apollo and Stansted Airport to the game and replaced the classic counters with mobile phones, cheeseburgers and rollerskates, to nobody’s delight.
Should include Small, perfectly formed and extraordinarily cheap Polish builders (that fall apart three weeks after being taken out the box).
Map quality It’s hardly the A-Z. Free Parking? In London?
Verdict Classic. 10/10

221b Baker Street

221b Baker Street and Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
(1975, Gibsons & 1981, Kasper Games)
Cluedo-esque fun in 221b Baker Street as you don a deerstalker, become Sherlock Holmes and attempt to solve one of 20 cases. Not to be confused with the considerably more fiendish Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective that followed six years later.Special features Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective comes with an ace facsimile of a clue-strewn copy of the Times.
Map quality While 221b is vague (Dock, Bank, Apothecary), Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective offers a scarily detailed version of Holmes’s London.
Should include Magnifying glass and/or opium pipe.
Verdict 221b is elementary, but SHCD really taxes the old grey matter. 4/10 & 8/10

The London Game
(1972, Toy Brokers Ltd)
A no-nonsense title for this popular game based around the Underground map. Players hop round the network, seeking the fastest route to six of 30 tourist locations. Recently reissued with updated map and new locations.
Special features Comes with a brief history of the London Underground.
Should include An inaccurate matrix board.
Map quality No Londoner can turn their nose up at a perfect reproduction of Beck’s tube map.
Verdict Competitive sightseeing! 6/10.

Wembley

Wembley
(1954, Gibson Games)
The game in which you try to guide an English football team all the way to Cup glory at the Twin Towers of Brent. Special features Depending on which edition you get, Wembley could see you in charge of First Division Cardiff, Third Division (North) Accrington or Second Division Chelsea.
Should include A portable pillar to block your view of the board; some horse manure; a tiny demolition ball; the cloying stench of stale urine.
Map quality None to speak of, although the box does have an endearingly rubbish sketch of Wembley.
Verdict 5/10