Hometown Monopoly: La Crosse

Gameplay is the same as the original Monopoly except: 1.You have either one or two branches instead of houses and motels. 2.Any three businesses in a row improves rent by 3x even if improved with a branch. Origin: David A. Colbert is a board game designer and puzzle and game manufacturer. An advertising executive, he came up with the idea of marketing a real estate trading game called Hometown Monopoly in which the properties on the board that are purchased and rented would be actual businesses in the hometown of the person purchasing the game. He produced his first game in 1980 for the city of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He and a good friend, Arnold Miller of La Crescent, Minnesota held the copyrights and trademarks for the Hometown Monopoly series of boardgames through their holding company, Milco, Inc. Colbert incorporated Citigames of America, Inc. in 1982, and with that company and Hometown Productions, both Milco licensees, went on to produce localized monopoly games for over 500 cities and towns in the United States and Canada. In 1985, Colbert developed Hometown Trivia and began to market that series of board games through Colbert Productions and Butler Games, Ltd. In 1986, Colbert marketed Puzzlement, a localized jigsaw puzzle that was sold only in Oshkosh and is a rare find today. In 1988, Colbert sold the Trademark rights to the name Hometown Monopoly to Parker Brothers, Inc., producer of the famous MONOPOLY board game, licensing back from them the right to continue to produce his games in the cities and towns where he had developed versions of that game. In 1996, Colbert produced his last Hometown Monopoly game, fittingly an updated version of his original Oshkosh Monopoly. Also in 1996, Colbert shifted his publishing focus from board games to magazines, building a second successful business with The Apartment Directory and The Builders Guide, both magazines serving the Fox Valley region of Wisconsin. Colbert's Hometown Monopoly games for Baltimore and Washington DC led to his involvement with the nation-wide unification event, Hands Across America, which earned him an invitation to President Ronald Reagan's Second Inaugural Ball. Today, David A. Colbert is retired and lives in West Palm Beach,