A display of the board game layout, a few cards and game pieces. (A photo by Hannah V. Johnson)

Locals can purchase Abilene-Opoly at Walmart for $19.98.

Abilene-Opoly is a board game based on the format of Monopoly. Players can land on spaces named after places in Abilene including the Mall of Abilene, Jacob’s Dream Sculpture, Paramount Theater and Abilene Zoo.

Instead of landing in jail, players can end up in a ‘traffic jam.’

Instead of paying to use railroads and utilities, players pay to traverse the streets; locals can find familiar street names, like Judge Ely Boulevard, running along ACU’s campus.

The board game was made in the by a company called Late for the Sky.

“Abilene-Opoly was published in October 2018”, said Jessica Staub, office administrator for Late for the Sky. “We have an exclusivity agreement with Walmart at this time, so they are the only stores carrying it.”

Late for the Sky makes localized specialty board games and games specialized for college campuses, current trends, food, dog breeds and more. Other localized games made include Yakima-Opoly, Laredo-Opoly and Dallas-Opoly.

Staub said the idea for the Abilene version of the game came up following research on local cities to find towns loved by people, and the company thought Abilene was an exceptional addition since they are branching out to Texas cities for games.

“We’ve published over a dozen ‘Opoly’ games for Texas communities in 2018, and they have all been very well-received,” Staub said.

On its Abilene-Opoly page, the company said it could not fit all Abilinean locations into the board game, but it does include “outdoor adventures, family attractions, rich traditions and of course…a storybook sculpture or two” included for gameplay.

Although Late for the Sky has the exclusivity agreement with Walmart, the game can also be bought on their website for $24.95.