Alaska's Iditarod Monopoly Edition Quiz

If you know anything about the Iditarod, you are probably aware that Anchorage is the starting point. The long-distance race for sled dogs and their handlers, called mushers, is held in early March, not the most hospitable time of year to be outdoors in Alaska.

Although Anchorage is where the race starts, this is more of a ceremony with the competitive racing beginning from Willow, nearly one hundred miles north of Anchorage. The cost of buying Anchorage is a rather measly $60.

The pale blue squares are the final ones on the first side of the board, before the 'Just Visiting' square. They relate to checkpoints in the real race and are Knik, Swentna, both costing $100 and Rohn, at $120.

The playing pieces in this version include a dog, boots, mittens, a headlamp and a moose, related to the location.

The second side of the board starts with the pink squares, with the three checkpoints used being Nikolai and McGrath, the one listed, both at $140 and Ophir which costs $160. The Electric Company still remains on the board, between Nikolai and McGrath.

In the real life race, Ophir is where the two routes used diverge. In even years, the race turns north going through Cripple, Ruby and Galena before the two routes converge again at Kaltag.

As in the standard Monopoly games, forms of transport appear. In this version, the stations are replaced with different means of transport associated with sledding. Between the pink and orange squares Dog Sled appears, an essential part of the race. The cost is the standard $200.

Also on this side are the second Community Chest - the first follows Anchorage and there is another on the fourth side of the board.

The first of the orange squares is Iditarod, at $180, the checkpoint which gives its name to the race. The third is Shageluk at $200, next to the Free Parking square.

In this version of the game, houses and hotels are replaced with white dog kennels and blue roadhouses, with the colours reflecting the terrain of snow and the Yukon river, along with the coastal waters.

The route of the actual race was planned to follow the original Iditarod Trail as far as possible. It began in 1973 primarily to ensure the historic use of dogs to traverse the wilds of Alaska was not forgotten.

The three red squares are split by the Chance square, again one of three on the board with the second side the only one not to have one. Anvik is the middle of the three reds, costing $220, and is one of the official checkpoints of the real race.

Also here is the third of the transport related square - in this instance the chosen item is snowshoes. These are used to spread the weight of the musher across a wider area particularly when crossing soft snow.

The final set of three on the third side is yellow, with another of the original squares in the standard game, the Water Works, in the middle of them. Grayling is the first of them, setting you back $260 if you decide to buy it.

The real trail now covers several checkpoints which aren't featured in this version of the game. They include Eagle Island, the last checkpoint on the southern route before the meeting point at Kaltag which is also left off the board. The trail then turns west to Unalakleet, located on Norton Sound, a part of the Bering Sea.

We've turned on to the final side now and the first coloured squares are green, split by a Community Chest square. All three of these are places on the actual route, starting with Shatoolik, then Koyuk and ending with Elim, which costs $320, the most expensive of them.

On the real route, all of these checkpoints are on the coast, following Norton Sound and heading north before turning west.

The final method of transport included in the game is the snowmobile, which has replaced dog sledding as the most efficient way to get around in the wilds of Alaska. The only one not yet mentioned is the ski plane, appearing on the first side of the board, which is fitted with skis to enable it to land on the frozen snow.

For those concerned about the dogs, each musher has between twelve and sixteen animals which are changed at regular intervals. No dog team has to cover the whole of the route, and the dogs are transported between the checkpoints. The only requirement is that there must be five dogs minimum in the team to cross the finish line. Protests do take place, and some competitors have been banned for abusing their dogs with some sponsors pulling out rather than be associated with the race.

The final two colours on the board are a mid-blue, comprising White Mountain and Nome, where the race finishes. As you'd expect, they are the most expensive properties on the board, costing $350 and $400 respectively. As well as the squares already mentioned from the original game, there is a tax square between these two properties and another on the first side

Unlike in the real world, players of Monopoly are likely to cover the route several times, although in less gruelling conditions. Nome is famous for a serious diphtheria outbreak in 1925, which was relieved when several teams of mushers and their dogs delivered serum to the city. Although this run followed the Iditarod Trail, the race itself does not have a direct link to this event.