Buy up the McHenry Mansion or Vintage Faire Mall in this custom Modesto Monopoly game

Forget Boardwalk and Park Place. The next time your family sits down to play Monopoly, you could be fighting over who gets McHenry Avenue and 10th Street.

That’s right, Modesto-Opoly is real and it’s already selling pretty spectacularly. The custom-made board game went on sale earlier this week at the Walmart in north Modesto.

“It’s spreading like wildfire. We get phone calls coming into the store asking, ‘Do you have that game?’ all day,” said Eddie Guevara, assistant manager of the Walmart on McHenry Avenue. “It’s selling very well, we’re kind of surprised how well.”

The specialty order game substitutes traditional Monopoly properties like Marvin Gardens and Baltic Avenue on the board for familiar Modesto streets, businesses and landmarks. So instead of landing on Mediterranean Avenue, like on the original version, you wind up at the Modesto Arch.

Modesto-Opoly is made by the Cincinnati, Ohio-based company Late for the Sky, which specializes in custom-order board games. The company has made a series of Monopoly-based game for other cities across the country including Nashville, Tulsa and Long Beach.

This is the first year the Modesto game was offered locally. Guevara said Walmart corporate called and asked if the store was interested in stocking a custom Modesto monopoly game for the holidays. They agreed, ordering a small batch of around 150 games.

In the first four days the game sold close to 90 copies. It was moved to a more prominent place on an end-cap in the store due to its popularity. Guevara estimates there are approximately 75 games left on shelves.

But, if in the Black Friday shopping rush they sell out, fear not. Guevara said the store’s manager has ordered more, which should be arriving in time for the holidays. The McHenry Avenue Walmart is the only one in the city to carry the game; it is not available at the Parkway Plaza store.

While Walmart corporate representatives could not be reached for comment, from the Late for the Sky Instagram account it appears the company has been partnering with the retail giant for the past couple of years. The retailer sells small batches of the games, tailored to whatever city it in, at select stores all over the United States.

Late for the Sky also sells Dog-Opoly, Cat-Opoly and Shark-Opoly and an assortment of other custom Monopoly-based board games.

But it’s the Modesto game, which includes everything from Mr. T’s Delicate Donuts to the Gallo Center for the Arts and Graceada Park, that should interest locals the most. And if you miss out on this batch, well, there’s always next Christmas.

“It’s kind of cool, I haven’t seen anything else like it,” Guevara said. “We’ll definitely do it again next year.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2018 at 2:20 PM.