It’s official: The Colour City has hit the big time, following this month’s gala launch of our very own edition of the iconic board game, MONOPOLY!

The Orange City Centre-hosted event included representatives of many of the “squares” on the game that, in the British edition of the game familiar to most Australians, features such famous London landmarks as Pall Mall, Mayfair, and Old Kent Road.

For our local version, these squares have been replaced with well-known local institutions including Orange Railway Station, Cook Park, and, on the premier location on the board, the last square, Mount Canobolas!

Many local businesses and service organisations also get a guernsey including Orange Ex-Services Club, Ashcroft’s IGA, Orange Central Square, and Orange City Centre, with a number of local landmarks also featuring on the box cover.

The launch also included unveiling of a giant five-metre by five-metre replica of the famous game board, with the City Centre offering shoppers a fun chance to win great prizes and vouchers till the end of this week.

“It’s great to see some of some of the iconic locations of Orange on the board,” Mayor Tony Mileto told 'Orange City Life' at the launch.

“I’m also proud to see so many council institutions — the airport, visitor information centre, gallery and museum — included, even though the mayoral office is not on it,” he added jokingly.

One of our most beloved not-for-profits Wangarang Industries, as well as having a prime square in the game, is also utilising the creation of the Orange edition as a chance to assist their good work with the developmentally-delayed in the local area.

“We’ve bought about 150 copies of the game at something like cost-price,” CEO Chris Rawlins revealed.

“We’re now selling it to our staff and offering it also to our ‘return-and-earn’ customers and other clients as a bit of a fund-raiser,” he added.

James 'Buck' McFarlane — whose "Cocky Guides" tours specialises in tailor-made trips for travellers with low vision — also purchased one of the first copies at the launch. “It’s a great board game in which everyone can get involved and which requires little background knowledge,” Buck enthused. “We’re thinking it’s the perfect thing to play at nights for our clients when we’re away on trips.”

FUN FACT: During World War II, a modified version of MONOPOLY was developed by British secret service agency MI9 to help Allied prisoners escape German POW camps.

The altered sets included durable and water-resistant silk maps, tiny magnetic compasses, small metal tools and files, and real German, Italian, and French currency mixed-in with the “play” money.

These specially-marked editions were delivered to the captured soldiers, sailors, and airmen (under the Geneva Convention) by fake charity organisations such as the “Prisoners' Leisure Hours Fund” with the project so secret that it was not officially declassified until 2007.