Fortune Street aka “Boom Street”

Overview

Fortune Street (Boom Street in Europe and Australia) is a Wii board game that brings together two of gaming’s most beloved universes — the Mushroom Kingdom and the world of Dragon Quest — for a Monopoly-style property trading game. Up to four players race around beautifully illustrated game boards buying shops, investing in the stock market and collecting suits to bank their earnings, all in a race to hit a target wealth value before everyone else.

It’s the first entry in Square Enix’s long-running Itadaki Street series to be released outside Japan, making it the Western debut of a franchise that had been popular in Japan since 1991. The Mario characters appear as fully voiced playable characters alongside Dragon Quest favourites, and six of the game’s boards are based entirely on Mario locations — from Mario Stadium to Peach’s Castle.

Gameplay screenshot from E3 2011

The game supports online play via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, letting you compete against others globally. There’s a beginner-friendly “Easy Rules” mode that strips out the stock market to keep things accessible, and a full “Standard Rules” mode for players who want the complete strategic experience.

You can play as Mario, Bowser, Yoshi, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Birdo and Daisy on the Mario side — or as iconic Dragon Quest characters like Slime and the Dragonlord. Mii characters are also fully supported.

How to play

The core loop will feel familiar if you’ve ever played Monopoly. Players take turns rolling dice and moving around the board. Landing on an empty plot lets you buy a shop. Landing on an opponent’s shop means you pay them a shopping fee — the more developed their property, the more you pay. The goal is to be the first player to reach the target value and make it back to the bank.

What separates Fortune Street from Monopoly is the depth of its systems. Property values grow when you own adjacent shops in the same colour district — both shops level up simultaneously, creating powerful hotspots on the board. Every time you collect all four suit symbols (♠♥♦♣) scattered around the board and bank them at the bank square, you get a significant gold bonus based on how many shops you own. This suit-collecting mechanic is the strategic heart of the game.

Shop SquareBuy and develop

Bank SquareCash in suits here

Venture SquareDraw a card

CheckpointCollect salary

Spade suitCollect all 4

Heart suitCollect all 4

Diamond suitCollect all 4

Club suitCollect all 4

1-Star ShopBasic shop level

3-Star ShopMax shop level

Easy rules vs Standard rules

Two rule sets cater to different audiences:

Standard Rules adds a stock market where players can buy and sell shares in each colour district. If a district’s shop values rise, your stocks appreciate. Owning all shops in a district forces a buyout of any opponent’s shares in that district at a premium — a devastating offensive move.

The boards — Mario tour

Fortune Street features over 15 boards split between the Super Mario and Dragon Quest universes. The six Mario boards are available from the start. Four more special boards unlock after completing the Tour modes. Here are the six Mario boards:

Mario Stadium

A seaside sports ground with fierce competition from the first roll. One of the busiest boards with lots of suit squares, making for fast-moving games.

Starship Mario

Mario’s galaxy-cruising spaceship from Super Mario Galaxy 2 — a compact, asteroid-shaped board with tight loops and some brutal shortcut squares.

Mario Circuit

The iconic Mushroom Kingdom race track with a never-ending drone of engines. A longer, oval board that rewards patience and smart district investments.

Yoshi’s Island

The island where Mario had wild adventures as a baby. A winding, irregular board layout that keeps players guessing about property clusters.

Delfino Plaza

The grand metropolis of Isle Delfino from Super Mario Sunshine. A sprawling board with multiple routes, backstreet warps and the most complex district layout of any Mario board.

Peach’s Castle

The princess’s home — elegant, symmetrical and deceptively tricky. Unlockable by finishing second or better on the Peach’s Castle board in Tour mode.

Dragon Quest boards include Alefgard, Slimenia, Robbin’ Hood Ruins, Alltrades Abbey and The Colossus. The two special tour boards — Bowser’s Castle and The Observatory — unlock after completing both the Super Mario and Dragon Quest tours.

Mario playable characters

Twelve characters from the Mario universe are playable, each with an official rank (A/B/C/D) and unique personality reflected in their in-game dialogue. Ten are available from the start; Peach requires beating the Peach’s Castle board:

MarioRank A

The universal hero. Dashes and jumps his way around the world. His red cap and overalls are known to all — and he plays to win.

LuigiRank C

Normally quiet and unassuming, but a shrewd and powerful businessman when it matters. Don’t let the gentle manner fool you.

YoshiRank B

Mario’s trusty adventuring partner. His long tongue is perfect for slurping up fruit — and for licking up other players’ profits.

BowserRank A

Head of the Koopa Troop and a dangerous business rival. He won’t hesitate to buy your property from right under you.

ToadRank C

Never far from Princess Peach’s side. A thoroughly nice fellow who’s rooting for everyone — in theory.

Donkey KongRank D

Soft-hearted but hard as nails. Is he only here for the banana-selling fruit stalls?

Princess PeachUnlockable

Playable after beating Peach’s Castle in Tour mode. The princess brings grace, strategy and a surprisingly sharp financial mind.

WarioRank A

Greedy, loud and absolutely in his element on a property-trading board game. Genuinely dangerous to play against.

WaluigiRank B

Wario’s lanky partner in crime. Scheming and unscrupulous — perfect for this kind of game.

BirdoRank B

The pink bow-wearing character brings her own flair to the board. A consistent, solid player.

Bowser Jr.Rank C

The young Koopa prince shows off in his dad’s shadow — impulsive but occasionally brilliant.

DaisyRank A

Princess of Sarasaland brings boundless energy and sharp competitive instincts to every game.

Bowser Jr. shows off his business instincts in Fortune Street

Non-playable Mario characters

A wealth of familiar Mario faces appear on the boards and in cutscenes as non-playable characters, giving the game real Mushroom Kingdom atmosphere:

These characters populate the boards, run shops, host venues and appear in various board-specific events. Seeing Bullet Bills streak across the board on Mario Stadium or Yoshis lazing around Yoshi’s Island adds real character to each game.

Venture cards

When a player lands on a Venture square, they draw a Venture card at random. These are the wild cards of Fortune Street — they can help you, hurt you or cause chaos for everyone at the table. They’re analogous to Chance Cards in Monopoly.

There are 128 Venture cards in total. 105 of them appear in both Easy and Standard Rules. The remaining 23 involve districts or stocks and are exclusive to Standard Rules. Effects range from receiving gold, moving to specific squares, forcing shop sales, investing automatically in stocks, gaining or losing percentage values on shops, and much more. No two games play out the same because of Venture cards.

Minigames

Four minigames break up the board action and give players a chance to earn bonus gold. They trigger via certain squares or events during play:

Round the Blocks

A slot machine minigame. Match three 7s for a big gold bonus, three warp pipes to warp on the board, or three stock icons for shares in a district (Standard Rules only). Suit Yourself cards act as wilds.

Memory Block

A card memory matching game — flip cards to find matching pairs. The more pairs you match, the more gold you earn. Tests your concentration under pressure.

Dart of Gold

A dart-throwing game where you aim at a target board to earn gold. Accuracy determines your payout — land in the bullseye zone for the biggest rewards.

Slurpodrome

A creature racing minigame where players bet on which creature will win. Pick wisely and you can clean up — pick wrong and you lose your stake. Pure gambling fun.