CONDOMINIUMS continuously popping up across the Malaysian landscape are a major indicator that the real estate and property market is still, despite various economic forecasts, a booming market.

Well, if you're like me and have difficulty making ends meet, playing the real estate market is something for all those rich folks to indulge in. The rest of us proles can find some measure of thrill playing any one of the various Saidina games by local manufacturer Syarikat Permainan Malaysia (SPM).

Saidina is a bilingual (Bahasa Malaysia and English) real estate and property board game loosely based on a more popular imported game. Much of the game play is based on luck - the roll of the dice, literally - but there are spaces in between that
allow for some measure of strategic and thoughtful play. Players move around a board buying up real estate and then building property on it. The one with the most money - or the one who cleans out all the other players - wins.

Sounds familiar, hub? The Saidina games are identical to its imported cousin, but it has some advantages. For one thing, it is bilingual and is also much cheaper, at less than RM25 for the standard editions. But the best thing about the local games is that they're localised: you're not going to be buying obscure places like Mayfair and Park Lane, but local real estate like Batu Pahat, Sibu and Butterworth.

There are four different versions of Saidina: the original version; Kuala Lumpur: City of Lights; Pulau Pinang: Pearl of the East; and Hill and Beach Resorts: Beautiful Malaysia. They are available in different editions as well: standard, deluxe and
travel editions.

They all come with attractive cover packaging. Although the materials used are not as durable as those used in the more expensive imported versions, SPM's products are still a cut above other locally-manufactured games we have reviewed. And at a
mere RM25, I'm not complaining about the quality.

Those who have played the foreign versions will find more differences inside. The playing pieces are made of relatively soft plastic, a step down from the carved wooden pieces. There aren't any of those tokens that some of us are fond of: the li'l terrier, shoe, ship, racing car and others. Instead, players use letter tiles to identify themselves. These letter tiles, by the way, could have easily come from the Sahibba word game also from SPM.

There are no Community Chest and Chance decks, instead you get Decision cards, with very much the same penalties and bonuses. Instead of collecting £200 when you pass "Go," you collect RM1,400 instead. Don't get too excited though: the prices of property are commensurately higher.

Each game has its own flavour (see accompanying articles), although they all play identically. Heck, for RM25 a game, you can actually get one of each.

The national original, and if you're feeling generous, the classic local version of the real estate and property game.

I have to admit that I ignored this particular game for a long time, thinking it was a Bahasa Malaysia-only game. Making it bilingual was a pretty smart move by SPM - for negligibly higher printing costs, the company is catering to the needs of those who want a Bahasa Malaysia game, and those who just want a more inexpensive board game.

Some nice touches here: instead of the famous railway stations, you have pineapple plantations, and rubber, coconut and oil palm estates. The utility company is still Lembaga Letrik Negara, not Tenaga Nasional; an oversight that would hopefully be amended. Nice to know that you can get real estate in Kuala Lumpur and Penang for a mere RM2,600. Places like Sibu, Butterworth and Taiping go for RM700; while Kangar and Batu Pahat are worth RM400.

KLites would love this one, a game devoted wholly to their beloved, dusty and traffic jam-embroiled city. You do get one railway station, the KTM headquarters. The rest are the Klang Bus Stand, Subang Airport and the Puduraya Taxi Stand.

Cheapest bit of property here are Jln Ulu Klang and Batu Caves, which sell for RM400 each; while the most expensive are Jln Istana and Jln Parlimen. The Golden Triangle - Jln Sultan Ismail, Jln Bukit Bintang and Jln Tun Ismail are worth only RM2,600.

SAD to say, the most expensive place in this lovely isle isn't the Gurney Drive kway-teow stall, but Jln Penang and Lebuh Pantai (RM2,600). Gurney Drive (as well as Lebuh Light and Lebuh Farquhar) is only worth RM1,000 (sob, sob).

The landmarks are the Penang Bridge, the Penang Ferry, Penang Port and Bayan Lepas Airport.

A GREAT gift for any tourist friends you have popping over. Heck, you can even use it to plan your next vacation, wot?

The dung-splattered Morib and Tanjung Aru, by the way, go for RM400 each. Old favourites like Maxwell Hill, Gunung Ledang and Gunung Jerai are worth RM700. The expensive, upmarket resorts are places like Langkawi, Batu Ferringhi and Port Dickson (believe it or not), which go for RM2,200. Cherating, Pangkor and Desaru cost RM1,900 each.

The places that proles like me can not afford are, surprisingly, Penang, Bukit Bendera and Genting Highlands, which go for RM2,600 each. Fun in the sun, anyone … ?