Tariffs push Monopoly maker to build an American-made edition

WS Game Company introduced Monopoly Americana, an $80 special edition tied to the nation’s 250th birthday, after CEO Jonathan Silva spent more than a year trying to make a Monopoly set in the United States. The game was manufactured with Cartamundi in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and is set to ship in July 2026, making it WS Game Company’s first U.S.-manufactured game.

The push began after the Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts, company was hit with a seven-figure tariff bill last year. Silva said the project missed the first half of the 250th-birthday selling season because it took so long to assemble, and that tariff uncertainty made the business feel “handcuffed” as he weighed whether to hire, invest and set prices. WS Game Company explored moving production to Vietnam or Brazil, then raised prices in July 2025 to offset emergency tariffs and left open the possibility of rolling those increases back if relief arrived.

Silva said the company searched across the United States for a maker that could produce 10,000 dice and eventually had to import them because the work required special machinery and investment. A former Hasbro factory in Massachusetts printed the Monopoly board, Pioneer Packaging made the tray that holds the Monopoly money, and Stateline Industries in Liberty, Indiana fabricated the custom metal tokens in shapes that fit the America-themed edition, including a cowboy hat, a covered wagon and an apple pie.

Silva said U.S. manufacturing cost at least twice what the same game would have cost in China, where WS Game Company has long relied on established production networks for most of its catalog of 120 games. Greg Ahearn, president and CEO of The Toy Association, said nearly 80% of toys and games sold in the United States are made in China, a concentration built over decades around finished goods, specialized parts and the factories that can deliver both quickly.