Thousands of Monopoly lovers across the world were expected to set a Guinness World Record last night by playing the game together. They included about 50 Hong Kong fans, who rolled their dice to start yesterday at 10pm local time, as players converged in more than 20 other cities. The Hongkongers gathered at The Peak, whose iconic tram represents Hong Kong in the game's latest edition, called Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition. Players ranged from secondary school students to adults in their 30s. 'It's like the world is getting smaller,' Butt Wah-liu, a writer and the 1996 world Monopoly champion, said of the record attempt. Organisers would not give a better estimate of how many people would play, or in which cities, until the game had finished, but the BBC reported that people in London, Tokyo and Atlantic City would also participate. There has been no previous record for the most people playing, although records exist for the largest game board and the longest games in a tree-house, a bath and on a balancing beam. 'We have a group of five friends coming, but if friends bring their friends, there could be more,' said Peter Chan Wing-lok, 16, a student at Cheung Chuk Shan College. Although Peter only plays Monopoly a few times a year because study takes up most of his life, he made time when his friends invited him to the record-breaking game. 'I started playing a year ago, but I really like this game. It looks simple, but you need to strategise to play.' Martin Wong Ka-chun, one of Peter's schoolmates, said: 'When you play, you get to interact with other people.' He has been playing for five years and attended last night's game. Hasbro, maker of Monopoly, released the new edition of the 73-year-old game yesterday, for HK$369.90 in Hong Kong. Five million people around the world voted for Hong Kong and 21 other cities to be on the new board. Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board James Tien Pei-chun said the game could boost tourism. 'I hope that with Hong Kong on the board the world edition will help promote Hong Kong,' Mr Tien said. Hong Kong was voted into the yellow zone, which denotes properties with the third-highest rental value. Mr Butt said he had hoped Hong Kong would land in the orange or navy zones, but he said yellow 'is not so bad' because it was not as low-value as being in the green or magenta zones, which was the fate of cities like Paris and Toronto.