What Is the Romanceopoly Reading Challenge?
Think Romanceopoly is “just” a cute board? The real story starts in 2012. Discover how this reading challenge evolved, and why readers keep coming back.
What Is the Romanceopoly Reading Challenge?
Romanceopoly is our annual romance reading challenge that borrows the structure of a board or map and uses it to push you outside your usual reading habits. Every year, we redesign the setting, refresh the prompts, and give you a different way to move around the “board.”
Think of it as a guided tour through romance subgenres, disguised as a game.
For the actual rules, prompts, and downloads for this year, you’ll always want the current Romanceopoly Reading Challenge page. But this is here to answer: where did this even come from?
This post contains affiliate links. That means we receive a small commission at no cost to you from any purchases you make through these links.
Before Romanceopoly: The Romance Roundabout Years (2012-2018)
Romanceopoly has roots.
Back in 2012, we started the Romance Roundabout Reading Challenge. The goal was simple:
get you reading across all the different subgenres of romance (paranormal, historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, and more) in a structured, low-drama way.
For several years, Romance Roundabout did exactly that. It was list-based, subgenre-focused, and very much about just reading widely. Eventually, though, we wanted something more visual and interactive.
By 2019, we were ready to take that same “read widely in romance” idea and turn it into a game.
2019: When Romanceopoly Was Born
In 2019, Romance Roundabout evolved into the Romanceopoly Reading Challenge. We built a fictional city called Romanceopolis and laid it out like a board. Each “street” or location on that board represented part of the genre: Different subgenres and vibes lived in different color neighborhoods.
Each space came with a reading prompt to help you choose a book.
You still had the same core intention: read broadly across romance. But now the board helped decide what came next. Go in order or roll the dice!
The Romanceopolis Era and the Break
For the first few years, Romanceopoly stayed in that city-board format:
- Romanceopolis became the central visual for the challenge
- Streets and locations stood in for different corners of the romance genre
- Prompts were grouped so you naturally bounced between subgenres over the year
Then the pandemic hit, everyone’s mental bandwidth shrank, and we pressed pause. The challenge stepped back for a bit while the world sorted itself out (or tried to).
2023-2024: Bringing the Board Back
In 2023, we brought Romanceopoly back. By 2024, we were firmly in “classic board, updated contents” territory again:
- Romanceopolis returned as the main board
- Prompts were refreshed
- Trackers and printables were updated for how people actually like to track things now
The focus in this phase was: same playful structure, less pressure. Finish what you can, read what works, and use the board as a guide, not a test.
Would you like to save this?
Enter your email below, and we’ll send this post straight to your inbox. Plus, you'll join fellow readers and receive my book recommendations each week!
2025: From Board to Map
In 2025, Romanceopoly shifted from a Monopoly-style board to a map with four seasonal towns.
Instead of one loop around a city, the challenge was organized as:
- Distinct areas with their own themes and moods
- Locations on the map that each carried a reading prompt
- The purpose was still to get you to read across sub-genres
It was still Romanceopoly, just reimagined as a place you travel through instead of a single board you circle.
2026: The Campus Era
In 2026, we redesigned Romanceopoly again, this time as a college campus-themed map.
The idea:
- Choose your own adventure. You don’t have to complete the full map. You choose your major and minor, join clubs, participate in sports events, even monthly study sessions (book club)
- Each spot on the campus acts as a home for a specific reading prompt
The underlying goal remains the same as it was in 2012: give you a structure that makes it easier to read more widely in romance.
Where to Find the Current Rules and Prompts
To actually join the challenge for the current year, you’ll need the main Romanceopoly Reading Challenge page, which will always include:
- This year’s theme and visual (board or map)
- The full prompt list
- Any trackers, printables, or digital tools available
- Details on how to join in and follow along
That page is the one that will be updated each year. This one is meant to tell you where it came from.
What About Previous Years’ Boards and Downloads?
A question we get a lot: “Can I replay past versions of Romanceopoly?”
Right now, older boards and trackers aren’t publicly available for download. If and when we bring back archived versions, so they’re easy to find.
Final Thoughts
Romanceopoly has shape-shifted a lot over the years (boards, maps, towns, campuses) but the heart of it hasn’t changed: it’s still about giving you a gentle push out of your usual lane and into more of what the romance genre can do.
If you want to see how different years have played out in practice, you can browse our Romanceopoly Reading Challenge archive, where we also collect recommendation lists and related posts from past rounds of the challenge. It’s a good place to get ideas, revisit old favorites, or just see how this year’s version fits into the bigger picture.
Pin It for Later
WANT MORE BOOK RECS?
Access our Book Vault Database
When you join the Under the Covers Community you’ll get access to our release calendar and trope database where you can see every book listed on the blog in a searchable and filterable database. Guaranteed to help you find your next read!
