Say it’s not so, Hasbro.

The toy company recently unveiled a new version of the classic board game Monopoly — with stunning changes. In this case the role of the banker is gone, as is the colorful money doled out in multiple denominations: pink $5 bills, blue $50s and bright yellow $500s.

In its place? Monopoly App Banking, designed to handle all the transactions for you on your smartphone or tablet, speed up play and perhaps attract a newer audience that is used to transacting banking business with plastic, cyber currencies and online social media payment platforms, such as Venmo.

As Monopoly fans know, Monopoly in the big picture teaches economic lessons, negotiating, and business and entrepreneurial judgment — all in a very hands-on way. Kids learn how to handle cash, count money and get a taste for wheeling and dealing.

I loved the feeling of passing Go and collecting $200, especially when I was making my way around the board on fumes and trying to dodge getting knocked out with rent payments. The same with landing on Free Parking and scooping up the pot of money in the center of the board. Perhaps I’m dating myself, but I actually liked being the banker — it was a power position. Yeah, I’m that old.

The new version of Monopoly is expected to go on sale in August for $24.99, although the mobile app that is at the heart of the game is free. Of course, you need a smartphone and internet connection.

Monopoly App Banking has a similar board layout to the traditional game, but it features such properties as a rocket launch pad, a virtual reality roller coaster and a dinosaur park instead of Boardwalk and Park Place.

The automated version will definitely speed play since the bankers’ job is automated. Just select a token and a matching bank card and scan it to the mobile app, and you’re ready to play. No math skills needed, no marathon matches stretching over several days.

While there are many versions of Monopoly, this newest one has generated some strong reactions like I’ve never seen for a game.

“I understand that this is Hasbro’s response to the way kids play, but I will admit I’m disappointed that kids who play this version of the game are going to be missing out on the tangible learning that the paper money system provided,” Cat Bowen, a senior editor at Popular Mechanics, posted in a review.

“The old Monopoly could be played anywhere and anytime,” Bowen wrote, “but this new version requires a smartphone and internet connection. … In a time when parents are increasingly concerned about their kids’ screen time, this feels like a push towards more of that, not less.”

Financial literacy advocate Susan Beacham also chimed in. “Stick with the hands-on game,” said Beacham, the owner of Money Savvy Generation. “Apps are abstract and kids struggle to learn with abstract concepts.”

“Apps are fine for fun,” Beacham said, “but for a true learning win, combine them with concrete tools like the boxed game of Monopoly to reach kids where they are in their development.”

Questions, comments, column ideas? Send an email to sbrosen1030@gmail.com.