Most modern television programmes don’t lend themselves particularly well to board games – if they did, Milton Bradley might have actually responded to my letter suggesting the unbelievable licensing potential of True Detective Kerplunk. But there’s one notable exception. That exception, of course, is Game of Thrones.

Game of Thrones comes from such a richly drawn universe, and is awash with so many cultural signifiers beloved by so many stereotypical board game players, that it has been crying out to become a mainstream board game for years. Now, it’s finally happening. Game of Thrones Monopoly has just been announced.

If you’ve played real Monopoly, you’ll know why this is so exciting. It’s a perfect fit. The story of Game of Thrones is already basically just a Monopoly session writ large, full of aggressive trading and spurious imprisonments and players seeking to gain total control over their peers. Like Game of Thrones, Monopoly revolves around several locations of differing values. Like Game of Thrones, Monopoly often ends with sudden acts of inexplicable violence. Like Game of Thrones, Monopoly always ends up being ruined by a Lannister.

What’s more, Game of Thrones Monopoly will probably go down in history as the definitive version of the game. Even before it exists, it’s already so much better than the London edition. The pieces will be more imaginative – I’m expecting thrones and direwolves and all sorts of gratuitous nipples – plus the stakes will be higher and, unlike the London edition, it might actually acknowledge the existence of the north for once.

And I desperately want Game of Thrones Monopoly to be a success. Because that’s the only way other Game of Thrones board games will get the go-ahead. The possibilities for brand expansion here are endless. Perhaps there’ll soon be a Game of Thrones Trivial Pursuit, where players can quiz each other on the complex ancestral allegiances of various minor characters in the hope they’ll be able to watch future episodes without constantly having to refer to Wikipedia.

Or a Game of Thrones Snakes and Ladders where, instead of sliding down a snake, you’re thrown off a tower and have to spend the rest of the game being carted around by a loveable simpleton called Hodor.

Best of all, what about a Game of Thrones spoiler Buckaroo? Done properly, this could be the perfect recreation of talking about the show to friends and strangers in real life. Players would take turns to gingerly place pieces of information about the series onto the shoulders of a plastic viewer, but, at any moment, a single obscure fact about an episode he hasn’t seen might send him spiralling into a protracted full-body fit until everyone goes home. Will it be the details of the Red Wedding? Will it be a joke about Littlefinger’s wandering accent? Will it be an acknowledgement of the existence of Qarth? Who knows?

But, until then, Game of Thrones Monopoly will be more than enough to tide us over. Especially if you get to play as Arya Stark.