Personally, I think this is an example of bad board design... :/
This was horribly designed, seriously, they really didn't try with this board and instead made the stupidest decisions possible.
First off, there is only ONE Shop and ONE Hex spot, everyone gets that one Hex spot, but the shop is an OPTION, and most of the time that option is IGNORED due to the other path being shorter. Of course, there is the problem of how everything leads to the middle, with various things THAT CAUSE YOU NOT TO RISK going outside of the middle (despite the Venus Fly Traps being a problem...) the risky things are the two Bowser spaces right before start, and the 3 Happening spaces for Piranha Plant having a chance at causing you to lose coins. Not to mention, the only thing that could have made the board better was instead put in the STUPIDEST place possible, and I am talking about the two Happening spaces which send you back to start, both of which are on the ONLY ROUTE TO GET THERE. Seriously, of all things they should have swapped with the Venus Fly Trap Happening spaces, and the board could have been DECENT, but no, they instead wasted it and made it a shortcut (or a middle finger if the star was right in front of you) that ignored the two pointless Bowser spaces. The fact that the design was made this way made it REALLY hard to get an item and hex from a turn that WASN'T THE FIRST (or first few) TURNS.
Not to mention, these issues are especially seen with the computers, whose AI forces them to make the "best" decisions, which typically lead them to NEVER LEAVING THE CENTER or going around to RETURN TO THE CENTER. The chances of them passing start again is slim. The only time they would go to the shop is if a star was in that one path. This board had potential, but they just screwed that potential up. Another shop and Hex space would have been VERY useful, but would have actually made the board look shorter than it already is... :/