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Description:
The classic real estate game. Buy properties, build houses and hotels, collect rent from fellow players. Repeat as necessary until everyone else is bankrupt. Monopoly was patented in 1935 by Charles Darrow and released by Parker Brothers. The game was actually one of a number of variants in existence at the time, all of which date back to an earlier, 1904 game by Elizabeth J. Magie, called The Landlord's Game. Her name is pronounced [MAG ee]. It's worth pronouncing correctly the name of the creative mind behind the most successful proprietary game of all time. Magie was a proponent of the Single Tax put forth by famous author Henry George. The game was designed to show how the Single Tax would work - players could choose to play under regular rules or alternate "Single Tax" rules. The game didn't really go anywhere and Magie lost interest in it. Variations of the game evolved, however, and homemade versions traveled up and down the Atlantic coast and even as far west as Michigan and Texas, being developed all along the way. Eventually the game was noticed by Charles Darrow who introduced it to the world in its current form.
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4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
If you have the time, I'm ready to playJul 18, 2008 Game Description: Monopoly is a real estate buying-and-trading game. There are many variations now on the market, using different themes and different locations or settings as their bases, but I am reviewing the original version, where all the place-names are derived from Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The board is square, and has forty small squares around the perimeter. A good image of the board can be found by looking on the Wikipedia.com page for the game. Play starts with a Banker being chosen, and each player getting $1500 US in Monopoly money, with the following denomination-distribution:
Two each of:
$500 bills (orange)
$100 bills (beige)
$50 bills (blue)
Six $20 bills (green)
Five each of:
$10 bills (yellow)
$5 bills (pink)
$1 bills (white)
Players each choose one of twelve pieces: a wheelbarrow, a battleship, a sack of money (1999 editions onwards), a horse and rider, a car, an old style iron, a thimble, a cannon, an old style shoe or boot, a Scottie dog, an iron, and a top hat. Going first is decided by rolling the dice, and play proceeds by each player rolling the two dice, moving that number of squares clockwise, and taking whatever action the square calls for. If the player rolls doubles, he or she gets another turn.
The squares include:
Twenty-eight properties, three Chance spaces, three Community Chest spaces, a Luxury Tax space, an Income Tax space, and the four corner squares: GO, Jail, Free Parking, and Go to Jail.
Players start on the GO square and, on each subsequent passing of that square, the player gets $200 from the bank.
If a player lands on the Jail square, he or she can be just visiting. If a player lands on Go to Jail, he or she moves to the Jail square, and cannot get out except by: Turning in a Get Out of Jail Free card, obtained from Chance or Community Chest; rolling doubles on a subsequent turn; paying the $50 fine. One can also land in jail for rolling doubles three times in a row.
If you land on Chance or Community Chest, the player draws the top card from the respective pile, takes whatever action it indicates, and discards the card on a discard pile. Chance and Community Chest cards can either benefit or penalize the player.
If a player lands on Luxury Tax or Income Tax, he or she must pay the indicated amount, to the Bank. See the Free Parking section for a twist on this.
If a player lands on Free Parking, by the official rules, nothing happens. However, the official rules, and tradition, have long encouraged the use of House Rules, that must be agreed upon by all players, before the game starts. One of the most common House Rules, is that the game start with $500 in Free Parking, and all taxes and fines be added to that. When a player lands on Free Parking, under this rule, he or she acquires the accumulated amount, often kept in the middle of the board.
If a player lands on an un-owned property, he or she can either purchase it, and hold the deed, or let it go up for auction. Sometimes, under House Rules, the auction option is not used, and that might be useful for new players.
If a player lands on an owned property, he or she must pay the rent, as designated on the owner's deed, unless that property is mortgaged. The rent doubles when the owner owns all properties in a color-set, and goes up more when the owner has developed the property by added houses or a hotel.
Play continues until all but one player has run out of money. The game can last anywhere from twenty minutes to three hours, depending upon the number of players and whether House Rules are in place. With the House Rule on Free Parking, described above, games can easily take three hours, as nearly-bankrupt players can be rapidly resurrected to wealthy status with one lucky turn.
Strengths of the Game: I am not a big fan of games where the outcome is largely a matter of chance and, while the roll of the dice is a factor is Monopoly, there is strategy to be used, as well. It involves deciding which properties to buy, which trades to make, and which properties to develop. In multi-player games, two weaker players can make mutually-beneficial trades, to defend against a player who is threatening to dominate the game.
On a more basic level, the game involves skills like turn-taking, money-handling, and counting, that younger players might need to practice. Monopoly really does capture the basics of economic systems in capitalist countries.
Weaknesses of the Game: The time involved can be a negative. Whenever a game can take two hours to play, it requires can be a problem. This issue can be resolved, however, by having all players agree, before the game starts, on a time limit. Some people might object to Monopoly also, based on how much it is based on money and capitalism. Another problem arise when a game is played with three or more players; the first player who goes bankrupt will have to find something else to do, unless he or she enjoys being a spectator. I prefer two-player games, for the reason.
History Trivia: While preparing to write this, I found out that the origins of it are somewhat in dispute, and this has resulted in a few copyright battles over the years. Parker Brothers, and its parent company, Hasbro, have most of the current rights, but there is still disagreement over who invented the game, in the first place.
What I Think: I have been playing Monopoly since I learned it, as a youngster. When two or more people have the time, I think it is a good, interesting way to spend an afternoon. I know that capitalism is not everyone's favorite economic system, but it is a fact of life in many countries and, agree with it or not, Monopoly teaches you the basics.
-- Chris McCallister, author of Coming Full Circle
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Monopoly, the King of Board GamesMay 02, 2008 What did children do before they had 100 channels on their televisions, the latest I-Pods, cell phones, computer games, and door-to-door transporation? ANSWER: They played Monopoly! Having gone through my formative years in the 1950's, when we had two channels on a snowy black and white screen and the use of our aunt's eight-party telephone line, we learned how to have a good time with what we had. And we had a rip-roaring good time playing Monopoly, the king of board games.
We played it fast paced, and we developed many skills. We learned from interacting with each other in a nonthreatening environment, as we sat around a little square table. (Imagine a family sitting around a table and conversing for hours!) We learned how to handle imaginary money, count, add without paper or a calculator, make change, handle real estate, roll with the punches, lose gracefully, and win without too much bragging. We developed social skills and vented our frustations as we played Monopoly.
I'm glad I grew up with Monopoly, a social feast in a box. We wanted to play to the end of every game, but sometimes we had to go to bed or do our chores. At that time, we would cash in so we could declare a winner.
Monopoly is the perfect balance between luck and skill. It is great for young players and adults alike. Playing with children is a super way for parents to learn about their children and teach them.
There is one problem I have with the new Monopoly games: I loved the little wooden figures that we used. It does not seem the same without them.
We are on the verge of a renaissance of board games. Monopoly is a great game for starters.
0 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Driving people into the poorhouse is not supposed to be a game!Feb 28, 2008 Who would have guessed that the street names of a small and seedy New Jersey wouldn't be the basis for a fascinating and fun game? Surprisingly, Monopoly turned out to be a game that (1) was incredibly long; (2) involved slow, grinding failure for those who were losing; (3) involved almost no skill but also (4) none of the excitement of chance. As far as I can tell, the only joy people get out of it comes from handling play money.
In many board games one goes round and round. But generally there is the sense one is going SOMEWHERE. In Monopoly--more true to life--there is nowhere to go. Just keep working and paying the man. If one is attracted to the idea that repetition can be the highest ethical moment, one only needs to play this game to be quickly disabused. In contrast to, say, Mousetrap [see my review] which highlights the nature of irreversible transitions, in Monopoly one orbits around a gaping hole of debt, slowly circling inwards towards failure.
This is also, unfortunately, one of those games that children always think will be fun. But for some reason it is incredibly unpleasant to lose at monopoly. In chess, you die an honorable death. In Monopoly you are slowly sucked dry by other, increasingly hateful, players.
The funny thing is, apparently Monopoly was actually invented (not by the goofball who gave it the street names) precisely to demonstrate the theories of the great American radical economic theorist Henry George. George argued that the cause of human misery was private ownership of land, an ethical monstrosity in itself. The game shows that when we allow people to own property, then even if all start out equal and are equally industrious, things can only end in the most extreme inequality.
That was NOT supposed to be enjoyable. It is a testament to the perversity of the American economic and judicial system that we turned this cautionary tale into a game in which the goal is to "win" by sapping everything from everyone else. This is simply a horrible game: I don't understand why there aren't analogue games like "ethnic cleansing" or "slum clearance." [24]
A Timeless ClassicJan 12, 2008 Never get too old for this game....must have for every kid, no matter the age. I enjoy playing it with my granddaughter as much as I did playing it when I was a child with my brothers and sisters.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
whatever happens, don't go broke !!!!Jan 10, 2008 Monopoly is an excellent game for almost all ages (eight years and up). The object of the game is to use your money and income to buy properties, railroads and more--and then charge rent to the other players when their tokens (playing pieces) land on them. Players simply roll the dice to see how many steps ahead they have to move their token; and the game can go on for hours and hours if the players are savvy enough and have the right experience playing the game.
I agree with many reviewers when they note that part of the fun of Monopoly is that you can make up a few of your own rules as you go along. You can get more than $200 for passing the "go" space, for example. You can trade properties, print your own extra money if you need more money and of course Monopoly official rules let you mortgage properties so that you can buy even more real estate. The game also comes with a special set of rules for a shortened version of the game.
The real estate starts relatively inexpensively and get more and more expensive as you and the other players go around the board. This helps to make the game exciting.
This game has another clear advantage: it teaches children how to count their money (counting skills) and it also helps to teach children how money is used in real life. Very young players just starting out should play this game with an older relative or a parent who can explain the rules to them.
Overall, I predict that Monopoly will be around for ages to come. There are many different editions of the classic Monopoly game. The newer versions of Monopoly have all been designed in the last twenty years or so--thus the game's popularity is very high.
I recommend this awesome game for ages eight and up.
based on 127 reviews
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