5 ms·

Instead of hotels, put 4 houses as quickly as possible so there are no houses left for other people to build. Only upgrade to hotels when you can afford to put

by blowski 11y ago

Instead of hotels, put 4 houses as quickly as possible so there are no houses left for other people to build. Only upgrade to hotels when you can afford to put the houses that will become available onto another of your properties. Other people's sets are worthless to them if you own all the houses. Combine this strategy with the fact that the highest ROI on most properties is 3 houses, and you have a winning strategy against most non-experts. 1. Do whatever it takes to get cheap sets (other than risking somebody else getting the red or orange set). This is where blues and purples are very useful. 2. Put as many houses as you can as quickly as possible. 3. Wait for desperate people to trade with you to get the oranges or reds. 4. Spread your houses across the sets you own with 3 on each property, prioritising the reds and oranges. NB - nobody likes me at Christmas.

TheAnimus 11y ago
But what about the street repairs card? IIRC it is only 2-3 times the price of a house for a hotel.
- blowski 11y ago
  Hope that you don't pick it up! In the end, Monopoly is a game of luck. Sometimes you lose because you constantly get sent to jail, and never land on unbought properties. All you can do is improve your odds, and this is the most surefire way I've found of doing that. You can improve your odds of not picking it up slightly by never using the 'or take a chance' cards, and if all the properties are bought, stay in jail as long as possible.
jon-wood 11y ago
That last line is the rub here. I used to play Monopoly as if my life depended on it. Now I don't, because no one will play Monopoly against me anymore.
- DanielBMarkham 11y ago
  Agreed. I've found the best way to play games against friends is to disconnect my competitive spirit and anlytical mind and just sit back and enjoy the conversation. I have fun, and those folks who are hyper-competitive get another "victim", so it's good for everybody.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    That, however, means a monopoly game can easily last 5 hours. The only way to play monopoly is to be brutal and eliminate everyone as quickly as possible. (Ignoring the best way to win is to not play, and play any of the very much better games)
    - DanielBMarkham 11y ago
      Really? Maybe a couple of hours. I just buy whatever I land on. Others usually follow suit and fairly quickly the board is divvied up. Then it's horse-trading and luck. I think that with a few simple heuristics the game moves along quickly enough. I have family members who are so nice they try to prevent doing things the other players don't like. These games take forever. Geesh. I haven't played in quite a while, so I may be remembering the game moving along faster than it actually does. Side note: we've been playing Machi Koro at home over the last few weeks. Very simple concept, mostly luck, and interesting enough for a somewhat fun 30 minutes or so.
- DanBC 11y ago
  Monopoly requires player elimination. That's seen as "mean", whereas winning isn't seen as mean. That's the main reason Monopoly isn't a good game. The other reason is that people have house rules, which often have the effect of reducing the risk of player elimination, which then increases the playtime to stupid lengths. There are a bunch of great, easy to understand, easy to play games that are much better. (HN search might find a few, there have been several threads before. Board Game Geek tends to skew toward the more complex end, but there's probably good lists of great family games.)
  - blowski 11y ago
    There are some interesting variations of the game, using a standard Monopoly set. One I've seen allowed things like Lynch Mobs - if enough of the players agree, they can send someone to prison, remove their assets, or even eject them from the game. You could also institute a rule like "90% tax on cash holdings" or "those with assets under $200 receive an extra $1000 when they pass Go". It sort of combined Werewolf with Monopoly, because it required more skill at the human level to persuade your fellow players to vote with you.
    - debugunit 11y ago
      "...Lynch Mobs - if enough of the players agree, they can send someone to prison, remove their assets, or even eject them from the game" AKA democracy ;-)
    - JoshTriplett 11y ago
      Sounds like "Monopoly: Regulatory Capture Edition".
  - steveklabnik 11y ago
    > Monopoly requires player elimination. Absolutely. I love Monopoly, and when I mention this, people always say "but it lasts so long!" It only lasts so long because just as someone is about to get knocked out, someone else loans them money to stay in the game... > There are a bunch of great, easy to understand, easy to play games > that are much better. My favorite with family is either Carcassonne (I even have a tattoo) or Ticket to Ride.
davidgl 11y ago
Also bare in mind the original game that evolved into Monopoly was designed to be upsetting, to teach the dangers of monopolies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_board_game_Monopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_board_game_Mono...)
- cantdutchthis 11y ago
  did not know. interesting!
captn3m0 11y ago
Another thing is to note is that the highest ROI generating properties are the stations, if you can get a monopoly on them. The surest way to win is to just get the orange and the transport monopoly, and the game breaks down because you are earning far more than any other player can. I try to focus on one of these groups at the early game, and add the other one as soon as I can. Unless I'm playing with good players, in which case I need to hedge bets and maybe go for a Red. I rarely, if ever, go for anything above Red (So anything on the second half of the board).

by blowski 11y ago

TheAnimus 11y ago

But what about the street repairs card? IIRC it is only 2-3 times the price of a house for a hotel.

blowski 11y ago
Hope that you don't pick it up! In the end, Monopoly is a game of luck. Sometimes you lose because you constantly get sent to jail, and never land on unbought properties. All you can do is improve your odds, and this is the most surefire way I've found of doing that. You can improve your odds of not picking it up slightly by never using the 'or take a chance' cards, and if all the properties are bought, stay in jail as long as possible.

jon-wood 11y ago

That last line is the rub here. I used to play Monopoly as if my life depended on it. Now I don't, because no one will play Monopoly against me anymore.

DanielBMarkham 11y ago
Agreed. I've found the best way to play games against friends is to disconnect my competitive spirit and anlytical mind and just sit back and enjoy the conversation. I have fun, and those folks who are hyper-competitive get another "victim", so it's good for everybody.
- DanBC 11y ago
  That, however, means a monopoly game can easily last 5 hours. The only way to play monopoly is to be brutal and eliminate everyone as quickly as possible. (Ignoring the best way to win is to not play, and play any of the very much better games)
  - DanielBMarkham 11y ago
    Really? Maybe a couple of hours. I just buy whatever I land on. Others usually follow suit and fairly quickly the board is divvied up. Then it's horse-trading and luck. I think that with a few simple heuristics the game moves along quickly enough. I have family members who are so nice they try to prevent doing things the other players don't like. These games take forever. Geesh. I haven't played in quite a while, so I may be remembering the game moving along faster than it actually does. Side note: we've been playing Machi Koro at home over the last few weeks. Very simple concept, mostly luck, and interesting enough for a somewhat fun 30 minutes or so.
DanBC 11y ago
Monopoly requires player elimination. That's seen as "mean", whereas winning isn't seen as mean. That's the main reason Monopoly isn't a good game. The other reason is that people have house rules, which often have the effect of reducing the risk of player elimination, which then increases the playtime to stupid lengths. There are a bunch of great, easy to understand, easy to play games that are much better. (HN search might find a few, there have been several threads before. Board Game Geek tends to skew toward the more complex end, but there's probably good lists of great family games.)
- blowski 11y ago
  There are some interesting variations of the game, using a standard Monopoly set. One I've seen allowed things like Lynch Mobs - if enough of the players agree, they can send someone to prison, remove their assets, or even eject them from the game. You could also institute a rule like "90% tax on cash holdings" or "those with assets under $200 receive an extra $1000 when they pass Go". It sort of combined Werewolf with Monopoly, because it required more skill at the human level to persuade your fellow players to vote with you.
  - debugunit 11y ago
    "...Lynch Mobs - if enough of the players agree, they can send someone to prison, remove their assets, or even eject them from the game" AKA democracy ;-)
  - JoshTriplett 11y ago
    Sounds like "Monopoly: Regulatory Capture Edition".
- steveklabnik 11y ago
  > Monopoly requires player elimination. Absolutely. I love Monopoly, and when I mention this, people always say "but it lasts so long!" It only lasts so long because just as someone is about to get knocked out, someone else loans them money to stay in the game... > There are a bunch of great, easy to understand, easy to play games > that are much better. My favorite with family is either Carcassonne (I even have a tattoo) or Ticket to Ride.

davidgl 11y ago

Also bare in mind the original game that evolved into Monopoly was designed to be upsetting, to teach the dangers of monopolies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_board_game_Monopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_board_game_Mono...)

cantdutchthis 11y ago
did not know. interesting!

captn3m0 11y ago

Another thing is to note is that the highest ROI generating properties are the stations, if you can get a monopoly on them. The surest way to win is to just get the orange and the transport monopoly, and the game breaks down because you are earning far more than any other player can. I try to focus on one of these groups at the early game, and add the other one as soon as I can. Unless I'm playing with good players, in which case I need to hedge bets and maybe go for a Red. I rarely, if ever, go for anything above Red (So anything on the second half of the board).