9 ms·

Monopoly was popular with kids on my block back in Palo Alto in the 60's. At least, it was omnipresent in collections, and we'd attempt to play it every so oft

Monopoly was popular with kids on my block back in Palo Alto in the 60's. At least, it was omnipresent in collections, and we'd attempt to play it every so often... I can't remember one game that didn't feature (a) disputes about rules and the administration of the bank; (b) animosity and dissatisfaction upon exit; and (c) hollow emptiness for the (newly friendless)"winner".

mjevans 6y ago
Short version: You're _supposed_ to strictly follow the rules AND the lack of pieces. Depleting the bank of houses to upgrade property with as a market cornering tactic. IRL similar to urban growth boundaries and no programs for upgrading the housing within them.
- flower-giraffe 6y ago
  A very interesting twist is to play with real money. Set a sensible exchange rate to real money and treat the Monopoly money as “chips”. The tactics and strategy significantly change because there is real external value to the assets and currency - but only for the duration of the game. Apart from anything else it means the game ends much faster.
  - fouronnes3 6y ago
    That's an interesting idea. I've had fun playing with another twist. Follow the rules strictly but start with 1/3 the usual starting money.
    - mod 6y ago
      Sounds like this would just extend the period where people have to get lucky to gain an advantage. So it would appear more even for a longer time. (I do agree that would be more fun)
      - WorldMaker 6y ago
        Not necessarily if you follow the "all land must sell on first landing" rule that is often forgotten. (After landing on an unowned square, if you refuse to buy at list price, it must go to auction by the bank [with the bank still collecting the funds].) A smaller starting money supply potentially forces fewer "at list price" purchases and shrewder auction house strategies potentially advantaging auction house strategy over luck of landing on a square and getting that first refusal.
  - yreg 6y ago
    Does everyone have to put the same amount of money into it beforehand? How is the bank funded at the start and dissolved at the end?
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > Set a sensible exchange rate to real money and treat the Monopoly money as “chips”. Monopoly being not zero sum among the players makes that...interesting. As well as transfers from losing players to the winner, there is also potential for net transfer to or from the bank. How do you handle that?
Jasper_ 6y ago
That's the whole point, yes. You're supposed to hate the banker who has the easiest ability to cheat and thus control the game. There are parallels and metaphors being laid here...
- yreg 6y ago
  I'm not so sure that the whole point of monopoly is to be banker and cheat.
  - nednar 6y ago
    I would read his statement slightly different: In that perspective, the actual game is to cheat and not follow the rules. Everybody should do it, but the banker has an advantage. Thus, everybody hates the banker for having an advantage in the actual cheating game. I have to say, it's slightly funny to assume a multiplayer game that is entered by all the players with the clear and open intent to not follow the rules of the game.
    - amalcon 6y ago
      There are several board games that actually have rules that encourage cheating. I specifically remember one where the rule was basically "If you get caught during the turn on which you cheated, you need to pay a minor penalty. If the turn passes before you get caught, then you got away with it."
      - bombcar 6y ago
        Here’s a version of Monopoly: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254617/monopoly-cheaters-edition https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254617/monopoly-cheaters...
    - avereveard 6y ago
      > the clear and open intent to not follow the rules it's great to be honest, the only way we played uno was with cheating (if you got caught, you lost the round tho) it creates a lot of interesting cross round strategies; if you aren't close to victory in one round for example you can hide a good card and save it up for the round, for example. hiding a card or two would get you to uno quicker, but you'd have to play them at some later point or later ruond, and you couldn't win strictly by hiding because once uno is declared your count is fairly visible. but you can strategize and by deciding which card to drop open up more possibilities for matching your last card. I suggest everyone should try a evening of full on cheating at a luck based game, it's super fun when everyone else is doing it too.
BeetleB 6y ago
The one thing I hated about Monopoly is that when you're down, you rarely can make a come back. It's not long before you know if you're going to win or not, and the rest of the game is just a slow death for the other players. No real joy.
- midasuni 6y ago
  That’s the whole point, it’s a realistic simulation of life
  - lordnacho 6y ago
    Perhaps the most intrigueing meta observation of the monopoly game is how the players seem to never recognise how it is rigged, at least years of playing it with my cousins never revealed the didactic purpose to any of us. When we played people always took it seriously, ie that there are smart things you can do and you should do them, but we never stepped back and pointed out how the rules made the losers more and more desperate. We also modified the rules as kids. Who'd have thought the lack of houses was by design, and of it was, who could think it was a fair thing to do, cornering the market? I certainly didn't think about the dynamics until I studied economics and read articles about how the game was designed. Only my later self, with a background in trading would recognise the rules for what they are, and the strategic possibilities.
    - throwawayay02 6y ago
      Is there a board game where one's advantage doesn't compound, though?
      - heja2009 6y ago
        Yes, it is even pretty much a design principle for newer board games [1]. It started to become popular with games like Settlers of Catan. [1] https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/making-a-comeback/ https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/making-a-comeback/
ycombinete 6y ago
There’s a reason that Monopoly is ubiquitously disliked by almost all board gamers. It’s become the game that many people associate with the hobby. This is so far from the truth.

mjevans 6y ago

Short version: You're _supposed_ to strictly follow the rules AND the lack of pieces. Depleting the bank of houses to upgrade property with as a market cornering tactic. IRL similar to urban growth boundaries and no programs for upgrading the housing within them.

flower-giraffe 6y ago
A very interesting twist is to play with real money. Set a sensible exchange rate to real money and treat the Monopoly money as “chips”. The tactics and strategy significantly change because there is real external value to the assets and currency - but only for the duration of the game. Apart from anything else it means the game ends much faster.
- fouronnes3 6y ago
  That's an interesting idea. I've had fun playing with another twist. Follow the rules strictly but start with 1/3 the usual starting money.
  - mod 6y ago
    Sounds like this would just extend the period where people have to get lucky to gain an advantage. So it would appear more even for a longer time. (I do agree that would be more fun)
    - WorldMaker 6y ago
      Not necessarily if you follow the "all land must sell on first landing" rule that is often forgotten. (After landing on an unowned square, if you refuse to buy at list price, it must go to auction by the bank [with the bank still collecting the funds].) A smaller starting money supply potentially forces fewer "at list price" purchases and shrewder auction house strategies potentially advantaging auction house strategy over luck of landing on a square and getting that first refusal.
- yreg 6y ago
  Does everyone have to put the same amount of money into it beforehand? How is the bank funded at the start and dissolved at the end?
- dragonwriter 6y ago
  > Set a sensible exchange rate to real money and treat the Monopoly money as “chips”. Monopoly being not zero sum among the players makes that...interesting. As well as transfers from losing players to the winner, there is also potential for net transfer to or from the bank. How do you handle that?

Jasper_ 6y ago

That's the whole point, yes. You're supposed to hate the banker who has the easiest ability to cheat and thus control the game. There are parallels and metaphors being laid here...

yreg 6y ago
I'm not so sure that the whole point of monopoly is to be banker and cheat.
- nednar 6y ago
  I would read his statement slightly different: In that perspective, the actual game is to cheat and not follow the rules. Everybody should do it, but the banker has an advantage. Thus, everybody hates the banker for having an advantage in the actual cheating game. I have to say, it's slightly funny to assume a multiplayer game that is entered by all the players with the clear and open intent to not follow the rules of the game.
  - amalcon 6y ago
    There are several board games that actually have rules that encourage cheating. I specifically remember one where the rule was basically "If you get caught during the turn on which you cheated, you need to pay a minor penalty. If the turn passes before you get caught, then you got away with it."
    - bombcar 6y ago
      Here’s a version of Monopoly: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254617/monopoly-cheaters-edition https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254617/monopoly-cheaters...
  - avereveard 6y ago
    > the clear and open intent to not follow the rules it's great to be honest, the only way we played uno was with cheating (if you got caught, you lost the round tho) it creates a lot of interesting cross round strategies; if you aren't close to victory in one round for example you can hide a good card and save it up for the round, for example. hiding a card or two would get you to uno quicker, but you'd have to play them at some later point or later ruond, and you couldn't win strictly by hiding because once uno is declared your count is fairly visible. but you can strategize and by deciding which card to drop open up more possibilities for matching your last card. I suggest everyone should try a evening of full on cheating at a luck based game, it's super fun when everyone else is doing it too.

BeetleB 6y ago

The one thing I hated about Monopoly is that when you're down, you rarely can make a come back. It's not long before you know if you're going to win or not, and the rest of the game is just a slow death for the other players. No real joy.

midasuni 6y ago
That’s the whole point, it’s a realistic simulation of life
- lordnacho 6y ago
  Perhaps the most intrigueing meta observation of the monopoly game is how the players seem to never recognise how it is rigged, at least years of playing it with my cousins never revealed the didactic purpose to any of us. When we played people always took it seriously, ie that there are smart things you can do and you should do them, but we never stepped back and pointed out how the rules made the losers more and more desperate. We also modified the rules as kids. Who'd have thought the lack of houses was by design, and of it was, who could think it was a fair thing to do, cornering the market? I certainly didn't think about the dynamics until I studied economics and read articles about how the game was designed. Only my later self, with a background in trading would recognise the rules for what they are, and the strategic possibilities.
  - throwawayay02 6y ago
    Is there a board game where one's advantage doesn't compound, though?
    - heja2009 6y ago
      Yes, it is even pretty much a design principle for newer board games [1]. It started to become popular with games like Settlers of Catan. [1] https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/making-a-comeback/ https://boardgamedesigncourse.com/making-a-comeback/

ycombinete 6y ago

There’s a reason that Monopoly is ubiquitously disliked by almost all board gamers. It’s become the game that many people associate with the hobby. This is so far from the truth.