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Monopoly (game)
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Monopoly is a board game published by Parker Brothers, a subsidiary of Hasbro. Players compete to acquire wealth through stylized economic activity involving the buying, renting, and trading of properties using play money, as players take turns moving around the board according to the roll of the dice. The object of the game is to own every piece of property and drive the other players into bankruptcy. The game is named after the economic concept of monopoly, the domination of a market by a single entity.
Monopoly is the most commercially-successful board game in United States history, with 485 million players worldwide.
According to Hasbro, since Charles Darrow patented the game in 1935, approximately 750 million people have played the game, making it "the most played (commercial) board game in the world." The 1999 Guinness Book of Records cited Hasbro's previous statistic of 500 million people having played Monopoly.
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Encyclopedia
Monopoly is a board game published by Parker Brothers, a subsidiary of Hasbro. Players compete to acquire wealth through stylized economic activity involving the buying, renting, and trading of properties using play money, as players take turns moving around the board according to the roll of the dice. The object of the game is to own every piece of property and drive the other players into bankruptcy. The game is named after the economic concept of monopoly, the domination of a market by a single entity.
Monopoly is the most commercially-successful board game in United States history, with 485 million players worldwide.
According to Hasbro, since Charles Darrow patented the game in 1935, approximately 750 million people have played the game, making it "the most played (commercial) board game in the world." The 1999 Guinness Book of Records cited Hasbro's previous statistic of 500 million people having played Monopoly. Games Magazine has inducted Monopoly into its Hall of Fame.
History
The history of Monopoly can be traced back to 1904, when a Quaker woman named Elizabeth (Lizzie) J. Magie Phillips created a game through which she hoped to be able to explain the single tax theory of Henry George (it was supposed to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies). Her game, The Landlord's Game, was commercially published a few years later. Other interested game players redeveloped the game and some made their own sets. Lizzie herself patented a revised edition of the game in 1904, and similar games were published commercially. By the early 1930s, a board game named Monopoly was created much like the version of Monopoly sold by Parker Brothers and its parent companies throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st. The Parker Brothers' version was created by Charles Darrow. Several people, mostly in the U.S. Midwest and near the U.S. East Coast, contributed to the game's design and evolution.
In 1941 the British Secret Service had John Waddington Ltd., the licensed manufacturer of the game outside the U.S., create a special edition for World War II prisoners of war held by the Nazis. Hidden inside these games were maps, compasses, real money, and other objects useful for escaping. They were distributed to prisoners by the International Red Cross.
By the 1970s, the game's early history had been lost (at least one historian has argued that it was purposely suppressed), and the idea that it had been created solely by Charles Darrow had become popular folklore. This was stated in the 1974 book The Monopoly Book: Strategy and Tactics of the World's Most Popular Game, by Maxine Brady, and even in the instructions of the game itself. As Professor Ralph Anspach fought Parker Brothers and its then parent company, General Mills, over the trademarks of the Monopoly board game, much of the early history of the game was "rediscovered."
Because of the lengthy court process, and appeals, the legal status of Parker Brothers' trademarks on the game was not settled until the mid-1980s. The game's name remains a registered trademark of Parker Brothers, as do its specific design elements. Parker Brothers' current corporate parent, Hasbro, again acknowledges only the role of Charles Darrow in the creation of the game. Anspach published a book about his research, called The Billion Dollar Monopoly Swindle (and republished as Monopolygate), in which he makes his case about the purposeful suppression of the game's early history and development.
This is the original version produced by Charles Darrow, and later by Parker Brothers. The board consists of forty spaces containing 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. In the U.S. versions shown below, the properties are named after locations in (or near) Atlantic City, New Jersey. However, as of September 2008, the layout of the board has been modified to more closely match the foreign-released versions, as shown in the two board layouts below. The notable changes are the colors of Mediterranean and Baltic Avenues changing from purple to brown, and the adaptation of the flat $200 Income Tax (formerly the player's choice of 10% of their total holdings OR $200) and increased $100 Luxury Tax (upped from $75) amounts. Similar color/amount changes are used in the U.S. Edition of the "Here And Now: World Edition" game, and are also used in the most recent version of the McDonald's Monopoly promotion.
A player who reaches the Jail space by a direct roll of the dice is said to be "Just Visiting", and continues normal play on the next turn.
Marvin Gardens, a yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. Marven Gardens is not a street, but a housing area outside Atlantic City. The housing area is said to be derived from Margate City and Ventnor City in New Jersey (emphasis added). The misspelling was introduced by Charles Darrow when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Parker Brothers. It was not until 1995 that Parker Brothers acknowledged this mistake and formally apologized to the residents of Marven Gardens for the misspelling. Another change made by Todd and duplicated by Darrow, and later Parker Brothers, was the use of South Carolina Avenue. North Carolina Avenue was substituted for this street on the board.
Atlantic City's Illinois Avenue was renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in the 1980s. Saint Charles Place no longer exists, as the Showboat Casino Hotel was developed where it once ran.
Short Line is believed to refer to the Shore Fast Line, a streetcar line that served Atlantic City. The B&O Railroad did not serve Atlantic City. A booklet included with the reprinted 1935 edition states that the four railroads that served Atlantic City in the mid 1930s were the Jersey Central, the Seashore Lines, the Reading Railroad, and the Pennsylvania Railroad. The actual "Electric Company" and "Water Works" serving the city are respectively Atlantic City Electric Company (a subsidiary of Pepco Holdings) and the Atlantic City Municipal Utilities Authority.
The other versions of the game have different property names, and the prices may be denominated in another currency, but the game mechanics are almost identical.
The original income tax choice from the U.S. version is replaced by a flat rate in the UK version, and the $75 Luxury Tax space is replaced with the £100 Super Tax space. The same is true of current German boards, with a €200 for the Income Tax space on the board, and a €100 Add-on tax in place of the Luxury Tax. An Austrian version, released by Parker Brothers/Hasbro in 2001, does allow for the 10% or $200 for Income Tax and has a $100 Luxury Tax. The choice of London main line stations is that of the four stations within the London and North Eastern Railway group. Starting with the September 2008 release, the U.S. Edition now also uses the flat $200 Income Tax value and the upped $100 Luxury Tax amount.
In the 1930s, John Waddington Ltd. (Waddingtons) was a firm of printers from Leeds that had begun to branch out into packaging and the production of playing cards. Waddingtons had sent the card game Lexicon to Parker Brothers hoping to interest them in publishing the game in the United States. In a similar fashion, Parker Brothers sent over a copy of Monopoly to Waddingtons early in 1935 before the game had been put into production in the United States.
The managing director of Waddingtons, Victor Watson, gave the game to his son Norman (who was head of the card games division) to test over the weekend. Norman was impressed by the game and persuaded his father to call Parker Brothers on Monday morning - transatlantic calls then being almost unheard of. This call resulted in Waddingtons obtaining a license to produce and market the game outside of the United States. Watson felt that in order for the game to be a success in the United Kingdom the American locations would have to be replaced, so Victor and his secretary, Marjory Phillips, went to London to scout out locations. The Angel, Islington is not a street in London but an area of North London named after a coaching inn that stood on the Great North Road. By the 1930s the inn had become a Lyons Corner House (it is now a Co-operative Bank). Some accounts say that Marjory and Victor met at the Angel to discuss the selection and celebrated the fact by including it on the Monopoly board. In 2003, a plaque commemorating the naming was unveiled at the site by Victor Watson's grandson who is also named Victor.
The standard English board, produced by Waddingtons, was for many years the version most familiar to people in countries in the Commonwealth (except Canada, where the U.S. edition with Atlantic City-area names was reprinted), although local variants of the board are now also found in several of these countries (see Localized versions of the Monopoly game).
In the cases where the game was produced under license by a national company, the £ (pound) was replaced by a $ (dollar) sign, but the place names were unchanged.
For a list of some of the localized versions, including the UK "Here & Now" edition, and the names of their properties, see Licensed and localized editions of Monopoly.
Recent variations
Starting in the UK in 2005, an updated version of the game entitled Monopoly Here and Now was produced, replacing game scenarios, properties, and tokens with modern equivalents. Similar boards were produced for Germany and France. Variants of these first editions appeared with Visa-branded debit cards taking the place of cash - the later US "Electronic Banking" edition has unbranded debit cards.
The success of the first Here and Now editions caused Hasbro US to allow online voting for 26 landmark properties across the United States to take their places along the game board. The popularity of this voting, in turn, caused the creation of similar websites, and secondary game boards per popular vote to be created in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and other nations.
Hasbro opened a new website in January 2008, for online voting of the Monopoly Here and Now: World Edition. The colored property spaces will be worldwide cities, going by the same vote/popularity formula as established for national editions.
In 2006, Winning Moves Games released another edition, the Mega Edition, with a larger game board (50% bigger) and revised game play. Other streets from Atlantic City (eight, one per a color group) were included, along with a third "utility", the Gas Company. In addition, $1000 denomination notes (first seen in Winning Moves' "Monopoly: The Card Game") are included. Game play is further changed with bus tickets (allowing non-dice-roll movement along one side of the board), a speed die (itself adopted into variants of the Atlantic City Standard Edition; see below), skyscrapers (after houses and hotels), and train depots that can be placed on the Railroad spaces.
This edition was adapted for the UK market in 2007, and is sold by Winning Moves UK. After the initial US release, critiques of some of the rules caused the company to issue revisions and clarifications on their website.
World editions
In 1998, Winning Moves procured the Monopoly license from Hasbro and created new UK city and regional editions with sponsored squares.
Winning Moves struggled to raise the sponsorship deals for the game boards, but did so eventually. A Nottingham Graphic Design agency, TMA, produced the visual design of the Monopoly packaging. Initially, in December 1998, the game was sold in just a few WHSmith stores, but demand was high, with almost fifty thousand games shipped in the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas. Winning Moves still produce new city and regional editions annually. Nottingham based designers have been responsible for the games' visual design since 2001.
In 2008, Hasbro released a world edition of Monopoly Here & Now. This world edition features top locations of the world. The locations were decided by votes over the Internet. The result of the voting was announced on August 20, 2008.
Out of these, Gdynia is especially notable, as it is by far the smallest city of those featured and won the vote thanks to a spontaneous, large-scale mobilization of support started by its citizens. The new game uses its' own currency unit, the Mono (a game-based take on the Euro; designated by M). The game uses said unit in millions and thousands. As seen above, there is no Dark Purple color-group, as that is replaced by Brown.
It's also notable that three cities (Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver) are from Canada and three other cities (Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai) are from the People's Republic of China. No other country is represented by more than 1 city.
Equipment
Each player is represented by a small metal token that is moved around the edge of the board according to the roll of two dice. The twelve playing pieces currently used are pictured at left (from left to right): a wheelbarrow (1937b edition), a battleship, a sack of money (1999–2007 editions), a horse and rider, a car, a train (Deluxe Edition only), a thimble, a howitzer, an old style shoe (sometimes called a boot), a Scottie dog, an iron, and a top hat.
Many of the tokens came from companies such as Dowst Miniature Toy Company, which made metal charms and tokens designed to be used on charm bracelets. The battleship and cannon were also used briefly in the Parker Brothers war game Conflict (released in 1940), but after the game failed on the market, the premade pieces were recycled into Monopoly usage. Hasbro recently adopted the battleship and cannon for Diplomacy.
Early localized editions of the standard edition (including some Canadian editions, which used the U.S. board layout) did not include pewter tokens but instead had generic wooden head-shaped tokens identical to those in Sorry!. Parker Brothers also acquired Sorry! in the 1930s.
Other items included in the standard edition are:
* A pair of six-sided dice. (NOTE: Since 2007, a third "Speed Die" has been added--see ADD-ONS below.)
- A Title Deed for each property. A Title Deed is given to a player to signify ownership, and specifies purchase price, mortgage value, the cost of building houses and hotels on that property, and the various rent prices depending on how developed the property is. Properties include:
- 22 streets, divided into 8 color groups of two or three streets. A player must own all of a color group (have a monopoly) in order to build houses or hotels. If a player wants to mortgage one property of a color-group, not only must any houses or hotels be removed from that property, but from the others in the color-group as well.
- 4 railways. Players collect $25 rent if they own one station, $50 if they own two, $100 if they own three and $200 if they own all four. These are usually replaced by railway stations in non-U.S. editions of Monopoly.
- 2 utilities. Rent is four times dice value if player owns one utility, but 10 times dice value if player owns both. Hotels and houses cannot be built on utilities or stations.
- A supply of paper money. The supply of money is theoretically unlimited; if the bank runs out of money the players must make do with other markers, or calculate on paper. Additional paper money can be bought at certain locations, notably game and hobby stores, or downloaded from various websites and printed and cut by hand (one such site has created a $1,000 bill for the game; it is not one of the standard denominations). In the original U.S. standard editions, the supply generally starts with $15,140. The winner of the quadrennial Monopoly World Championship receives the same amount in United States dollars. [NOTE: This base money amount has changed--see below.]
- The term "Monopoly money" has been used to refer to currencies which cannot be used to purchase goods and services on the free market, such as exchange certificates printed by the Burmese government which must be used by foreign aid organizations.
- 32 wooden or plastic houses and 12 wooden or plastic hotels (the original and the current Deluxe Edition have wooden houses and hotels; the current "base set" uses plastic buildings). Unlike money, houses and hotels have a finite supply. If no more are available, no substitute is allowed.
- A deck of 16 Chance cards and a deck of 16 Community Chest cards. Players draw these cards when they land on the corresponding squares of the track, and follow the instructions printed on them.
Hasbro also sells a Deluxe Edition, which is mostly identical to the classic edition but has wooden houses and hotels and gold-toned tokens, including one token in addition to the standard eleven, a railroad locomotive. Other additions to the Deluxe Edition include a card carousel, which holds the title deed cards, and money printed with two colors of ink.
In 1978, retailer Neiman Marcus manufactured and sold an all-Chocolate edition of Monopoly through its "Christmas Wish Book" for that year. The entire set was edible, including the money, dice, hotels, properties, tokens and playing board. The set retailed for $600.
In 2000, the FAO Schwarz store in New York City sold a custom version called One-Of-A-Kind Monopoly for $100,000. This special edition comes in a locking attaché case made with Napolino leather and lined in suede, and features include:
- 18-carat (75%) gold tokens, houses, and hotels
- Rosewood board
- street names written in gold leaf
- emeralds around the Chance icon
- sapphires around the Community Chest
- rubies in the brake lights of the car on the Free Parking Space
- the money is real, negotiable United States currency
The Guinness Book of World Records states that a set worth $2,000,000 and made of 23-carat gold, with rubies and sapphires atop the chimneys of the houses and hotels, is the most expensive Monopoly set ever produced.
The distribution of cash in the U.S. version has changed with the newer release versions. Older versions had a total of $15,140 in the following amounts/colors:
- 20 $500 Bills (orange)
- 20 $100 Bills (beige)
- 30 $50 Bills (blue)
- 50 $20 Bills (green)
- 40 $10 Bills (yellow)
- 40 $5 Bills (pink)
- 40 $1 Bills (white)
The newer (Sept. 2008) editions have a total of $20,580, with 30 of each bill denomination. In addition, the colors of some of the bills have been changed; $10's are now blue instead of yellow, $20's are a brighter color green than before, and $50's are now purple instead of blue.
Each player begins the game with his or her token on the Go square, and $1500 (or 1500 of a localized currency) in play money. Prior to Sept. 2008, the money was divided as follows in the U.S. standard rules:
- Two each of:
- $500 bills
- $100 bills
- $50 bills
- Six $20 bills
- Five each of:
- $10 bills
- $5 bills
- $1 bills
Since then, the US version has taken on the British version's initial cash distributions of:
- Two x $/£500
- Four x $/£100
- One x $/£50
- One x $/£20
- Two x $/£10
- One x $/£5
- Five x $/£1
Pre-Euro German editions of the game started with 30,000 "Spielmark" in eight denominations (abbreviated as "M."), and later used seven denominations of the "Deutsche Mark" ("DM."). In the classic Italian game, each player receives £350,000 ($3500) in a two-player game, but £50,000 ($500) less for each player more than two. Only in a six-player game does a player receive the equivalent of $1500. The classic Italian games were played with only four denominations of currency. At least one Spanish edition (the Barcelona edition) started the game with 150,000 in play money, with a breakdown identical to that of the American version.
All property deeds, houses, and hotels are held by the bank until bought by the players. Free passes may be issued if the owner of the property is using free passes as a transaction.
Rules
Players take turns in order, with the initial player determined by chance before the game. A typical turn begins with the rolling of the dice and advancing clockwise around the board the corresponding number of squares. Landing on Chance or Community Chest, a player draws the top card from the respective pile. If the player lands on an unowned property, whether street, railroad, or utility, he can buy the property for its listed purchase price. If he declines this purchase, the property is auctioned off by the bank to the highest bidder. If the property landed on is already owned and unmortgaged, he must pay the owner a given rent, the price dependent on whether the property is part of a monopoly or its level of development. If a player rolls doubles, he rolls again after completing his turn. Three sets of doubles in a row, however, land the player in jail. During a turn, players may also choose to develop or mortgage properties. Development involves the construction, for given amounts of money paid to the bank, of houses or hotels. Development must be uniform across a monopoly, such that a second house cannot be built on one property in a monopoly until the others have one house. No merges between players are allowed. All developments must be sold before a property can be mortgaged. The player receives money from the bank for each mortgaged property, which must be repaid with interest to unmortgage. Houses are returned to the bank for half their purchase price.
Parker Brothers' official instructions have long encouraged the use of House Rules, specific additions to or subtractions from the official rule sets. Many casual Monopoly players are surprised to discover that some of the rules that they are used to are not part of the official rules. Many of these house rules tend to make the game longer by randomly giving players more money. Some common house rules are listed below:
- Free Parking jackpot, which usually consists of an initial stake (typically $500, or $5 million in the Here & Now Edition) plus collections of fines and taxes otherwise paid to the bank. A player who lands on Free Parking wins the jackpot, which may then be reset with the initial stake (if any). The jackpot is usually put in the center of the board. Since the jackpot forms an additional income for players in this set of house rules, games can take a much longer time than under normal rules.
- A fine if a player loses the dice, loses their temper, acts annoying, etc. Akin to a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
- If a player lands on an opponent's property, but the opponent is not paying attention and does not notice before the dice are rolled by the next player, then the player who landed on the property does not have to pay the rent due. (this rule does not apply if doubles are rolled).
- Eliminating the auction if a player decides not to purchase a property.
- Requiring that every property be put up for auction (this eliminates some of the luck in the game of landing on particular squares and forces players to strategize more).
- Allowing an unlimited number of houses to be available from the bank. When this house rule is implemented, substitute counters or written tallies are often employed to allay the actual shortage of house tokens in a standard game box.
- Agreeing that each player be allowed to collect all of a color group once they have 'staked a claim' by buying only one of those properties. The same agreement may or may not be carried over to the rail stations and utilities.
- Players in jail cannot collect rent, build houses, or conduct trades. This can be combined with increasing the price to get out of jail considerably (normally $50, or $500,000 in the Here & Now Edition). Together, these rules make jail a far more significant burden than that listed in the normal rules. Other players may bail the player out of jail but only if the player agrees.
- A bonus for landing directly on Go by dice roll (commonly an additional $200 or $500). This may or may not include cards that send the player to Go.
- Delayed Start: Players must pass Go (or circle the board at least once, or rarely twice) before they can buy property.
- Only allowing houses (or hotels) to be built when the owner lands on the group
- A bonus for rolling snake eyes (a pair of ones), often $500, $100, or one of each bill.
- All properties are handed out evenly to all players before the game begins, or one or two are dealt to each player. This variation is in the official US and UK rules as a short game option.
- In trades, players may offer "rent immunity" from their own properties (someone does not have to pay rent for landing on that property) as part of a deal (this can be good for a certain number of landings or the entire game).
- Unlimited amounts of hotels on each space.
House rules, while unofficial, are not wholly unrecognized by Parker Brothers. George S. Parker himself created two variants, to shorten the length of game play. Video game and computer game versions of Monopoly have options where popular house rules can be used. House rules that have the effect of randomly introducing more money into the game have a side-effect of increasing the time it takes for players to become bankrupt, lengthening the game considerably, as well as decreasing the effects of strategy and prudent investment. House rules which increase the amount of money in the game may change the strategies of the players, such as changing the relative value of different properties- the more money in the game, the more one may wish to invest in the higher value properties.
Strategy
Monopoly involves a portion of luck, with the roll of the dice determining whether a player gets to own key properties or lands on squares with high rents. Even the initial misfortune of going last is a significant disadvantage because one is more likely to land on property which has already been bought and therefore be forced to pay rent instead of having an opportunity to buy unowned property. There are, however, many strategic decisions which allow skilled players to win more often than the unskilled. Hasbro also offers a helpful strategy guide and different insights on their site. According to the laws of probability, seven is the most probable roll of two dice, with a probability of 1 in 6, whereas 2 and 12 are the least probable rolls, each with a probability of one in 36. For this reason, Park Place/Park Lane is one of the least landed-on squares as the square seven places behind it is Go to Jail.
In consequence, some properties are landed upon more than others and the owners of those properties get more income from rent. The board layout factors include the following:
- Jail: Since players are frequently directed to "Go To Jail", they will move through the magenta, orange, and red property groups immediately after leaving Jail. The two properties with the highest probability of being landed upon after leaving jail are the two cheaper orange properties (St James Place and Tennessee Avenue in North America and Bow Street and Marlborough Street in the UK). This makes the orange property set highly lucrative.
- Go to…: One square — Go To Jail — plus a number of Chance and Community Chest cards will cause the player to advance a distance around the board. Thus, the squares immediately following Go To Jail and the take-a-card squares have a reduced probability of being landed upon. The least-landed upon property in this situation is the cheaper dark blue property (Park Place or Park Lane) because it sits in the lee of both Go to Jail and Community Chest (the Chance directly before it would not affect its odds because it is impossible to roll a one).
- Go to (property): Several properties are blessed with Chance cards which draw players to them. St Charles Place (Pall Mall), Illinois Avenue (Trafalgar Square), Boardwalk (Mayfair), all of the railroads except Short Line (Liverpool Street Station), and both of the utilities benefit from this feature. Reading Railroad (King's Cross Station) has the fortune of having both a "go to" dedicated card plus the card advancing to the nearest railroad.
- Advance to Go: A player may be directed to the Go square by a Chance or a Community Chest card, thus lowering the probability of being landed-upon of every square in-between. The properties most affected by this are the yellow, green, and dark blue sets. It also marginally raises the probability for each square in the wake of Go, including the purple and orange sets which will be reached two or three rolls after being on Go.
- Go Back Three Spaces: This directive comes from a Chance card. A quick look at the board shows that there are three Chance squares and hence three other squares which are 3 spaces behind (one being a Community Chest space, another being Income Tax, and the third being the leading orange property). The leading orange property (New York Avenue or Vine Street) gains the most benefit from this card since the Chance square nestled amongst the red properties is itself the most landed-upon Chance square.
According to Jim Slater in The Mayfair Set, there is an overwhelming case for having the orange sites, because you land on them more often, the reason for that being the cards in Chance like Go to Jail, Advance to St. Charles Place (Pall Mall ), Advance to Reading Railroad (King's Cross Station) and Go Back Three Spaces.
In all, during game play, Illinois Avenue (Trafalgar Square), New York Avenue (Vine Street), B&O Railroad (Fenchurch Street Station), and Reading Railroad (King's Cross Station) are the most frequently landed-upon properties. Mediterranean Avenue (Old Kent Road) and Baltic Avenue (Whitechapel Road) are the least-landed-upon properties.
Another tip on winning a Monopoly game is to grab the light blue properties. These properties are cheap and one can easily build hotels on them. The building cost is low, but the hotel rents are rather high. Once players get hold onto these lands, they should never sell them off or mortgage them. Another reason why players should eye for the light blue properties is the fact the players who have their hotels up first tend to win the game. The earlier the hotels are up, the more quickly your opponents can be drained of their financial resources, and hence a decrease in the chances of them building houses/hotels.
The light blue properties can act as a source of financial income for players. Once hotels have been put up on those lands, players should go on to obtain other sets. The two brown patches are efficient as well, although players may not land on them very often. Players should try to obtain either pink or orange properties. However, if competition for the orange tiles arises, one should not spend too much money to focus on them as the pink properties are good substitutes. If another player gets the orange set with more than enough cash remaining, one should quickly attempt to build hotels on the blue tiles to seek a win.
Once players have enough cash to afford a third set, it is suggested that they pursue the utilities or the most expensive dark blue tiles. The utilities ensure a stable income but the dark blue tiles can lead to a quick win as its killer rents would most likely end the game rather quickly. It is suggested that players avoid collecting the red, yellow and green properties unless they are planning to use it as buffers. For example, if a player is attempting to build hotels on the light blue patches but lands in debts, he should mortgage the red/yellow/green tiles he has instead of selling off houses/useful properties.
In some versions of Monopoly which allows trading between players, it is always suggested to hold on to certain properties you come across, even though they are red/yellow/green. These tiles may be the last piece to another player's set. They can be traded for tiles which are useful to you but are under the possession of other players.
Limited number of houses and hotels
In order to put a cap on total development of property sets in the game, there are only 12 hotels and 32 houses. This limitation is in place to ensure that property sets cannot be developed unless there are houses or hotels available to purchase from the bank. This cap allows a certain amount of dominance to be developed by some players, because if every set of property were fully developed there would be enough rent collected between different players to allow the game to drag on for an extended period. This limitation on numbers of houses and hotels leads to an advantage for one player. Simply building each lot out to a maximum of 4 houses and then refusing to upgrade to hotels ensures that nearly the maximum amount of rent is collected for each property, and the monopolization of the houses from the game prevents opponents from developing their property. It is conceivable that a single player could end up owning all 32 houses near the end of the game, and the refusal to upgrade to hotels makes these houses unavailable for opponents to purchase for any property they may own.
Much of the skill comes from knowing how to make the best use of a player's resources and above all knowing how to strike a good bargain. Monopoly is a social game where players often interact and must deal with each other in ways similar to real world real estate bargaining. Note that the best deal is not always for the most expensive property; it is often situational, dependent on money resources available to each player and even where players happen to be situated on the board. When looking to deal, a player should attempt to bargain with another player who not only possess properties he or she needs but also properties the other player needs. In fact, offering relatively fair deals to other players can end up helping the player making the offer by giving him or her a reputation as an honest trader, which can make players less wary of dealings in the future. What is more, most people play Monopoly with the same group repeatedly. For this reason, such a reputation can have effects far beyond the game being played.
The end game
One common criticism of Monopoly is that it has carefully defined yet almost unreachable termination conditions. Edward P. Parker, a former president of Parker Brothers, is quoted as saying, "We always felt that forty-five minutes was about the right length for a game, but Monopoly could go on for hours. Also, a game was supposed to have a definite end somewhere. In Monopoly you kept going around and around." However, the problem of time can be resolved by playing with a time limit and counting each player's net worth when the time is up. In fact, tournament play calls for a 90-minute time limit. Two hour time limits are used for international play. The Lord of the Rings edition gives players the option of creating a random time limit using the included One Ring token and specialized dice. The SpongeBob SquarePants game board includes a Plankton piece that moves every time someone rolls snake eyes with the dice, and the game is over when it reaches the end of the board.
Played strictly to the rules, many games will be effectively decided when one player succeeds in bankrupting another because the bankrupt player gives all his property to the one to whom he could not pay his debt. A player who thus gains a fistful of properties will virtually control the game from that point onwards since other players will be constantly at risk. On the other hand, if a player is bankrupted by being unable to meet his debt to the bank (e.g., a fine or tax or other debt that is not rent), then his property is auctioned off; this can open up new possibilities in a game which was evenly set or in which a lot of property sets were divided among the players.
The Monopoly Mega Edition is geared towards faster play by incorporating more squares and enabling players to build without the full color-group.
Another path to a faster ending is by a key property bargain, whether it be a very shrewd trade which sets one player up with a well-positioned set or a very rash trade where an inexperienced player gives his experienced opponent an underpriced gem. Either way, a deal which pays off for one player is most often the turning point of the game.
A third way to finish the game is to wait for all of the property to be bought. Once this has occurred, the player with the highest value of money and assets is victorious.
Another way is to remove the $200 bonus gained by passing "Go". This ensures that players run out of money quickly.
Some players, in an attempt to lessen the huge advantage gained by the first player to bankrupt another player, have the bankrupted player pay what he can to the player he is indebted to (including the money from mortgages), and then forfeit the properties, so that they are back on the market and open to purchase by other players.
Hasbro states that the longest game of Monopoly ever played lasted 1,680 hours (70 days or 10 weeks or 2 1/3 months).
Add-ons
Numerous add-ons have been made for Monopoly, both before its commercialization and after. Three such official add-ons are discussed below.
Stock Exchange
The Stock Exchange add-on was originally published by Parker Brothers in 1936 (wikibook). The Free Parking square is covered over by a new Stock Exchange space and the add-on included three Chance and three Community Chest cards directing the player to "Advance to Stock Exchange".
The add-on also included thirty stock certificates, five for each of the six different stocks, differing only in the purchase price (or Par Value), ranging from $100 to $150. Shares, like properties, are tradeable material, and could also be mortgaged for half their purchase price. Shareholders could increase the value of their shares by buying up more of the same company's shares.
When a player moves onto Free Parking/Stock Exchange, stock dividends are paid out to all players on their non-mortgaged shares. The amount to be paid out to each player is determined based on the number and kind of shares owned. Specifically, a player receives dividends from each stock based on the following formula:
- (par value of share / 10) × (number of shares owned)2
EXAMPLE: Owning one share of "Motion Pictures" (par value $100) pays dividends of $10. Owning two shares pays $40 ($10 x 2 x 2), owning three pays $90 ($10 x 3 x 3) and owning four pays $160 ($10 x 4 x 4). A player owning all five receives $250 ($10 x 5 x 5).
The player who lands on Free Parking/Stock Exchange can also choose to buy a share if any remain. Should the player decline, the share is auctioned to the highest bidder by the Bank.
The Stock Exchange add-on serves to inject more money into the game, in a similar manner to railroad properties, as well as changing the relative values of properties. In particular, the Orange and Light Purple properties are more valuable due to the increased chance of landing on Free Parking, at the expense of the Red and Yellow groups.
The Stock Exchange add-on was later redesigned and rereleased in 1992 under license by Chessex, this time including a larger number of new Chance and Community Chest cards. This version included ten new Chance cards (five "Advance to Stock Exchange" and five other related cards) and eleven new Community Chest cards (five "Advance to Stock Exchange" and six other related cards; the regular Community Chest card "From sale of stock you get $45" is removed from play when using these cards). Many of the original rules applied to this new version (in fact, one optional play choice allows for playing in the original form by only adding the "Advance to Stock Exchange" cards to each deck).
A Monopoly Stock Exchange Edition was released in 2001 (although not in the US), this time adding an electronic calculator-like device to keep track of the complex stock figures. This was a full edition, not just an add-on, that came with its own board, money and playing pieces. Properties on the board were replaced by companies on which shares could be floated, and offices and home offices (instead of houses and hotels) could be built.
Playmaster
Playmaster, another official add-on, released in 1982, was an electronic device that kept track of all player movement and dice rolls as well as what properties are still available. It then uses this information to call random auctions and mortgages that will be advantageous for some players and a punishment for others, making it easier to free up cards of a color group. It also plays eight short tunes when key game functions occur, for example when a player lands on a railroad it will play I've Been Working on the Railroad.
if a player goes bankrupt they still have to pay what they landed on
Speed Die
In 2007, Parker Brothers began releasing its standard version of Monopoly with a new addition to gameplay--the Speed Die. (http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/00009.pdf) First included in Winning Moves' Monopoly: The Mega Edition variant, this third die alters gameplay by allowing players to increase their move up to 3 spaces (rolling one of the 3 numbered sides); move immediately to the next unowned property OR to the next property on which they would owe money (rolling one of 2 "Mr. Monopoly" sides); or "Get Off The Bus Early" (rolling the "Bus" side), allowing the player to use the total from one die or both dice to move (i.e. A roll of 1-5-BUS would let the player choose from moving 1, 5 or 6 spaces). Usage of the die in the regular game differs slightly from use in the Mega Edition (i.e. Players use the Speed Die from the beginning in Mega; players can only use the Speed Die in the regular game AFTER their first time going past GO).
Spinoffs
Feature Film
On June 19, 2007, Ridley Scott announced that he was directing a futuristic comedy-thriller based on the game, featuring a variety of young actors to generate interest in the game. Scarlett Johansson and Kirsten Dunst have been considered so far.
Other games
Besides the many variants of the actual game (and the Monopoly Junior spin-off) released in either video game or computer game formats (e.g. Windows-based PC, Macintosh, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Satellaview, Sega Genesis, Commodore 64, etc.), two spin-off computer games have been created.
Monopoly Tycoon is a PC game in the Tycoon series that makes strategy and speed into determining factors for winning the game, eliminating completely the element of luck inherent in the dice rolls of the original. The game uses the U.S. standard Atlantic City properties as its basis, but the game play is unique to this version. The game also allows for solo and multiplayer online games.
Monopoly Casino is also a PC game, simulating a casino full of Monopoly-based adaptations of various casino games (most notably, slot machines). This program was released in both standard and "Vegas" editions, each featuring unique games.
In September 2001, Stern Pinball released a Monopoly pinball machine.
On April 23, 2008, Electronic Arts announced that they would be releasing in Q3 2008 a new version of Monopoly for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii video game consoles.. In September 2008, Electronic Arts' Pogo division released an online version of .
In June 2008, Electronic Arts and iTunes released a Monopoly game for iPod (fifth generation), iPod Nano (third generation), and iPod Classic.
Parker Brothers and its licensees have also sold several games which are spinoffs of Monopoly. These are not add-ons, as they do not function as an addition to the Monopoly game, but are simply additional games in the flavor of Monopoly.
- Monopoly Junior board game: A simplified version of the original game for young children.
- Advance to Boardwalk board game: Focusing mainly on building the most hotels along the Boardwalk.
- Express Monopoly card game: Released by Hasbro/Parker Brothers and Waddingtons in the UK in the 1990s, now out of print. Basically a rummy-style card game based on scoring points by completing color group sections of the game board.
- Monopoly: The Card Game: an updated card game released by Winning Moves Games under license from Hasbro. Similar, but decidedly more complex, gameplay to the Express Monopoly card game.
- Free Parking card game: A more complex card game released by Parker Brothers, with several similarities to the card game Mille Bornes. Uses cards to either add time to parking meters, or spend the time doing activities to earn points. Includes a deck of Second Chance cards that further alter gameplay. Two editions were made; minor differences in card art and Second Chance cards in each edition.
- Monopoly Deal: The most recent card game version of Monopoly. Players attempt to complete three property groups by playing property, cash & event cards.
- Don't Go to Jail: Dice Game originally released by Parker Brothers; roll combinations of dice to create color groups for points before rolling the words "GO" "TO" and "JAIL" (which forfeits all earned points for the turn).
- Monopoly Express: A deluxe, travel edition re-release of Don't Go To Jail, replacing the word dice with "Officer Jones" dice and adding an eleventh die, Houses & Hotels, and a self-contained game container/dice roller & keeper.
- Monopoly Express Casino: A gambling-themed version of the above game, that adds wagering to the gameplay.
- Here and Now Electronic Edition: Eliminates the need for money, using credit cards instead.
- Here and Now: The World Edition: Same as above, but based on the whole world (thus needing to use "Monopoly Dollars"), also available in a tin.
Game show version
A short-lived Monopoly game show aired on Saturday evenings during mid-1990 on ABC. The show was produced by Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! creator Merv Griffin, and was hosted by former Jeopardy! contestant Mike Reilly. Three contestants competed by answering crossword puzzle-style clues to acquire the many properties on the board and money equivalent to the values of said properties (with bonuses added for getting monopolies). After the properties were acquired and players used the earned money to improve them with houses and hotels, a timed "Monopoly Game Round" was played, allowing players to earn even more money by landing on their properties and answering more word clues. When time was up, the player with the most money won the game, and then went on to play the Bonus Game. In the Bonus Game, the contestant had to choose 4 properties on the board to convert to "Go To Jail" spaces. Along with the actual "Go To Jail" space, the contestant rolled the dice up to five times (with extra rolls added for each double rolled) and had to pass GO without landing on a "Go To Jail" space. If the contestant passed GO before running out of rolls or landing on a "Go To Jail" space, they won $25,000; however if the contestant landed EXACTLY on GO, they would win $50,000. The show was paired on ABC with a summer-long Super Jeopardy! tournament.
Gambling games
In North America, a variety of slot machines and lotteries have been produced with a Monopoly theme. In Europe, there were also Monopoly "fruit machines", some of which remain popular through emulation. The British quiz machine brand itbox also supports a Monopoly trivia and chance game, which, like most other itbox games, costs 50p (£0.50) to play and has a £20 jackpot, although this is very rarely won. There is also an online slot machine version of the game made by WMS which is a 19 reel traditional style casino game.
There was also a live, online version of Monopoly. Six painted taxis drive around London picking up passengers. When the taxis reach their final destination, the region of London that they are in is displayed on the online board. This version takes far longer to play than board-game monopoly, with one game lasting 24 hours. Results and position are sent to players via e-mail at the conclusion of the game.
Commercial Promotions
The McDonald's Monopoly game is a sweepstakes advertising promotion of McDonald's and Hasbro that has been offered in the United States, Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Australia. The game mimics the game of Monopoly. Originally, customers received a set of two tokens with every purchase, but now tokens only come with certain menu items. Tokens correspond to a property space on the Monopoly board. When combined into color-matched properties, the tokens may be redeemed for money or prizes There are also "instant win" tokens the recipient can redeem for McDonald's food, money, or other prizes.
Variants
Because Monopoly evolved in the public domain before its commercialization, Monopoly has seen many variant games. Most of these are exact copies of the Monopoly games with the street names replaced with locales from a particular town, university, or fictional place. National boards have been released as well. Over the years, many specialty Monopoly editions, licensed by Parker Brothers/Hasbro, and produced by them, or their licensees (including USAopoly and Winning Moves Games) have been sold to local and national markets worldwide. Two well known "families" of -opoly like games, without licenses from Parker Brothers/Hasbro, have also been produced.
Several published games are similar to Monopoly. These include:
- Totopoly, created by Waddingtons in 1938, is based around horse racing.
- Federal Reserve Monopoly, created by Goldstein, Patrick, & Speeduh in 2009, mocks the money-as-debt monetary system and incorporates many of the financial instruments that caused the 2008 Wall Street crash, like "Credit Default Swap" and "Purchase Options."
- Anti-Monopoly, created by Ralph Anspach in 1974.
- Chômageopoly, "Unemployment Monopoly", a board game created by the Lip factory in the 1970s
- Dinosauropoly, a version using prehistoric motifs and rules.
- Easy Money, published by Milton Bradley, also in the 1930s.
- The Farming Game is a board game in which the goal is to run a financially successful farm, and like Monopoly the heart of the game is economics. The game's website draws comparisons to Monopoly.
- Fast Food Franchise is a board game by TimJim games which shares Monopoly's core mechanic, but through careful design guarantees that it will actually end.
- La gran Capital, published by several Chilean factories, is a Chilean version of the game, with neighborhoods from Santiago de Chile. The title means "the big capital", other versions are even named "Metropolis"
- The Fascinating Game of Finance, later shortened to Finance, first marketed in 1932 by Knapp Electric, and later by Parker Brothers.
- Go For Broke, the exact opposite of Monopoly, has the players trying to spend all their money before anyone else. Bad bets at the casino, real estate, stock market, race track, and giving to the poor house lowers your account balance. This was a Milton Bradley game originally published in the mid-1960s.
- Ghettopoly, released in 2003, caused considerable offense upon its release. The game, intended to be a humorous rendering of ghetto life, was decried as racist for its unflinching use of racial stereotypes. Hasbro sought and received an injunction against Ghettopoly's designer.
- Greekopoly, a college-themed version using fraternities and sororities as properties.
- Potopoly, A marijuana-themed version, using a five-sided board, and bags instead of houses.
- Itadaki Street, a series of board games for video game consoles from Enix.
- Poleconomy, a board game designed in New Zealand incorporating real-world companies as well as political and economic strategy.
- The Mad Magazine Game, a Mad Magazine themed board game in which the object of the game is for player to lose all their money, play is counter-clockwise, and the dice must be rolled with the left hand. Released by Parker Brothers in 1979.
- Make Your Own-opoly is a game set sold by TDC Games of Itasca, Illinois. Using a Microsoft Windows-based PC, a person can print out his or her own property cards, labels to place on the board and the box, and game currency.
- Solarquest, a popular space-age adaptation, was released by Golden in 1986.
- Strictly Pittsburgh, a variant based around the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In addition to properties being replaced with local Pittsburgh sites and businesses, it contained a somewhat different board layout and replaced houses and hotels with skyscrapers.
- Dostihy a sázky, a variant sold in Czechoslovakia. This game comes from the totalitarian communist era (1948–1989), when private businesses were forbidden and mortgages didn't exist. So the monopoly theme was changed to a horse races theme.
- Petropolis, a copy of Monopoly based in buying into the oil industry, using oilfields. The game uses 'telex messages' instead of Chance cards and the playing board snakes round into the middle before continuing round the edge.
- Turista, a Mexican copy of Monopoly made by Montecarlo board game manufacturer. It is based in buying Mexican States. In each state it is possible to build gas stations and hotel to increase the rent amount.
- NFL Version - Where properties are NFL teams (order based on results of that season, with the Denver Broncos being the most expensive property) and the die are shaped like footballs.
- My Monopoly
External links
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- Fun Facts page
- A place to see the properties on a MONOPOLY Board in relation to real life and also the exclusive holder of artwork on behalf of Hasbro of the new look coming to MONOPOLY worldwide in Autumn 2008
- to be included in next Monopoly edition.*
- will simulate an entire game of Monopoly in a couple seconds (or hundreds of games in about a minute), and display a summary and statistics to determine what strategies win the most games.
- includes taxes calculator and odds calculator.
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- , a Monopoly documentary.
- calculates the best strategy to use
- series of articles from the newspaper CourierPost, which describe the streets of Atlantic City that appear on Monopoly
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- Comparison with the real world economy.
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