I’ve discovered that resurrecting one of the original rules of Monopoly makes it a much better game. Other than this one exception, the actual printed rules of the long version should be strictly enforced. That especially includes leaving Free Parking as a resting place and not a jackpot as some unofficial house rules allow. The jackpot leaves so much money in players’ hands that the game drags on with no bankruptcies. What fun is that? Eventually someone says, “Let’s just end the game in twenty minutes and declare the richest player the winner.” That changed objective rewards strategies that a true monopoly wizard would not have been employing.
Monopoly was actually invented in 1904 as the Landlord Game. It evolved during the next thirty years into several slightly different versions, the rights to three of which were bought by Parker Brothers in 1935. Originally, when properties were first landed upon, they were immediately sold by the bank during an auction. The first person to land on a property did not have the exclusive right to buy it at the printed price. At a late point during the game’s development, a group of Quakers became enthusiasts. However, they frowned on auctions. It was shortly after they fixed the prices of properties that Parker Brothers began marketing the game under those unrealistic rules.
An auction is a much more natural way to determine the value of investment property. It’s how markets actually operate. Mandatory auctioning shifts the advantage from the lucky to the skillful. The players moving earliest lose much of their edge over the others. Each player can concentrate on bidding for properties that suit his own playing style. Determinations must be made whether to participate in each auction or keep cash in reserve for when more desirable properties become available. Risks and potential rewards must be constantly weighed, just as in the real world.
Frequent auctions also make the game much more fun. It becomes riotous when monopolies are close to forming. Try it this way - I think you’ll like it so much that you would never even consider going back to the fixed price rule.
Monopoly was actually invented in 1904 as the Landlord Game. It evolved during the next thirty years into several slightly different versions, the rights to three of which were bought by Parker Brothers in 1935. Originally, when properties were first landed upon, they were immediately sold by the bank during an auction. The first person to land on a property did not have the exclusive right to buy it at the printed price. At a late point during the game’s development, a group of Quakers became enthusiasts. However, they frowned on auctions. It was shortly after they fixed the prices of properties that Parker Brothers began marketing the game under those unrealistic rules.
An auction is a much more natural way to determine the value of investment property. It’s how markets actually operate. Mandatory auctioning shifts the advantage from the lucky to the skillful. The players moving earliest lose much of their edge over the others. Each player can concentrate on bidding for properties that suit his own playing style. Determinations must be made whether to participate in each auction or keep cash in reserve for when more desirable properties become available. Risks and potential rewards must be constantly weighed, just as in the real world.
Frequent auctions also make the game much more fun. It becomes riotous when monopolies are close to forming. Try it this way - I think you’ll like it so much that you would never even consider going back to the fixed price rule.
For astronomical graphics, including
monthly wallpaper calendar, visit:
CurtRenz.com/astronomical
Curt Renz
surmised that if the rules of monopoly were to actually reflect reality the changes would go something like this:
Some of the extra players might also get far less than $200 each time they passed go.
