In the hubbub of a busy career and family life, it has been hard to get friends and family to commit hours to the seemingly tedious, never-ending game of Monopoly.
Call it coincidence, then, when I chanced upon “1000 Ways to Win Monopoly Games” by Jay Walker and Jeff Lehman, after my futile attempt to defend the wonders of Monopoly to an uninterested group of friends. The book, written by two Cornell schoolmates who in 1975 wrote the guide from their dorm rooms, is replete with strategies and rules, and a big reveal that we have been playing Monopoly wrong all our lives, thereby prolonging a game that typically wraps up in under 90 minutes in elite competitions.
Rather than a game with no definite ending, Monopoly is goddamn ruthless, and, if played properly and without made-up house rules, the game can deal a quick end to players’ bank accounts and pride.
There’s no such thing as passing up on a property if you land on it and moving on; there’s no such thing as not being able to buy properties in the first round; there’s no such thing of doubling the remittance of $200 to $400 if a player lands directly on Go; and there’s certainly no such thing as borrowing from the bank or from another player if you’re broke.
If you’re broke and you’ve mortgaged all your properties, then take your broke ass home.
Acknowledging the popularity of players amending official rules, Hasbro, which has been publishing the classic board game since 1991, said this week that it would incorporate the best user-submitted “house rules” into a special edition of the game starting this fall.
The decision by Hasbro may tick off die-hard fans who complain about people who bastardise official rules, but the company has already begun collecting feedback from fans to debate the pros and cons of the 10 popular house rules of the game on its Facebook page. Hasbro will then choose five to become part of a special edition and will amend the official house rules in a new edition of the Monopoly game guide next year.
Some of Monopoly’s official rules, largely unchanged since the 1930s and which you might have not abided by, include:
PURCHASING DECISIONS:
Whenever a player lands on a property and decides not to buy it, the Banker sells it at auction to the highest bidder. Any player, including the one who declined the option to buy it at the printed price, may bid. Bidding may start at any price.
This speeds up the game significantly.
STARTING SALARY:
Each player receives $1,500 — no more or less — to start the game
OVER-DEVELOPMENT:
If there is a housing shortage, you cannot build invisible houses or hotels unless another player has sold back a house or hotel to the bank. You can collect double the rent if you own a complete colour group, but you cannot build houses unevenly. If you build a house on one of the properties of your complete group, then you will have to do the same for the remaining properties of the same group.
But perhaps most overlooked by lay players is the rule that if the owner of a property fails to ask for rent before the next throw of the dice, no rent is collected.
Speaking to the New York Times, Mr Lehman, who is today the vice chancellor of New York University in Shanghai, said: “But people who aren’t comfortable changing the ‘official’ rules might welcome an ‘approved’ variation.
“As for me, I hope that $500 for landing on Free Parking makes the list.”
