Monopoly is an economics-themed multiplayer real-estate board game for two to eight players.
It’s also a part of international popular culture, having been licensed locally in more than 114 countries and printed in more than 47 languages.
In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties, and developing them with houses and hotels in order to remain financially solvent.
Besides, players collect rent from their opponents, with the goal being to drive them into bankruptcy.
History
Originally titled The Landlord’s Game in 1903, Monopoly was created by American anti-monopolist Elizabeth Magie to illustrate the concept of monopolies.
In the beginning, the Landlord’s Game had two sets of rules: one was based on taxation and everyone was rewarded when wealth was created, and the other was the goal to create monopolies and be the last (and richest) man standing.
While Magie decided to patent the game, this didn’t stop Charles Darrow from trying to sell the game as his own under the title we all know today: Monopoly.
After finding out it wasn’t originally Darrow’s idea, Parker Brothers bought Magie’s patent rights for $500.
As a result, the widely known Monopoly today was put on the shelves in 1935.
17 Benefits Of Playing Monopoly
Enhances Interpersonal Connections And Bonds
It can be hard to find a common activity for families with old and young members, and Monopoly is the perfect game to get together and bond.
With everyone focusing on a common goal, bondings and connections can be strengthened.
Taking A Healthy Break
With research showing that Internet and mobile phone addictions are as addictive as drugs, more and more kids are getting addicted to their mobile phones.
With Monopoly, kids and adults alike will be able to take a break from technology, healthily engaging their brains.
Promotes Spending Wisely To Avoid Debt
Playing the game teaches simple money management techniques.
You can borrow money from the bank, but you could quickly become insolvent if you don’t plan ahead.
It teaches people to spend their money wisely, rather than borrowing unnecessarily.
By implementing such budgeting in a game environment, one can better understand its importance in real life.
Enhances Immunity And Reduces Stress
Monopoly is a great stress-relieving board game.
Stress relieves the body and strengthens its immune system, so the body is better able to protect itself.
Releases Endorphins In The Brain
Endorphins, a happy hormone, is released by the brain when you enjoy a game.
In response to the release of endorphins, the body experiences a feeling of general well-being and happiness.
Get your friends or family to play Monopoly if you are feeling down. You’ll feel better in no time.
Teaches The Importance Of Diversifying Investments
A few lessons could be learned by entrepreneurs and corporations as well.
The money invested in a single property in Monopoly can quickly be regretted if lost.
The game teaches players not to put all their eggs in one basket by spreading their investments out.
Improves Emotional Handling And Management Abilities
Monopoly can make you feel frustrated or risk losing your cool, especially if you are losing.
When players are constantly confronted with the game, both winning and losing, they learn to deal with their emotions, to lose with dignity, to win with decency, and to keep their frustration under control.
Teaches The Importance Of Calculating Risks
Risks are an important part of life, but not if you take them recklessly.
In Monopoly, risks can be taken by first calculating the possible outcomes.
In this way, players learn the importance of calculating risks before taking them.
Relationships Should Be Built, But Not Totally Relied Upon
In Monopoly, you can develop decent relationships with other people, and while you can negotiate and trade with them, you cannot fully rely on them to get ahead.
While you may have a good support system, at the end of the day, each player is focused on ensuring that he wins and gets ahead.
Therefore you can only fully rely on yourself to put in the work and get ahead.
Improves Negotiation Skills
Since Monopoly requires a bit of negotiation to get what you want, avid and regular players soon learn to negotiate effectively and strategically.
The game teaches you to reach and agreement fairly and make deals that are best for both yourself and others.
Educates Children On Basic Mathematics
Children who are not fluent in counting or have difficulty with basic arithmetic can learn while playing Monopoly.
Think about advancing squares – counting here as well.
Or how about receiving and paying out money – that’s where addition and subtraction come in.
Parents can now use a fun platform for their children to learn math.
Boosts Your Brain’s Health By Reducing Mental Degradation
An active mind is a healthy mind.
Puzzles and board games cannot cure mental illness, but they can certainly help keep the mind awake longer.
By Focusing On Investing Instead Of Just Drawing Income, You Can Gain A Deeper Understanding Of Personal Finance
Life is like a game of Monopoly, with one important difference: in the game, everyone knows you have to invest to get rich and win the game.
In real life, however, most people just move around the board waiting to pass “Go” – it’s also called “living paycheck to paycheck.”
The lesson is that in real life, as in the game, if you do not start investing, you will most likely lose the game.
Only as an investor will you have a chance to win!
Enhances The Ability To Make Decisions
To advance and succeed in a game of Monopoly, players must think, negotiate, and make good deals.
The deals made must be of immediate and long-term financial benefit to the player.
This teaches the importance of thinking through possible options before making a decision.
Has A Positive Impact On Money Behavior
As children grow up, they may develop a negative attitude toward money, especially if they are repeatedly told that things are too expensive.
Monopoly is a fun and light-hearted game that teaches children about the responsibility and frustration of managing their own money.
Promotes Goal-Oriented Behavior
In a game of Monopoly, we are taught to set goals by targeting certain properties and mentally preparing ourselves to outsmart the other players.
By not setting goals and working toward achieving them, the game could become unsatisfying for the players.
We learn how valuable goal setting can be in daily life, when we see how rewarding achieving our goals can feel.
Develops Patience
Monopoly takes time.
When played correctly, the game usually lasts between 60 and 90 minutes.
For children who are impatient, this can be quite difficult, but keeping young children engaged, involved, and busy can teach them to develop patience by putting themselves out there.
Enhance Concentration
To keep up with the game, children need to pay attention and notice what is happening in the game.
Again, it can be difficult to keep children in one place for more than an hour, but this is something that can develop over time.
The more exposure you give your child to Monopoly, the better chance they have of developing good concentration skills.
How To Win
The objective of the game is to move along the streets with all our unique cookie names to acquire as many properties as possible.
The more you own, the more rent you’ll be able to collect from your opponents.
If you’re the last player with money when all other players have gone bankrupt, you win!
How To Start A Monopoly Game
To start off, appoint someone to be the Banker and be in charge of the Bank’s money, Houses, Hotels, Title Deed Cards and Auctions.
The appointed Banker can be a Player too as long as their money is separate from the Bank’s.
The Banker should begin by giving each player $1500 divided as follows:
– 2 x $500 notes
– 2 x $100 notes
– 2 x $50 notes
– 6 x $20 notes
– 5 x $10 notes
– 5 x $5 notes
– 5 x $1 notes
Next, Shuffle the Chance Cards and Community Chest Cards before placing them face down on their allotted spaces on the game board.
Each player then chooses a Token and place it on “GO”.
You can now aim to become the wealthiest player of the game through buying, renting and selling of property to force your competitors into bankruptcy!
Game Play
To decide who goes first, each player will throw both dice and the player with the highest total gets to start the play.
Moving forward, the players will throw both dice and move the number of spaces indicated by the total of both numbers.
If any dice roll off the board, or land on or lean against a card deck, the roll is invalid.
Thus, the player will have to roll them again.
Depending on the space the token reaches, you may acquire a property, or be obliged to pay rent, pay taxes, pick a Chance or Community Chest card, Go To Jail, etc…
When you roll doubles, you move your token and are subject to any privileges or penalties associated with the square you land on.
Then you can roll again and move your token as follows.
But watch out because if you ever throw doubles three times in a row, you’ll have to go to jail.
The Board Spaces
Unowned Properties
What happens when you reach an unowned property?
Simply pay the price indicated on the board space and acquire the appropriate property from the Bank if you want to buy it.
Otherwise, the Banker will auction it to the highest bidder.
Bidding price should start at $10 and anyone can increase it by as little as $1.
If no one wants the property, no one will be obligated to pay anything and thus, the property stays with the bank!
Owned Properties
When you land on an owned property, the owner must ask you for rent!
If they don’t, you won’t have to pay!
(Note: For Utilities, roll the dice to determine rent. If the owner has 1 Utility, rent is 4X. If the owner has 2, the rent will be 10X the dice roll!)
Go
When you pass or land on ‘GO’, collect $200 from the Bank!
Chance And Community Chest
Draw the top card from the appropriate deck and immediately do what it says.
Remember to return it to the bottom of the deck when completed!
Income Tax And Super Tax
Oh no! Pay the Bank the amount shown on the space!
Free Parking
Catch your breath and think of our best-selling cookies!
Don’t hesitate to munch on a cookie or two!
Just Visiting
Don’t worry because you’ll get to relax and share your cookies like how you would during any house visit!
Go To Jail
Move Your token to the ‘In Jail’ space immediately!
Also, you aren’t allowed to collect $200 for passing Go.
Your turn is then over.
You have 3 options to get yourself out of jail.
- Pay the banker $50 at the start of your next turn; then, roll the dice and move your token as per normal.
- Use a Get Out of Jail Free Card at the start of your turn if you have one (or buy one from another player). Put the card back to the bottom of its appropriate pile, then roll the dice and move your token.
- Roll a double on your next turn. If you do, you’re free. Use the roll to move and that’s the end of your turn.
(Note: You can use up to 3 turns to try for a double. If you don’t roll a double by the last turn, you’ll have to pay $50 and use your last roll to move.)
What If You Can’t Pay?
Try to raise money by selling buildings back to the bank or Mortgaging properties!
To mortgage a property, you’ll have to sell all the buildings in its property set to the Bank at half their cost price.
Then, turn the Title Deed Card face down and collect the mortgage value on the back of the card from the Bank.
To repay the mortgage, you’ll just need to pay the unmortgage cost (mortgage value + 10%) and turn the card to ace up!
15 Tips And Tricks
Always Buy Railroads
Always, always, always buy railroads whenever you can!
Why? Because you’re more likely to win, when you own railroads!
Especially if you own all 4 railroads, you can earn $200 every time someone lands on one of them.
Even if you can’t own all 4 railroads, a single railroad will go a long way toward reducing your opponent’s income significantly.
Avoid Buying Hotels
Hotels don’t provide nearly as much revenue potential as owning 3 houses does.
If you are focusing on buying hotels, you are leaving it open for your opponents to buy houses – and that could be detrimental to your end game.
Strive To Develop Properties Aggressively
There is no point in being slow in developing properties.
The point is to develop the property as fast as possible so that it helps with making a profit.
Develop 3 Properties On Each Street As Quickly As Possible
Once you reach 3 houses, you will find that the amount of rent you can collect for each house is at maximum – which means more money for you.
By owning 3 houses on each street, you increase the chances that players will land on your properties hence profiting.
Try Creating A Housing Shortage
The game Monopoly generally has only 32 houses.
If you set out to build 3 houses on each of your full set properties, you will own a large portion of the houses.
It works even better if you aim for a second Monopoly and can build 18 houses.
Then there will not be many houses left for your opponents.
The trick is that players must first build 4 houses before they can build a hotel.
Having all the houses in your Monopoly means there’s not much chance of that happening.
This also means that your opponent’s ability to make money or collect rent is minimized.
Purchase Properties That Are Orange And Red
If you want to bankrupt your opponent, you need to secure the places on the board where they are most likely to land, and often.
Statistically, players are most likely to pass the orange and red plots.
If you grab these properties first, you’ll have the opportunity to earn the most rental income.
Prioritise Acquiring Complete Colour Groups
At the start of the game, it’s best to acquire a complete color group (2 to 3 properties of the same color).
Because it isn’t a good investment if you don’t build on single properties.
So once you have a complete color group, build 3 houses (and no more).
Avoid Utilities
Utilities don’t offer a very good return on investment.
In fact, the amount of money you can make with utilities in a game of Monopoly is vanishingly small.
What’s more is that utilities cannot be upgraded like properties!
Jail Can Be Beneficial Later In The Game
At the beginning of the game, you want to pay the fine and get out of jail so you can work on acquiring property.
However, being in jail later in the game is actually beneficial.
You can even save money by staying in jail for 3 rounds, especially when the game board is filled with houses and hotels.
The longer you are in jail, the lower your chances of landing on a property that requires any form of payment.
Plus, you can still buy, sell, and rent property.
Create Sustainable Cash Flow By Thinking Small
You might think that you have to rush at the beginning of the game to immediately acquire expensive, fancy properties.
The problem is that you might invest in a large, expensive property but have no money to develop it.
In this case, having several smaller properties will guarantee you a more steady income and therefore, be much healthier for your cash flow.
Invest In Properties 7 Squares Away From Opponents
If you play with two dice, which you should, the probability of rolling a 7 is the highest.
It’s a good idea to keep an eye on what properties your opponents have, and invest in those that are 7 spaces away from theirs.
Mortgage Everything As Soon As You Get A Set
Your main goal, of course, is to generate as much income as possible from your properties.
If you have all the cards that make up a set, you should mortgage all your other properties to buy and build houses on acquired properties.
Form Alliances To Prevent Players From Winning
It’s not a team sport, but you can team up with another player to prevent another player from winning.
These alliances are short-lived, but can be of great benefit to your endgame.
Develop Properties With A “Go-To” Card
If you only have enough money to buy 1 or 7 houses, make sure the replacement house goes on the property with a “go-to” card!
Avoid Green Properties
Although green properties may seem tempting because they’re prime land, in reality, they’re overpriced and difficult to develop.
Plus, they don’t get developed often enough, which means you could be stuck with an expensive land that is not bringing in any revenue.
By the time you’ve spent all your money, the game is over and your property has brought you nothing.
8 Myths About Monopoly
Prior To Purchasing Any Property, All Players Must Pass Go
It’s a strange myth that many people believe that their game tokens must go over the full board before they’re allowed to purchase any property.
This would just prolong the time of this already lengthy game.
Anyone can buy property the moment the game begins!
The Game Ends When The Bank Runs Out Of Money
Although this would be a good way to end the game if it takes too long, the official rules state that the bank cannot run out of money.
If it does, the banker can use regular paper and write the amount of money needed until his cash reserves are restored.
Once The Player Declines To Buy A Property, He Can No Longer Join The Auction
All players can participate in any auction, regardless of whether or not they landed on the property to be auctioned.
If you refuse to buy the deed, the original player can even save the full cost of the property.
It’s Still The Player’s Turn If He’s Sent To Jail After Three Doubles
While a double guarantees the player another roll, no one can roll the die more than three times per round.
If the third roll is a double, the player ends up in jail and his turn ends.
He must wait till it’s his turn again.
You Can Build A House Even If The Other Properties Are Mortgage
Since no land can be mortgaged until all hotels and houses are sold, this is impossible.
Houses/hotels must be bought and sold in equal increments.
Therefore, it’s also impossible to build a hotel on one of the properties without building on the others in the same color monopoly group by the same amount.
This means that there can only be a difference of one house/hotel between all the properties in a monopoly.
A Player’s Turn Is The Only Time They Can Purchase A House/Hotel
As long as no one rolls the dice, anyone can add to their possessions during the game.
Thus, if an opposing player is close to an expensive monopoly on his next roll, the owner of those properties can upgrade them to hotels before the opposing player rolls the dice.
Of course, the owner cannot wait until the losing player rolls the property and then decide to upgrade them to hotels.
He would have to wait until the player finishes his turn.
It’s Only Possible For Players To Lose To Other Players
If a player has no property to mortgage or not enough cash to pay his debts to the bank, he may lose to the bank (e.g., through the luxury tax or one of the higher-paying community cash or random cards).
In this case, all the property given to the bank is auctioned off to all remaining players.
Bankrupt Players Can Loan From Others To Stay In The Game
Only the bank can lend to players, and only by mortgaging their own property.
Newer versions of Monopoly, as well as electronic Monopoly, allow for larger loans, but these are not included in the original rules of the Monopoly game.
5 Fun Facts About Monopoly
The Longest Monopoly Game Lasted Over 2 Months
If you’ve ever played Monopoly, you know that it can take a long time to determine the winner.
And a typical game should be about 60 to 90 minutes.
However, who knew that the longest game ever played lasted 70 days straight!
You’ll Probably End Up In Jail
Because the top 3 most landed on spaces are Jail, Go and the last Red property.
The Original Game Did Not Have Tokens
Players were initially asked to use common household items such as coins and buttons.
Over 1 Billion People Have Played Monopoly Worldwide
Isn’t it crazy how this simple game of properties has become one of the most popular board games in history!
Monopoly Is Published In Over 47 Languages And Sold In Over 114 Countries
This enjoyable family and friends board game is a worldwide sensation across the globe.
3 Different Types Of Monopoly
Cheater’s Edition
We all have a friend or family member who’s always trying to cheat at game night.
In this edition, you’re even encouraged to skirt the rules – just don’t get caught.
Encourage players to express their inner cheater and own everything as they buy, sell, dream and scheme.
Fake a dice roll, steal some bills from the bank, and even skip the rent. If you complete a scam, you’ll get a reward, but if you fail a scam, you’ll have to suffer the consequences!
Speed Die
This edition contains 3 dice.
The additional die speeds up the game and keeps younger players engaged the whole time.
Millionaire
One million is the dollar amount you’re aiming for.
Many fans love this version because it moves faster than the original game while requiring more strategy.
Why Get Ours?
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Well known for our game boxes, we launched our International Chess and Chinese Chess Mooncake Game Boxes in previous years.
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Being the World’s First Monopoly Mooncake – Street Smart Edition, this board is unique to itself with all properties are named after our mouth-watering cookies and snacks making the experience far more enchanting!
Not only that, you might have just found the best gift your family and friends will ever receive this Mid-Autumn Festival!
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