Monopoly

Monopoly has been banned from our household after I developed the knack of constantly winning. My wife absolutely hates the game and I’m sure it is not just the fact that I always bankrupt her, I think the general worship of capitalist principles also put her off. In any case Monopoly is a classic party game and when I was growing up we played regularly. As an adult the appeal began to wear off and the endless new versions did nothing for my enjoyment.

Over the years I have been given a multitude of new versions of Monopoly as gifts. The first one was the Edinburgh edition, then it was the Star Wars edition and finally worst of the all the Make Your Own Opoly edition which had blank cards for you to fill in. The horse has been well and truly flogged to oblivion and since each version is merely a crude artistic makeover and the game remains exactly the same there seems little point in playing another version. When we did play it would always be the original that was brought out of the cupboard.

It was patented back in 1935 and according to manufacturers Hasbro it has been played by well over 750 million people making it the most played board game in the history of the world. A man called Charles Darrow created the game which Parker Brothers then published and distributed. It can actually be traced further back to the early 20th century when a Quaker woman named Lizzie Phillips made a game to explain single tax theory and show off the negative connotations of land owning monopolies. Sounds exciting huh? Who would have thought such a subject would form the basis for the most popular board game ever?

The rules were complex enough to make for an engaging game but not so complex that anyone couldn’t pick it up. Since players use dice to determine how many spaces they move each turn there is no denying that much of the game comes down to pure luck, having said that there are a few strategies which always seem to work for me. Buy up the cheaper properties, the light blue set which includes Pentonville and Euston Roads along with the Angel Islington (Connecticut, Vermont and Oriental Avenues in the US edition) and because they are cheap build hotels on them as soon as you can. The rent you’ll be pulling in will soon have you rolling in the cash. The Utilities are always a good money spinner as well.

Funnily enough the game was supposed to last around 45 minutes but of course it frequently drags on for hours. It also has the problem of the last person to start being disadvantaged and often the first person knocked out has to sit and wait for ages as the others play on. The game often leads to arguments and the banker has to be a trustworthy player or you might find they embezzle funds.

It is somewhat surprising that the game is still so popular after all these years. Hasbro have tried to expand the franchise into computer games, their most recent edition of the board game is a World Edition where the properties are cities and they also just released a card game based on Monopoly. There are even professional tournaments held around the world with a grand final in Las Vegas.