Thanks. My problem with Monopoly is that I always feel like about 10 or 15 minutes into the game it is clear who the winner will be, and then the next two hours are a slow grind in which everybody else slowly becomes dust.
That is the point of this game : "It was intended as an educational tool to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies."
My friends and I played a version of monopoly where every unowned property that is landed on goes up for general auction among all players. To speed up the process of auctioning all players write their bid down and then it is shown all at once. This reduces the luck of the game somewhat in regards to luck in being the first to land on a property tile, and adds a skill of being able to figure out what a property is worth in the context of the board situation. Every x-mas I try and usually fail to get my family to play it with me.
The rules of monopoly are that if you land on an unowned tile you must buy it. If you decide not to, or can’t afford to, it can be bid on. Highest bid gets it. Even if it’s less than the cost.
The sibling mentions about the intentional aspect of this, but the other factor is the popular house rules around free parking and not auctioning properties, both of which contribute to there being far too much cash in the game. This is part of why it takes so long to go bankrupt.
My friends and I invented the 'Joint Venture' ruleset precisely because of this reason. Under these rules, you don't need to own a monopoly to start building on it. Instead you can form an agreement with the other owners, a JV so to say, and then you can pool money and start building. Income from the properties can be split up between the JV partners in any manner of their choosing.
But since the rules of the game only allow you to build if you have a monopoly, when a JV is formed, all owners should nominate one person and transfer their properties (within that monopoly) to that person, who then becomes the owner of the monopoly and can do with it as he wishes.
This leads to a lot of fun situations when there is conflict between the JV parties about the usage, or if the owner requires money for financing something else, and decides to 'backstab' the JV partners. Keeps the game entertaining for hours!
I've been playing a LOT of monopoly online recently and I agree with you - whoever gets the first monopoly on the second or third side of the board is going to win 90% of the time. And if you're playing with an inexperienced person who doesn't realize the value of never, ever giving another player a monopoly, then whoever bamboozles them first is likely to win.
I would usually forfeit and leave whenever I wasn't first, and generally speaking so did anyone else.
My 9yo loves numbers. When most people play Monopoly and act as the banker, they have the board in front of them and the bank's funds to the side. When he plays, he has the bank's notes laid out in front of him and the game's board is an afterthought off to the side. Thankfully I don't think he is the cheating sort, yet.
hmmm I feel the opposite. The absurd amounts of money a person can lose by just landing on two build houses of their opponent means that even someone who is winning can suddenly start to lose within a few turns.
