2-person games are not recommended due to the nature and mechanics of the game. At the start of the game, both players will be evenly matched and find the game to last a long time. Once someone gets lucky or makes a great move, they usually win the game without a chance for their opponent to catch up. Do not let this deter you though if you only have two available players. It can still be very fun. 3-5 person games are great because of their balance between fairness and enjoyment. Games can last over two hours if players are evenly matched and when someone appears to be winning, there’s a lot of room for the losing players to stay in the game. 6-8 person games are fun but can have a few problems. As only one person can win the game, more players means there will be more losers. Furthermore, there is a longer wait between turns, yet this isn’t too much of an issue as Monopoly gives you a handful of options you can do when it’s not your turn, until everyone wants to do an action at once. Monopoly is intended to be played by people aged 8 or over. Younger players may not enjoy the game if they do not like to lose as the game requires some strategy to win. It is recommended to help new and young players by offering tips and opting for a more co-operative playstyle. Monopoly can be played online too. There are various official and unofficial versions.
US Version | UK Version 2 $500s | 2 $500s 2 $100s | 4 $100s 2 $50s | 1 $50 6 $20s | 1 $20 5 $10s | 2 $10s 5 $5s | 1 $5 5 $1s | 5 $1s
Whenever a player who lands on an unowned property opts not to buy it, the banker takes over and auctions it off immediately. The player who initially declined to buy the property at the printed price can still participate in the auction. Bids start at $1 and stop when no one wants to increase their bid. If absolutely no one wants the property, it returns to the bank and the game resumes.
Buildings raise the rent on your property significantly. For example, the first property on the board, Mediterranean Avenue, rents for $2 without any buildings. When you build four houses, you can charge $160 to each player who lands on it. You have to build evenly–you can’t build two houses on one property in your monopoly and none on the others. If you buy one building for a property, you can’t put a second one on that property until you have bought a house for every property in your monopoly.
According to the official rules, you only get $200 for passing or landing on the GO square, but many people allow you to collect more whenever you land right on GO. This house rule should be avoided as it can prolong the game in the bad sense of the word.
Landing on the space marked “Go to Jail” is the most common way to end in jail. The player goes diagonally across the board to the jail space without passing GO, and their turn ends immediately. If you pick a Chance or Community Chest card that reads this, your turn ends immediately and you must go directly to the space marked “In jail”. If you pass GO on the way to jail, you don’t get to collect your $200. Put your game piece inside the jail cell when you are sent to jail. Rolling three consecutive doubles on the same turn also sends you to jail immediately. Place your token into the jail cell as soon as the third double is rolled. If you just land on the jail space by an ordinary dice roll, you can place your token on the “Just Visiting” section of the square. You are not subject to any restrictions and can take your next turn as usual. You can get out of jail by paying $50 bail, using a Get Out of Jail Free card, or rolling doubles on your next turn. If you succeed in rolling a double to get out of jail, you move forward the given number of spaces but do not take another turn. You must leave jail on your third turn and immediately pay $50 if you fail to roll doubles on that turn.
Do not include any house rules during your first game as including them can impact the enjoyment of the game and extend how long the game goes on for which isn’t a good thing.
If you do decide to play using a time limit, players’ strategies can differ slightly. In a normal game of monopoly, the winner of the game could have a bad start and be very poor early on. You may want to declare the winner not to be the richest player but the one who made the best decisions, decided by your group democratically.
Mortgages have their rewards and their consequences. You should only mortgage a property to avoid bankruptcy or to make a quick boost of money for buying more properties and trading. You can also sell your mortgaged properties to other players, causing them to pay the bank if they want to collect rent on that property. The 10% interest is far better than the 50% loss from selling buildings.
