Get rich quick! (Monopoly)

Member Name: JamesD22

Product:	Monopoly
Date:	04/03/01 (839 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hours of fun and laughs, easy to play and set up.

Disadvantages: Can cause the odd arguement here and there.

You to can be a Tycoon! Deluxe Style!

I bet there is not one of you out there reading this review that will not know about the board game we all know and love as Monopoly, if there is well sit back and enjoy whilst I take you on the magical journey that has made many a man a budding Property dealer.

~ History

An American Charles Darrow invented Monopoly back in 1934, Darrow was like many others at that time unemployed due to the Great Depression and presented his invention to Parker Brothers in Massachusetts, who were one of America’s leading board games companies. Due to the Depression Darrow realised the potential of his invention as it had promises of good fortune and prosperity.

Darrow soon had sold 5,000 games to a Philadelphia Department store with the help of a printer friend, however, demand increased and he was unable to meet the demand for orders.

In 1935 Parker brothers owned all rights to the game and from then on its continued success has been phenomenal. Also in 1935, Parker Brothers approached Waddingtons Britain’s leading board game specialists and the response was enthusiastic, However, Victor Watson, the head of the company, decided that if the game was to be introduced to Britain that all street names and properties should be changed to those of famous areas in London and that $’s should become £’s. The rules of the game remained the same.

It is now available in 43 countries around the world in 26 different languages and it remains to be the most popular board game ever invented.

~ Game in brief

The aim of the game is buying, renting or selling properties in a way that will increase players wealth, whoever is the wealthiest at the end of the game is the winner.

Everyone starts at GO with a token, different things depict these the most famous being:


~ Top Hat
~ Dog
~ Iron
~ Train
~ Boat
~ Boot
~ Ra
cing Car

In the Deluxe Edition there is also a few extra tokens and they are as follows:

~ Thimble
~ Horse
~ Canon
~ Wheel Barrow

I have not seen them in ordinary Monopoly so therefore imagine they are exclusive to this Deluxe Edition?

Your aim is to move your token round the board clockwise depending on the number you roll with the dice. If you land on a property that is:

~ Owned

You must pay the person that owns that property rent, the rent depends on what the owner has in connection with that piece of land i.e. if they own the whole street the rent will be much higher; if they have houses and hotels on this land the rent will be much higher.

~ Not owned

If the property is not owned you are able to by that from the bank at the price indicated on the board, the more properties that you buy on the one street the higher the rent your opponents will have to pay if they land on your property.

Properties are laid out on the board with the cheapest first round to the most expensive and most sought after at the end of the boards’ square, which is Mayfair and Park Lane.

The lists of properties are well-known London areas and range from Oxford Street to Fleet Street and Bond Street to Trafalgar Square.

~ Buying property
So how do you actually buy the property? Well each player is given £1,500 by the bank and can do with it whatever they will but beware don’t go on a spending spree as rent and other charges could be applied and if you have gone shop happy how are you going to pay?

~ The Banker

One person is elected as the banker and they must be trustworthy and honest, I have played in games where it been found the banker is the biggest conspirer to win! The banker can opt to only bank if there is more than six players in the game, they will hold the title deeds to all properties, stations and utilities.

The bank will n
ever go bankrupt and can issue more money in the form of IOU’s on ordinary paper; they are also responsible for collecting mortgage, loan, fines, taxes and interest payments. The banker will also act as auctioneer if any player puts their properties up for sale.

~ Moving around the board

When travelling around the board there are a number of other features that you may land on these are as follows.

Utilities ~

There are 2 of these on the board one is an Electric Station and the other is the Water Works. If you land on these you can buy them if no one else already owns them. If you own one and someone lands on it your get rent to the value of four times what is thrown on the dice, if you own both you get ten times of what is thrown on the dice, these are two properties I always aim to get my paws on.

Stations ~

There are four of these on each side of the board at North, East, South and West points. They are stations in London and can also be bought by players.Rent for each individual station if another players lands on it is £25 but if you own:

2 the rent is £50
3 the rent is £100
4 the rent is £200

These again are great little earners the more you have the more you earn.

Community Chest & Chance ~

There are 3 of each of these throughout the course, when a player land son either they pick up a card that has an instruction on it or something that can be held for a later time i.e. Get out of jail free!

The instructions can go in favour or against the player who has picked it up. They range from Advance to Go and collect £200 or Go to Jail and do not collect your £200 if you pass go on the way, they can be fair or they can be harsh it is all in the luck of the draw.

Super Tax and Income Tax ~

If you land on either of these squares you must pay the amount depicted on the Board to the bank, so best things is roll lucky and avoid if possible.
Super Tax is £100 and Income Tax is £200.

Go To Jail ~

This is exactly what it says; if you land here you must move directly to jail do not pass go collect no money etc. on the way.

To get out ~

~ You can pay a £50 fine and get out on your next throw.

~ Buy a Get Out of Jail card from another player at a mutually agreed price.

~ Wait three turns, but you still roll the dice on each turn to try to roll a double, if you roll a double you can move out of jail with that roll.

If you roll three times and score no double you must pay a £50 fine before moving your token.

You can still collect all rent on your properties whilst in Jail, if you land on this square in normal play you are Just Visiting and no penalties or actions are incurred.

Free Parking ~

This again is a normal square you can rest here incurring no penalties or charges and your turn resumes when it is back to you.

That is the game in general so what makes it Deluxe?

The deluxe edition has special added features some of them being the extra tokens as indicated above.

Others are as follows ~

~ The Bank

This is a specially mounted tray that has an individual slot for each properties title deed, a slot for each different amount of money and holders for the houses and hotel as these are loaned out form the bank.

~ Card holders

These are for the community chest and chance cards and sit elegantly in place on the spaces marked on the boards.

~ Tokens

Back to these again, in the deluxe edition the tokens are gold rather than silver just to give it that more exclusive feel.

~ Board

The board is much thicker and more durable than the normal older version of the game and fold in quarter rather than just in half.

~ Cards

All cards be it Title Deeds or Community Chest are more durable and are gloss coated for that e
xtra shine!

~ Money

There is no difference with the money it is just the same as always-thin tracing paper and never enough to last through a really good game.

Monopoly is also available in Edinburgh Edition and Glasgow edition here in Scotland, I have also played special edition of Star Wars and Star Trek and I am sure there are many, many more different versions out there.

So if you are looking for a bit of light fun to show that you have what it takes to get rich quick then this is the board game for you, there are many different ways to play the game from home to home but the general idea is the same get rich bankrupt everyone else to become the winner, go on try it and have fun.

Alex and I ahve battled for the full 5 years we have lived together to beat each other as often as possible at this game, I am unfortunately getting beat by 20 games to 16.

This has taken up numerous hours and has always been great fun for the two of us, we also have regular games when visitors come over and always land up having heated arguements until the game is abandoned.

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