GO TO JAIL, GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL.... (Monopoly)

Member Name: racheldarcy

Product:	Monopoly
Date:	12/09/01 (1163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to learn, Educational, Fun

Disadvantages: Can go on for a long time

I love the game of Monopoly and have happy childhood memories of playing with my dad's ancient board and pieces which eventually disintegrated!!

The aim of the game is to accumulate the most money either in the form of cash or property by the time the game ends. Usually the game ends when all the other players have gone bankrupt or when you decide to stop playing (as games can go on for ages).

In traditional manner you have to throw a dice to move your playing piece around the board. There are a number of different types of squares you may land on. Most of them are property's which you can either buy (if they are for sale) or pay rent for, to the person who owns them. There are chance and community chest squares which will be explained later. There is a go to jail square which if you land on it - guess what - thats right you go to the jail square, there is a free parking which means you do nothing and Go which when you pass or land on it you collect your £200 salary.

When you buy property it is beneficial to build houses on it in order that you can charge more rent when people land on them. In order to buy houses you have to have every property which belongs to the relevant set. There are mostly 3 (sometimes 2) properties in each set. You may think that it would be pretty hard to land on every property in a set. That is true but you can buy property's off other players (if they let you) for the price they wish to sell them at. There are some properties which you cannot buy houses on but by owning the set you can still increase the rent you charge when a player lands on them.

The chance and community chest squares allow you to pick up either a chance or community chest card. These will have various things written on them which will either allow you to make or lose money e.g. You inherit £100, Speeding fine £15 etc.

When you are in jail you have to pay £50 to get out. You are allowed to stay in for up to 3
moves during which you may throw the dice if it is your turn and if you throw a double you can get out of jail without paying £50. After 3 moves you have to pay to get out.

I find the game really good fun as it is suitable for all the family (8+) as it is simple to understand. It teaches you about investing in property which I think is a very useful skill and also about bargaining with people and how to keep good financial control.

There are now many versions of the game where the street names are no longer the traditional London Streets: Old Kent Road, Mayfair etc but you can buy a Glasgow version, Las Vegas version etc (you obviously have to be in these places to buy them). These are a fun spin-off from the original theme but cost a lot more to buy. The original game is about £15 but the other versions are usually about £25.

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