Monopoly (board game)

Monopoly's mascot, Rich Uncle Pennybags.

Monopoly is an American board game. According to Parker Brothers it was designed by Charles B. Darrow in 1934. Originally distributed by Parker Brothers, Monopoly is now the property of Hasbro under the Parker Brothers brand. Monopoly is one the best-known American board games and immensely popular world wide, having been published in 80 countries and 26 languages.

History

Its development has roots in Great Depression and earlier, where it was first developed to understand the adversarial process of finance, and then as a means to make light of the financial problems posed by real monopolists. Darrow developed the final version.

The British agents of Parker Brothers decided to replace the American properties with ones based on locations around London. This version was sold throughout British Commonwealth countries, except for Canada, which used the American version.

Gameplay

In Monopoly, two or more players take turns rolling dice and moving their tokens clockwise through boxes drawn around the edges of a square board based on the street names of Atlantic City, NJ. If you roll doubles, you get an extra turn.

Upon landing in a box, a player:

1. may buy the property from the bank if no other player owns it
2. must pay rent to the player who owns it
3. draws a Chance or Community Chest card

Landing on Luxury Tax costs you $75. Income Tax requires some arithmetic, though. You must pay either $200 or 10% of the total of (1) your cash and (2) the purchase price of all your properties and improvements.

When you pass Go you collect $200. If you land on Jail or Free Parking, nothing happens.

If you roll doubles three times in a row, you go to jail. Or if you land on the corner box marked Go To Jail. To get out of jail you must pay the $50 fine, roll doubles on your turn or use a "get out of jail free" card.

Rents and property costs increase as one goes around the board. The purple and light blue properties are on the South edge, magenta and orange on the West edge, red and yellow on the North edge, green and dark blue on the East edge.

Rents are doubled if you own all of a color. Railroad rents increase for each additional railroad you own: get all four for triple rent. The electric and water utilities work similarly.

Building houses on your lot increases rents much more; after 4 houses you can erect a hotel instead. Houses and hotels are only bought from the bank, never from other players, and there is a fixed supply, which can lead to housing shortages. Landing on Park Place or Broadway with a hotel can bankrupt a player.

Not all deals are done with the bank. Players may sell or trade properties, which is often a key part of gaining a monopoly of color.

Variations

Some players have added extra rules, such as fines being paid into a kitty in the center of the board and collected by whoever lands on Free Parking.

Overseas versions have cities appropriate for the their marketplace, for example the British version of the game has squares based upon areas within London.

Several authorized and unauthorized versions have been created featuring different American cities, sports teams, comic book covers, and more.

Sources

• History of the Monopoly Game at www.Hasbro.com