Monopoly

A study in terrible game design

It is an old game

Why do we play games?

Because they are FUN.

Monopoly takes forever

- Money management is hard

- Rent collection is slow

- You can spend rounds without any changes

Technical Issues

Runaway Leader

Kingmaker

Player Eliminations

The worst thing any game can do is to stop the player from having fun.

Negative Progress

Closing time is undecidable

Nobody reads the rules

Time Investment != Return

Chance

 

Agency

100% CHANCE

Chess

Settlers of Catan

Chance 10%
Skill 30%
Initial Settlements Position 30%
Is the map biased against you? 10%
Beating that one player 20%

Blackjack

Chance Skill
49% 51%

Monopoly

Luck 61%
Getting Eliminated and Sulking 5%
Fighting over House Rules 7%
Refusing to Trade 5%
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ 5%

How to win at Monopoly

  • Transports have the highest investment to return ratio
  • Orange properties give the best returns
  • Buying the Orange and then the Greens/Red is a sure victory
  • Never buy Boardwalk
  • If nothing of the above is working out, get the light blue and pink properties
  • Start Mortgaging early to raise money for essential trades

Monopoly Deal

Compare

Monopoly Monopoly Deal
Playing Time 60 minutes to "why are we still playing?" 15 minutes per game
Chance/Skill Lots of Chance Lots of Chance
Eliminations Long-eliminations No eliminations
House Rules Too many house rules Standard game works well. Remove Deal Breaker cards for more balanced games.
Fun One-upping your friend, stealing their properties One-upping your friend, stealing their properties
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