There's a ton of different strategy guides online (ok about four, note the reason I'm doing this) that go much more into detail then mine, such as the return on investment and the odds of landing on any given square. This was done by some clever thing running billions of computer simulations and calculating the odds. Well interestingly this data just proved what I came to find myself over the years, (soon my Top Hat won't fit on my enormous inflated ego head) thus my guide to monopoly tactics is to summarize the data and give the basic few rules that make up the winning strategy.
I don't think it's possible for anyone on this planet to have never heard of monopoly, but for those non-human or those that have lived under a rock all their lives (although I'm sure there's even a cave version of monopoly), Monopoly is a board game published by Parker Brothers, (yes those brothers again) a subsidiary of Hasbro (of course). The game is named after the economic concept of monopoly, the domination of a market by a single entity.
An Interesting History
Monopoly can be traced back to 1903, when a Quaker woman named Elizabeth (Lizzie) J. Magie Phillips created a game through which she hoped to be able to explain the single tax theory of Henry George (it was intended to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies). Her game, The Landlord's Game, was commercially published in 1924.
In the 1930s, John Waddington Ltd. (Waddingtons), a firm of printers from Leeds had begun to branch out into the packaging and production of playing cards. Waddingtons had sent the card game Lexicon to Parker Brothers hoping to interest them in publishing the game in the United States. In a similar fashion, Parker Brothers sent over a copy of Monopoly to Waddingtons early in 1935 before the game had been put into production in the United States.
The managing director of Waddingtons, Victor Watson, gave the game to his son Norman (who was head of the card games division) to test over the weekend. Norman was impressed by the game and persuaded his father to call Parker Brothers on Monday morning (transatlantic calls then being almost unheard of). This call resulted in Waddingtons' obtaining a license to produce and market the game outside of the United States. Watson felt that for the game to be a success in the United Kingdom, the American locations would have to be replaced, so Victor and his secretary, Marjory Phillips, went to London to scout out locations.
The Angel, Islington is not a street in London but an area of North London named after a coaching inn that stood on the Great North Road. By the 1930s, the inn had become a Lyons Corner House (it is now a Co-operative Bank). Some accounts say that Marjory and Victor met at the Angel to discuss the selection and celebrated the fact by including it on the Monopoly board. In 2003, a plaque commemorating the naming was unveiled at the site by Victor Watson's grandson, who is also named Victor.
The standard British board, produced by Waddingtons, was for many years the version most familiar to people in countries in the Commonwealth, except Canada, where the U.S. edition with Atlantic City-area names was reprinted.
How To Play
Gameplay
Players take turns in order, with the initial player determined by 'highest goes first'. A typical turn begins with the rolling of the dice and advancing clockwise around the board the corresponding number of squares. Landing on Chance or Community Chest, a player draws the top card from the respective pile. If the player lands on an unowned property, whether street, railroad, or utility, he can buy the property for its listed purchase price. If he declines this purchase, the property is auctioned off by the bank to the highest bidder (See house rules for alternative play to this). If the property landed on is already owned and unmortgaged, he must pay the owner a given rent, the price dependent on whether the property is part of a set or its level of development. If a player rolls doubles, he rolls again after completing his turn. Three sets of doubles in a row, however, land the player in jail.
Houses & Hotels
During a turn, players may also choose to develop or mortgage properties. Development involves the construction, for given amounts of money paid to the bank, of houses or hotels. To build a house or a hotel, the player must own all properties in a colour group. Development must be uniform across a monopoly, such that a second house cannot be built on one property in a monopoly until the others have one house. No merges between players are allowed. All developments on a monopoly must be sold before any property of that colour can be mortgaged or traded. The player receives money from the bank for each mortgaged property, which must be repaid with interest (10%) to unmortgage. Houses are returned to the bank for half their purchase price. The game will end when all players but one go bankrupt, the player remaining winning the game. If a player is in jail, he still collects rent and buy and sell property.
House Rules
Parker Brothers' official instructions have long encouraged the use of house rules. You may be surprised to discover that some of the following rules are not part of the official rules. Many of these house rules tend to make the game longer by randomly giving players more money. The most common house rules are listed below:
Tactics!
The following tactics are for a 90 - 180 minute game. Any longer then 2 and half hours than I'd recommend investing in the more expensive properties such as the yellows and dark blues.
Buy Everything
Don't hold a personal grudge against a colour group, or Old Kent Road. If you land on it buy it because a property is worth more than cash later in the game, when people want to form their own colour sets. The only two I wouldn't buy, especially if I didn't have the cash are the Electric Company and Water Works. You will get pennies and they're the least likely properties to recoup initial costs back. However, if you've got the cash, and you're playing with opponents who don't know this, they can be a good thing to sell/trade to them later in game.
Oranges are the sweetest
Oranges are by far the best colour group to own. Closely followed by reds and yellows. The reason for this? Those two sides of the board (from now on known as board 2 and board 3) are the most landed upon due to the jail that stops you landing on boards 4 and 1. The Community and Chance also add to the odds with such cards as 'Go directly to 'Pall Mall', 'Bow Steet', 'Trafalgar Square' and 'Fenchurch Street Station'. The Oranges and Yellows in particular are also more expensive to land on yet they cost the same to build houses and hotels then their counterpart on the same side of their board (purple and red). The purples, due to most people coming out of jail, miss them entirely (a roll of 7 being the best odds, and thus landing on the orange group) Statistically the best colour to build on (calculated from chances on landing on it, and recouping your money back) goes in this order (from best to worst), orange, red, light blue, yellow, dark blue, purple, green and brown.
Swap Don't Sell
Never, ever, sell a property (except the pointless Water Works and Electric Company) for money. Properties are investments, you need to own sets to win the game, and by keeping on to them you'll stop other from making sets. By all means BUY properties from other people, your soon make it back if it's one of the top 6 (see above) but don't ever pay too much for green and brown - they won't get you far, but holding on to them is good business!
Building Blocks
Ok so you have now swapped a pricey green or cheap and cheerful light blue to acquire your own colour group (hopefully either orange or red). So you have the cash to splash and you're thinking why not build hotels right now? Well I wouldn't unless you really do have the free cash and you're not about to come up to a series of hotels on board 3 or 4. Statistically your best odds with any colour group, to reimburse yourself back with the cash spent on the property (including build-work) and finally start making profit is three houses on each. Certainly try your might at reaching this point, as 1 or 2 houses will not bring in enough to recoup funds. The amount spent to build three house will give you the best investment for your time and money, but note, do not stop their if you do have plenty of cash to continue building, which leads me onto my next point...
Monopoly can be traced back to 1903, when a Quaker woman named Elizabeth (Lizzie) J. Magie Phillips created a game through which she hoped to be able to explain the single tax theory of Henry George (it was intended to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies). Her game, The Landlord's Game, was commercially published in 1924.
In the 1930s, John Waddington Ltd. (Waddingtons), a firm of printers from Leeds had begun to branch out into the packaging and production of playing cards. Waddingtons had sent the card game Lexicon to Parker Brothers hoping to interest them in publishing the game in the United States. In a similar fashion, Parker Brothers sent over a copy of Monopoly to Waddingtons early in 1935 before the game had been put into production in the United States.
The managing director of Waddingtons, Victor Watson, gave the game to his son Norman (who was head of the card games division) to test over the weekend. Norman was impressed by the game and persuaded his father to call Parker Brothers on Monday morning (transatlantic calls then being almost unheard of). This call resulted in Waddingtons' obtaining a license to produce and market the game outside of the United States. Watson felt that for the game to be a success in the United Kingdom, the American locations would have to be replaced, so Victor and his secretary, Marjory Phillips, went to London to scout out locations.The Angel, Islington is not a street in London but an area of North London named after a coaching inn that stood on the Great North Road. By the 1930s, the inn had become a Lyons Corner House (it is now a Co-operative Bank). Some accounts say that Marjory and Victor met at the Angel to discuss the selection and celebrated the fact by including it on the Monopoly board. In 2003, a plaque commemorating the naming was unveiled at the site by Victor Watson's grandson, who is also named Victor.
The standard British board, produced by Waddingtons, was for many years the version most familiar to people in countries in the Commonwealth, except Canada, where the U.S. edition with Atlantic City-area names was reprinted.
How To Play
Players take turns in order, with the initial player determined by 'highest goes first'. A typical turn begins with the rolling of the dice and advancing clockwise around the board the corresponding number of squares. Landing on Chance or Community Chest, a player draws the top card from the respective pile. If the player lands on an unowned property, whether street, railroad, or utility, he can buy the property for its listed purchase price. If he declines this purchase, the property is auctioned off by the bank to the highest bidder (See house rules for alternative play to this). If the property landed on is already owned and unmortgaged, he must pay the owner a given rent, the price dependent on whether the property is part of a set or its level of development. If a player rolls doubles, he rolls again after completing his turn. Three sets of doubles in a row, however, land the player in jail.
Houses & Hotels
During a turn, players may also choose to develop or mortgage properties. Development involves the construction, for given amounts of money paid to the bank, of houses or hotels. To build a house or a hotel, the player must own all properties in a colour group. Development must be uniform across a monopoly, such that a second house cannot be built on one property in a monopoly until the others have one house. No merges between players are allowed. All developments on a monopoly must be sold before any property of that colour can be mortgaged or traded. The player receives money from the bank for each mortgaged property, which must be repaid with interest (10%) to unmortgage. Houses are returned to the bank for half their purchase price. The game will end when all players but one go bankrupt, the player remaining winning the game. If a player is in jail, he still collects rent and buy and sell property.
House Rules
Parker Brothers' official instructions have long encouraged the use of house rules. You may be surprised to discover that some of the following rules are not part of the official rules. Many of these house rules tend to make the game longer by randomly giving players more money. The most common house rules are listed below:
- No Auctions Should a player choose not to buy an unowned property they landed on, no auction is held, and the turn passes to the next player. This lengthens the game by increasing the amount of time necessary for all properties to be bought and developed, and by reducing the speed at which money is exchanged.
- Free Parking A jackpot, which usually consists of fines and taxes otherwise paid to the bank. A player who lands on Free Parking wins the jackpot. The jackpot is usually put in the centre of the board.
- Land on GO! A bonus for landing directly on Go by dice roll (commonly double the $200 to gain $400). This may or may not include cards that send the player to Go.
- Stealing Penalty If an opponent at any time touches or steals a players money, the opponent owes player a sum of $500
- Keep Your Eyes On The Board If a player doesn't notice an opponent whom has landed on their property before the next player roles their dice then the opponent 'gets away' with not playing. This can lead to some very quick dice rolling!
- Snakes Eyes A bonus for rolling snake eyes (a pair of ones), often $100, $500, or $686 (which is one of each bill used in the game.)
- Trade-Off In trades, players may offer "rent immunity" from their own properties (someone does not have to pay rent for landing on that property) as part of a deal (this can be good for a certain number of landings or the entire game).Note! House rules that increase the amount of money in the game may mean changing your strategies - the more money in the game; the more one may wish to invest in the higher value properties.
Tactics!
The following tactics are for a 90 - 180 minute game. Any longer then 2 and half hours than I'd recommend investing in the more expensive properties such as the yellows and dark blues.
| Free Parking | Strand £220 | Chance | Fleet Street £220 | Trafalgar Square £240 | Fenchurch Street station £200 | Leicester Square £260 | Coventry Street £260 | Water Works £150 | Piccadilly £280 | Go To Jail |
| Vine Street £200 | London (standard edition) (1935) | Regent Street £300 | ||||||||
| Marlborough Street £180 | Oxford Street £300 | |||||||||
| Community Chest | Community Chest | |||||||||
| Bow Street £180 | Bond Street £320 | |||||||||
| Marylebone station £200 | Liverpool Street station £200 | |||||||||
| Northumberland Avenue £160 | Chance | |||||||||
| Whitehall £140 | Park Lane £350 | |||||||||
| Electric Company £150 | Super Tax (pay £100) | |||||||||
| Pall Mall £140 | Mayfair £400 | |||||||||
| In Jail/Just Visiting | Pentonville Road £120 | Euston Road £100 | Chance | The Angel Islington £100 | King's Cross station £200 | Income Tax (pay £200) | Whitechapel Road £60 | Community Chest | Old Kent Road £60 | Go (collect £200)  |
Buy Everything
Don't hold a personal grudge against a colour group, or Old Kent Road. If you land on it buy it because a property is worth more than cash later in the game, when people want to form their own colour sets. The only two I wouldn't buy, especially if I didn't have the cash are the Electric Company and Water Works. You will get pennies and they're the least likely properties to recoup initial costs back. However, if you've got the cash, and you're playing with opponents who don't know this, they can be a good thing to sell/trade to them later in game.
Oranges are the sweetest
Oranges are by far the best colour group to own. Closely followed by reds and yellows. The reason for this? Those two sides of the board (from now on known as board 2 and board 3) are the most landed upon due to the jail that stops you landing on boards 4 and 1. The Community and Chance also add to the odds with such cards as 'Go directly to 'Pall Mall', 'Bow Steet', 'Trafalgar Square' and 'Fenchurch Street Station'. The Oranges and Yellows in particular are also more expensive to land on yet they cost the same to build houses and hotels then their counterpart on the same side of their board (purple and red). The purples, due to most people coming out of jail, miss them entirely (a roll of 7 being the best odds, and thus landing on the orange group) Statistically the best colour to build on (calculated from chances on landing on it, and recouping your money back) goes in this order (from best to worst), orange, red, light blue, yellow, dark blue, purple, green and brown.
Swap Don't Sell
Never, ever, sell a property (except the pointless Water Works and Electric Company) for money. Properties are investments, you need to own sets to win the game, and by keeping on to them you'll stop other from making sets. By all means BUY properties from other people, your soon make it back if it's one of the top 6 (see above) but don't ever pay too much for green and brown - they won't get you far, but holding on to them is good business!
Building Blocks
Ok so you have now swapped a pricey green or cheap and cheerful light blue to acquire your own colour group (hopefully either orange or red). So you have the cash to splash and you're thinking why not build hotels right now? Well I wouldn't unless you really do have the free cash and you're not about to come up to a series of hotels on board 3 or 4. Statistically your best odds with any colour group, to reimburse yourself back with the cash spent on the property (including build-work) and finally start making profit is three houses on each. Certainly try your might at reaching this point, as 1 or 2 houses will not bring in enough to recoup funds. The amount spent to build three house will give you the best investment for your time and money, but note, do not stop their if you do have plenty of cash to continue building, which leads me onto my next point...
To Build, Or Not To Build, That Is The Question
The most important rule in monopoly is to simply work out when and when not to build. This isn't just a case of, 'oh frick, here comes the Mayfair Hotel', but more to do with who's knocking around your block. As stated before, obviously the highest odds in rolling the dice is to get a seven. (17% chance) Six and eight (both a 14% chance, and 14 just so happens to be my lucky number...). But what does it all mean Basil? Well add up those percentages and your realise it's a good 45% chance that with every roll, the outcome will be a 6,7 or 8. Thus, if a couple of players are around 6,7 or 8 spaces away from owing you a great debt, then it's in your favour if you decide to build before their turn. Of course you must also weigh up the risks, especially if you are seven spaces from hitting something particular nasty (that dastardly Mayfair again) and decide for yourself if you can cough up enough.
Platform 9 and 3/4
The stations are great. Everyone knows this, even if you don't know it statistically. Sure you can't build houses on them (oh boy if you could!) but early on in the game they are worth having, much more then dare I say their names again, the fricking Water Works and Electric Company. If you manage to own all 4 stations your odds of making profit are better then the Purples (just) and much better then the Greens and Browns. However, don't be afraid to let them go if it means collecting a better set - for in the long run the stations are mere pocket money compared to the damage you could do with hotels. So remember, buy them off people if possible at the beginning, but swap them later for properties if it's the only way.
Platform 9 and 3/4
The stations are great. Everyone knows this, even if you don't know it statistically. Sure you can't build houses on them (oh boy if you could!) but early on in the game they are worth having, much more then dare I say their names again, the fricking Water Works and Electric Company. If you manage to own all 4 stations your odds of making profit are better then the Purples (just) and much better then the Greens and Browns. However, don't be afraid to let them go if it means collecting a better set - for in the long run the stations are mere pocket money compared to the damage you could do with hotels. So remember, buy them off people if possible at the beginning, but swap them later for properties if it's the only way.
You absolute #@!%?
Last but not least, this is monopoly after all, to win you must be ruthless. Part of the game is using your people skills to win each player over, maybe letting them off on petty rent, or agreeing to join up together for a while. Well if you own 3 sets, another element of resource management is refusing to upgrade to hotels and instead hang on to the four houses. Why? Well to prevent others from buying houses and stopping them upgrading to hotels, because, by the strict rules, you must have 4 houses and then pay the required cash to move to a hotel. So holding just enough houses so that another player will be 1 house short of building evenly to build a hotel can be a good strategy. It's bitchy, unfair and you're be slapped about by your older brother for being a #@!%? but grin and bear it if you truly want to win the world of monopoly.
Sources
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_(game)
http://www.tkcs-collins.com/truman/monopoly/monopoly.shtml
http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_MY_P_I/0_my_photographs_london_monopoly_board_ju31.jpg
http://images.amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-toys/cdpplusimages/mopoly4.jpg
http://twitter.com/#!/MonopolyTopHat
http://www.herebegeeks.com/wp-content/gallery/boardgaming/logo-mr-monopoly.jpg
http://cogdogblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/get_out_of_jail_free_card_small.jpg
http://www.whitebunnywabbit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/42737391_pa416monopoly.jpg
http://cogdogblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/get_out_of_jail_free_card_small.jpg
http://cogdogblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/get_out_of_jail_free_card_small.jpg
http://www.whitebunnywabbit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/42737391_pa416monopoly.jpg
http://cogdogblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/get_out_of_jail_free_card_small.jpg
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