Everyone has or seems to know people who play House Rules in Monopoly—

Things like Free Parking winning back what players pay to Community Chest cards
or not having to pay an owner who doesn't actually pay attention and ask for their rent.

But what easy rule changes could actually make the game better, add some much needed strategy or fun?


One thing that I thought of the other day is that a "ride" on a railroad might be more interesting if the player
actually had the option of paying the rent then moving up to the next station—or not. They would be let off
at the next station (with no additional rent due and no option to buy the property if unowned. Just a way
of moving faster or hopping over someone else's hotels).

I think the Get Out of Jail Free cards should also be targetable. You could use them to pay another player's
bail, either to help them out or to keep them from "hiding in jail."

I'm a purist. Only house rules we have is that we sometimes set victory conditions short of bankrupting every other player. One simple example is that the winner is the player with the most money when one player goes bankrupt.

I've never play with the newer versions of the game that have Speed Die.

http://monopoly.wikia.com/wiki/Speed_Die

We use free parking as a collection agency. Paying to get out of jail or from community chest cards, or using a get out of jail free card, all goes in the middle. If you get free parking you hit the jackpot. Otherwise we pretty much stick to the rules, except the one about having to buy property if you land on it.

You just skip buying property? You don't put it up for auction?
That removes some of the only strategy in the game?

I'd rather not play Monopoly ever again, house rules or not.

Horse rules to make Monopoly more interesting:



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NJDH80/?tag=imwan-20

Once you go around the board two times, you admit it's boring and go do something fun.

I haven't had a chance to try credit card Monopoly and see if that really speeds up the game or not. Anyone try that yet?

I've never even heard of this speed die.

I'm pretty sure if you don't wish to buy an unowned property you land on, you don't have to, but it goes up for auction - AND, you can bid on it - possibly buying it for less than the list price.

The "Get Out Of Jail Free" cards are weird since one couldn't use it to pay the fine after a third failed attempt to roll out. Nope - it's card before the third roll, but after that, cash only. But I like the idea it could also have the power to pay another player's bail, whether they want out or not - you can't refuse the bail.

And it'd be fun to ride the rails. Land directly on a railroad, buy if unowned, pay if owned by another. And next turn, instead of rolling, take 10, so you could skip to the next RR with no option to buy and no requirement to pay rent. Next roll, immediately after the turn you took 10, you must use dice, but you can take 10 next time you roll and land on a RR. Good for skipping over sections of the board filled with hostile developments, or just getting around the board quicker.

Hmmm. Reading an on-line copy of the rules, apparently you can build houses and hotels any time you wish and can afford it (not just on your turn). Makes sense, for how else could two or more people want to buy houses at the same time and force an auction. Just remember, if you sell a house or hotel back that you bought in an auction, you only get half what you paid for it - not half its normal worth. That might be more, or less, than its normal value.

Still laugh that you can't buy a hotel outright, but must buy 4 houses first (this is only a real problem during a housing shortage).

Ah, you CAN give money. You can't lend it, but you can give it.

So if you owe two or more people money at the same time (pay every player $50, for example) and that would bankrupt you, I wonder how that is to be resolved. You get to choose which player you pay first?

Lots of house rule winning conditions may be introduced. First to buy 3 hotels on a major Monopoly, for example. Sorry Baltic Group. You just aren't big enough.

First to own 3 different complete Monopolies, regardless. 4 Railroads count as one, so do two Utilities count as one.

First to reach $10,000 CASH wins. Anytime you can show you have $10K in liquid assets - CASH plus half value on houses and hotels and mortgage value all properties - you win.

Controlling interest in a Monopoly. Forced buy out of third property from the owning player, but not from the bank - (when you own two of a color group, and another player owns the third, for 5 times its normal value you can buy it from them whether they wish to sell to you or not. Force the purchase of the 4th railroad from another player if you have the other 3, for $1000. 2 unit groups not subject to this rule. It would force the game toward completion quicker.

Hmmmmm. Apart from new and different Chance or Community Chest cards, which would be harder to make and introduce.

You can opt not to buy something you land on, the way I've always played. In all the various groups of people I've known in my life and played Monopoly with, no one has ever done the auction thing. I didn't think anyone did!

Honestly, the game is so long and frustrating to ever finish, I haven't played it in years.

Bought this to play with the kids - haven't tried it yet, but it looks simpler and less frustrating than the original.

New Monopoly Cat Token (always figured they should have a cat to oppose the Dog - and dog and cat people naturally would both want this, I would think).

They retired the Iron?

Top 5 Winning House Rules Across the Nation?

01.) Frozen Assets – No collecting money while in Jail.

02.) Land Directly on Go (via roll and not card, I would assume) earns $400 – not just $200.

03.) Free Parking – collect all taxes and card fees into the middle – any time a player lands on Free Parking, they get that pool of money.

04.) Sight Seeing - You must complete at least one full circuit around the board before you can buy any property. (That would just lengthen the game).

05.) Snake Eyes - Collect $500 from the bank every time you roll double 1’s.

Well, I only like the Frozen Assets rules of those 5.

Runner Up: Mom’s always get out of jail free. Some mother probably made that one up. Maybe on Mother's day, but then Fathers get out of Jail for free on Father's Day.

Wow, fully 70% of Monopoly players have never read all the rules of the game.

Around a third play with House Rules of some sort.

04.) Sight Seeing - You must complete at least one full circuit around the board before you can buy any property.

*****

Isn't that in the rules already?

Not at all.

01.) Frozen Assets – No collecting money while in Jail.

*****
And this one!?

Definitely was in the version I played as a kid - and the rule book warn't scorched neither!

Ha! Another one of these 'effects' my son was talking to me about the other day? (Like the idea that the Monopoly guy had a monocle!)

http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/que ... properties

My son made his own Shipopoly for a project in school one year. It was pretty cool. All famous ships through history instead of real estate.

Our only set that we currently have on hand is a Doctor Who Monopoly. All the properties have these unpronounceable names that I can't remember and the railroads are something weird.

Sight Seeing and Frozen Assets are definitely not in any Monopoly rule booklet I've ever read. And I've read more than a few. They have short game variations, but those aren't in those rules, either. While Sight Seeing might lengthen the game, I can see its point - to spread everybody out a bit and those who start last aren't as badly screwed by not having unowned properties in reach so not only can't they buy anything, but they get hit with rent, too. Ughh. Spreading them all out a bit first is fairer in that regard. But it isn't an official rule. Apparently it's a common enough House Rule, however, that it made the top 5 House Rules - so there's that.

Re-reading the rules is something most people should do, even if they’ve played the game for decades. I swear, most every time I read them, I learn something new, recall something I forgot, think of some new twist, discover I knew the rule incorrectly, am reminded a house rule isn't in the official rules, or have a new or better understanding of the game.

Sometimes I think maybe this is because the rules are not standardized and some variant printings are out there and I’m only assuming they are all identical.

Yep – I just confirmed this inasmuch as two different on-line PDFs of the rules have variations. In this instance, one says any time during your turn you may buy houses – the other says at any time you can afford it and want to buy them.

However, a subsequent rule that allows for the possibility of two or more players wanting houses from a limited supply at the same time implies you can buy houses on more than just your own turn, or more than just only during your own turn, so that’s probably why the new copy allows it at any time as somebody pointed out the logical inconsistency in the original rules.

So, re-reading it just now, I note the following:

The goal isn’t to drive everybody into bankruptcy, but to remain in the game the longest. This implies if everybody else quits, you win, even if you didn’t have the most money or assets.

But by common agreement, short game time limits, or the like, the winner is the one who has the most, even if nobody has gone bankrupt when that time is reached.

And here I naturally thought the winner had to drive EVERYBODY ELSE into bankruptcy in order to win.


In the short game, a wonderful option is to quit when the first player is driven into bankruptcy – and the richest player then wins. I LIKE IT!

I also like the variant you stay in jail just one turn – not three, so treat it as if it were your third time, every time.


I am reminded if one must break down a hotel, and there are not enough houses to do it, they must sell the whole thing and eat that loss since they only get half price for it, even if they would have been able to keep some houses, had there been any.

New House Rule Suggestion: I do like a Get Out Of Jail Free Card can be used on another player in jail, if they are a willing recipient or not, but I think anyone landing on Just Visiting should also be able to post bail on a willing or unwilling recipient, too.

I am reminded, also, if you drive somebody into bankruptcy, you don’t just get everything they have – you have to liquidate the houses and hotels (at a loss) – none of this taking over their developed properties crap.

I used to have a Marvel Comics Monopoly where you bought valuable back issues instead of property and the pieces were various superheroes.