How to Play Monopoly

Monopoly is the most successful and popular board game in history, with over 750 million people having played it. Published by Parker Brothers, this game was first created in 1935 and endures today as a popular game for parties, friends, family, online play, tournaments, and more.

Monopoly is a game designed for 2-8 players, though most games work best with a minimum of 3 players. Players should be age 8 and above according to Parker Brothers recommendations, due to advanced game concepts and small pieces.

When you sit down to play a game, be sure to allow your self between 1-2 hours of playtime. Players should be seated around a table large enough for the game board and a small of extra space in front of each player for the placement of monies, property cards, and other game items. To get in the game, just follow these easy steps to learn How to Play Monopoly.

• Number of Players: 2-8
• Average Gameplay Time: 2-3 hours
• Game Equipment: 12 player pieces, 28 property deed cards, 32 houses, 12 hotels, 16 Chance cards, 16 Community Chest cards, a full bank of Monopoly money, and 2 dice
• Amount of Money in the Bank: $15,140
• Properties Most Frequently Landed On: "Go", Illinois Ave., and B&O Railroad

Monopoly is a game designed for 2-8 players, though most games work best with a minimum of 3 players. Players should be age 8 and above according to Parker Brothers recommendations, due to advanced game concepts and small pieces.

When you sit down to play a game, be sure to allow your self between 1-2 hours of playtime. Players should be seated around a table large enough for the game board and a small of extra space in front of each player for the placement of monies, property cards, and other game items.

The object of the Monopoly game is to have the most money at the end of gameplay through property rental and trading.

1. Pull out your Monopoly game and take inventory to make sure you have all your pieces:
   • Game board
   • Two dice
   • 11 player tokens
   • Monopoly play money in values of $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $500
   • 32 houses
   • 12 hotels
   • One stack of each Chance and Community Chest cards
   • Property deed cards (one for each property on the board)
2. After the game board has been placed on the table, choose one player to act as Banker. This person will be in charge of distributing and collecting money throughout the game.
3. The Banker should distribute the following funds from the "Bank" (the tray of play money) to each player:
   • 2 - $500's, $100s, and $50s
   • 6 - $20's
   • 5 - $10's, $5s, and $1's
   • The rest of the money should remain in the bank
4. The stacks of "Chance" and "Community Chest" cards should be placed on the board in the spots designated for them.
5. Read the instructions aloud to all new players.
6. Each player should choose a player token (such as the shoe, race car, or top hat), and place their token on the "GO" space, which acts as the starting place for each player.
7. Place the dice on the game board, and you are ready to begin play!

To begin the game, each player (beginning with the Banker) should roll the two dice. The person with the highest throw will go first and play will continue clockwise around the table after that.

Each player's turn will proceed as so:

1. Roll both dice, and advance your token clockwise around the gameboard the number of spaces indicated by the dice total.
2. Your play will continue based on the type of space you land on. Landing on properties will either give you the privilege to purchase it, if unowned, or will require you to pay rent to the owner. Landing on other spaces may cause you to draw a Chance or Community Chest card, pay taxes, or even go to "Jail". (see details below for how to proceed for each type of space)
3. Once you have completed play for the space you are on, you still have the option to trade property and money with other players. (see the "Trading" section below for details)
4. If you rolled doubles, you will roll again and take another turn. Continue to take another turn if doubles are rolled again. If you roll doubles a third time, you must GO TO JAIL.
5. Your turn had now ended, and you should pass the dice to the person on your left.

Buying Property

Anytime your token lands on a property that isn't owned, you have the option to buy the property from the Bank for the price listed on the game board space. When you make the purchase, give the money to the Bank, and in return you will receive a Deed Card for the property to hold on to through the course of the game.

In the event that you land on an unowned property and do NOT want to buy it, the property then goes up for auction! All players (including the person who refused the property) may now make verbal bids for how much they would pay for the property, beginning at any amount. The person who is willing to pay the most wins the right to buy the property from the Bank for the highest bid. Your turn them ends and moves on to the next player as normal.

Paying Rent

If you land on a property already owned by another player, then you must pay rent to the owner for staying on the property. The amount of rent paid is indicated on the property Deed Card. Note that if a player owns every property in a color group, and has NOT built on them, then that player collects DOUBLE the rent for those properties (as is noted on the Deed Cards).

Exception: If the property has been mortgaged then the owner has forfeited all rights to collect rent, and you may land there for free.

It is the responsibility of the property owner to ask for the rent when you land on his/her space. If the owner forgets to ask for rent until after the next player has rolled the dice, rent may not be collected. It pays to pay attention to your properties!

Passing GO

During the course of each player's turn, every time your token passes (or lands on) the "GO" space, the Banker pays you $200. This is your salary, and helps struggling players stay in the game.

Landing on Chance or Community Chest

When you land on one these spaces on the board, you should draw the top card from the corresponding stack (Chance cards are orange, Community Chest cards are yellow). Then follow the instructions, and return the card face-down to the bottom of its deck, unless the card instructs you to hold on to it for later use.

One such card to hold on to is the “Get Out of Jail Free” card, which enables you to leave jail without paying any penalty. Once you've used this card, you'll then return it to the bottom of the deck. (This card may also be sold to other players if you wish.)

Free Parking

Free Parking is a free resting place to land on. You do not owe any money, nor do you receive any money for landing there.

You may have to send your token to "JAIL" if you do any of the following things on your turn:

1. If you land on the space marked "Go to Jail".
2. If you draw a card instructing you to go to Jail.
3. If you roll doubles three times in a row in one turn.

When you go to Jail, you place your piece directly on the Jail square, inside the "cell" markings. On your way to Jail you may not collect your GO money, and this ends your turn immediately. You are now stuck in jail until you are able to free yourself. During your stay in Jail, you may still sell or trade properties during your turn, and you may collect rent.

Remember that if your piece just happens to land on the Jail square while moving around the board, that does not mean you're in "Jail". It means you are visiting and take no special action. You can continue around the board as normal.

Getting Out of Jail

While you're stuck in jail, on your turn you will have an option of how to attempt to free yourself from jail:

• Pay $50 and roll to immediately move forward out of Jail.
• Roll the dice without paying any money. If you roll doubles, you are sprung from jail for free, and may now immediately move ahead the number of space on the dice. If you do NOT roll doubles, then your turn ends immediately and you must stay in Jail.
• Play your "Get Out of Jail Free" card, following the instructions on the card.

If you choose to try and roll for doubles while in Jail, and you aren't able to throw doubles by your third turn, you must pay the $50 and immediately move forward the number of spaces on the dice.

Building Houses

When you own every property in a color group (also known as a monopoly!), then you are able to build houses or hotels on those properties. You can purchase the houses and hotels directly from the Bank, for the price listed on your property Deed Cards.

When planning to build, keep in mind that you must build evenly within a property so that no property has more than one extra house on it compared to other lots of the same color. In other words, you may not add a second house to a property until all the other ones have at least one house. You can build up to four houses on each property.

Properties that have been improved by houses or hotels are able to charge a higher rent, which is also shown on the Deed Cards.

Houses and hotels cannot be built on utilities or railroads, and there are a limited number of houses and hotels in the game, so it is wise to plan when to buy and when to hold on to coveted houses.

Building Hotels

When all three properties in a monopoly have the maximum of four houses on them, a player may trade up for a hotel. The cost of hotels is listed on the Deed Cards, as is the new (and pricy) rent you can charge other players. When you purchase hotels, you will give the houses back to the house.

Mortgages

To supplement your money flow, you may choose to mortgage any properties that have not been built on. If you would like to mortgage a property with houses and hotels, you must first sell back the buildings to the Bank at half the purchase price. Then the Bank will pay you the mortgage price listed on the back of the Deed Card. At this time you will flip your Deed Card face-down on the game table and will no longer be able to collect rent for that property until such time as you unmortgage it. Properties may be sold in their mortgaged state (usually for a reduced price), and stay mortgaged even in the hands of the new player until it has been unmortgaged.

To unmortgage a property, you must pay the Bank back the mortgage cost, PLUS 10%.

Bankruptcy

When you owe more money than you can pay, you must declare bankruptcy and are out of the game.

All of your remaining assets and properties transfer to the player to whom you are indebted. At that time all of your buildings must be cashed into the bank at half-price. And, here's a LITTLE-KNOWN RULE! Any player receiving the fruits of a bankruptcy must pay the Bank a 10% fee on all mortgaged property--even though this does not unmortgage them!

If you go bankrupt to the Bank, then all of your remaining money goes to the Bank, and remaining properties are auctioned off to other players by the Bank in their current mortgage state.

Be the last player in the game with money, and you win!

These are some variations that are not part of the formal Monopoly rules, but are popular among many players. Keep in mind that many of these variations will make a game last longer, causing the average game to run 3-4 hours or more.

• Free Parking Jackpot Rule - Any money from taxes or fines that would normally be paid to the Bank, instead is put into a pot at the center of the board. The next person to land on "Free Parking" wins the pot. The pot then begins to rebuild until the next person lands on Free Parking. In some variations, players will seed the pot by placing a $500 bill in the center at the very beginning of the game.

• Jail Money Freeze Rule - When a player is in Jail they are prohibited from collecting any rent money. This helps discourage players from "hiding" in Jail when the game gets tense.

• No-Auction Rule - When a player refuses to buy a property, it does NOT go up for auction. Instead other players must wait to land on the property for a chance to buy it.

• Bankruptcy Distribution Rule - When a player goes bankrupt, instead of the debt collector receiving all their properties, they are evenly (and randomly) distributed amongst all remaining players. Another variation states that the properties would be auctioned off to players.

• Bankruptcy Limit Rule - The game ends when two people have gone bankrupt, and the winner is the person with the greatest gross wealth.

• Immunity Negotiations Rule - It is possible for two players to negotiate the idea of "immunity" from paying rent, in exchange for trades, advance cash, etc.This immunity is usually limited to the next few rounds of turns, or is only valid for the first time the space is landed on by that player.

• Silent Auction Rule - When players bid on a property that has been passed up by another player, they do so by submitting written bids on slips of paper to the Banker. This adds a competitive edge to the bidding process.

• One Lap Rule - At the start of the game, a player must complete one full lap around the board before being eligible to buy ANY properties. Taxes, penalties, and cards are still in effect.

• Foreclosure Rule - When one player lands on another's mortgaged property, the land owner has the option to instantly unmortgage it. If they don't, the player landing on the space has the option to buy it out from under them, paying the full sticker price + the 10% unmortgage fee, all to the Bank.

• Even Property Rule - In this quick-game alternative, all of the properties are randomly, but evenly distributed to all of the players before gameplay begins. The bulk of the gameplay will involve trades and rent payments, thus speeding up the game.

• Angel of Death Rule - One player is chosen at random prior to the game as the "Angel of Death" or "Game Ender" (usually by drawing from slips of paper in a hat). Once the game has passed the two hour mark, the Angel of Death, provided he/she is still in the game, has the option at any time to slap the gameboard and declare the game over (in some cases declaring NO winner). This is to entice players to race the clock to bankrupt others.

Follow these three steps in combination to help greatly decrease the length of your Monopoly game:

Deal Out All Properties Instantly

• Before the game starts, the "Banker" shuffles all of the Property Deed cards, and deals them out to all of the players. The players must then immediately pay to the bank the labeled price for each property dealt to him/her.

Fewer Houses Required for Hotels

• Instead of needing four houses on each lot of your Monopoly color group, you only need three houses. All of the other rules regarding houses and hotels remain the same.

The Game Ends as Soon as TWO Players Go Bankrupt

• It is not a game of "last man standing". Instead, once a second player goes bankrupt the whole game ends and remaining players must total up their worth to determine the winner.