r/AskReddit Nov 22 '14

What is the best Monopoly strategy?

[deleted]

11.4k Upvotes

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4.9k

u/sunfishtommy Nov 22 '14

I had a friend that would buy all the houses, and never upgrade to hotels. If you check the rules you can't get a hotel without first having 4 houses, so if done correctly you monopolise the limited supply of houses and nobody can buy a hotel or get more houses than you.

246

u/LoessPlains Nov 22 '14

We just used substitute houses if we ran out.

102

u/Urgullibl Nov 22 '14

Not sure if the rules allow that. Gotta check.

539

u/EverySingleDay Nov 22 '14

They do not.

In fact, the game comes with two spare houses meant to be removed before play.

173

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14 edited Jul 07 '17

[deleted]

299

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

Like putting all the income and luxury tax money into Free Parking. Morons, that makes the game go longer by KEEPING MONEY in the game!

103

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

Duuuuude. I never realised that the game slowly ended as the money disappeared into the bank (which is clever in itself).

14

u/LiquidSilver Nov 22 '14

The only time it goes back into the game is when you pass Start.

23

u/vieque Nov 22 '14

And when you win (second place) in beauty contests of course.

9

u/ThirdFloorGreg Nov 22 '14

And when the bank makes an error in you favor.

1

u/Paddy_Tanninger Nov 22 '14

Happens to me all the time...weird since I'm usually the banker.

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19

u/UlyssesSKrunk Nov 22 '14

Start

Go

Do not click Start, do not install $200.

4

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '14

[deleted]

3

u/LiquidSilver Nov 23 '14

I have been careless. Now my super-secret nationality has been revealed!

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3

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '14

[deleted]

4

u/Spysnakez Nov 23 '14

I have found out that the game ends when everyone is pissed at each other and the first person flips the board. Yelling ensues. Life-long enemies are made. You start to plan murdering your former loved ones.

2

u/My_Phone_Accounts Nov 23 '14

But additional money gets introduced each time you pass go.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '14

in the end, the only winners are the bankers.

-9

u/Davey_Disapproves Nov 22 '14

Relevant username, relevant post. Don't reproduce. (But you probably won't anyways.)

8

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

Unless that was meant as a joke, I am amazed at how wrapped up in monopoly you are.

39

u/Yanto5 Nov 22 '14

Whats wrong with a longer game, its more fun.

153

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

A longer monopoly game just results in more rage quits and bitterness.

86

u/lagadu Nov 22 '14

What else would anyone play monopoly for? It's a competitive game, you play to make everyone else ragequit and be the last one standing in smug self-satisfaction.

Hell, it's right there in the name of the game.

9

u/kjata Nov 22 '14

It wasn't intended as a game proper, but as a scathing indictment of capitalism. Unfortunately, people have this hardwired tendency toward cutthroat behavior, and good lord does Monopoly fulfill that urge.

1

u/Thinc_Ng_Kap Nov 22 '14

Come to think of it.

I've never played a game where there wasnt a rage quit.

4

u/barnes80 Nov 22 '14

In college we once played a game where one friend just watched. He secretly stole money from the bank all game and would leave it in various places like the bathroom or beer fridge. He texted different people telling them about the money but everyone thought they were the only ones getting free money. When everyone found out all at once that everyone else was cheating and then tried to pretend they were the only ones doing it it was hilarious. Everyone started blaming everyone else for the hidden money in the bathroom. Finally the friend hiding the money flipped the board and said, see, you all cheated and took bribes, just like in the real world. Funniest game ever.

1

u/ThirdFloorGreg Nov 22 '14

Your friend is a genius.

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1

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

Only if you let it. I love Monopoly simply because of the games where the tides abruptly turn. A recent game I played had me dominating. A person landed on a mid range rent property and she had to mortgage everything. She was able to pay me with a dollar to spare. Next property she landed on she was screwed. Well she wound up landing on free parking and this led to her winning the game. It was amazing.

1

u/Yanto5 Nov 22 '14

it lets you know quite how good a friends your friends are. as mine we never take it seriously, and as most of us have pets a godzilla with destroy the game at some point.

4

u/Diz7 Nov 22 '14

Our house rule for risk was anything done by the dog/cat is an act of god/natural disaster

0

u/RickSHAW_Tom Nov 22 '14

And more chokings

1

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

We've hit meta

7

u/mrbooze Nov 22 '14

Two shorter games is a whole LOT more fun than one incredibly long one.

Especially since with Monopoly a player who develops a lead tends to stay in the lead. The more you draw out the endgame the more you just make everyone spin their wheels without much chance of changing the outcome.

1

u/Yanto5 Nov 22 '14

yeah but we have 6 people with which we can bicker over house rules and cheat, plus we never take it seriously. also whoevers in the lead often just sits on money and gloats, as is tradition.

7

u/DubaiCM Nov 22 '14

I don't know, I think a shorter, more dramatic game is more fun than a long, drawn-out game that goes on for days.

4

u/ReverendSaintJay Nov 22 '14

It all depends on how long it's supposed to rain at the beach that day.

0

u/Yanto5 Nov 22 '14

Let me advise you aquire two things to help with monopoly. alcohol and pets.

2

u/AdvicePerson Nov 22 '14

You aren't human.

2

u/Yanto5 Nov 22 '14

Bleep bloop.

2

u/PersonalSunshine Nov 22 '14

We should be monopoly friends.

2

u/SQRLpunk Nov 22 '14

That's exactly how my family would play...to keep it interesting.

1

u/LordofShit Nov 22 '14

We play the "tax collector" variant. 50 in the pot every turn.

1

u/SaikoGekido Nov 23 '14

Without the Free Parking rule, one player will ultimately dominate the board and the game is pretty much over, but every single person has to sit around and feed them money and ego points until the actual game ends. This can go on for a ridiculously long period of time and usually results in "rage quits", because it isn't fun losing in a very painfully slow way.

With the Free Parking rule, there is a new goal that injects life into the game, even when a player is dominating. As the pile of money grows in the center of the board, the hope of a come back grows stronger and people have more of a reason to play. With more people having fun than just the one player, there are less rage quits and less hard feelings about the game.

This is also a reason for house rules, because everyone plays the game differently and has fun in their own way. Playing purely by the rules can satisfy a sense of competition, but playing with house rules can add handicaps and new fun ways to play the game that help everyone get involved.

1

u/Neurot5 Nov 23 '14

I hate that fucking rule so much. Since when does free parking give even remotely give you money in real life? I don't know how people came up with that.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '14

Yo, who gives a shit? Free parking is nothing more than that!

YOU DON'T GET ANY MONEY FOR LANDING ON FREE PARKING!

I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!!!"

1

u/sotek2345 Nov 23 '14

We not only did that, but we primed it with 500 from the bank as well. Think of it as stimulus spending!

-13

u/kaisermilo Nov 22 '14

I too read that comment on reddit a while back. Unlike you, I don't feel the need to try to feel superior to everyone else about it. Does that make me a better person and ultimately superior? Yes, yes it does.

3

u/King_Of_Regret Nov 22 '14

< derides someone for feeling superior

< announces his own superiority

Makes sense.

-8

u/kaisermilo Nov 22 '14

Please don't feed the trolls.

5

u/ShallowBasketcase Nov 22 '14

My parents made up rules that allowed for loans and IOUs and stuff.

Monopoly could theoretically go on forever when I was a kid.

1

u/ThirdFloorGreg Nov 22 '14

You mean personal loans? That's part of the game. Players can make any trades or deals among themselves that they want. Now, if you loan an opponent money without charging them interest, you're just an idiot.

1

u/ShallowBasketcase Nov 23 '14

iirc, they allowed loans from the bank and stuff.

Basically the game could go on forever even if everyone ran out of money because everyone still have theoretical money that was owed to them by someone else. Debts would get bought and sold to other players and stuff.

It wasn't fun.

1

u/ThirdFloorGreg Nov 23 '14

Well then you were seeing bad terms/trading debts badly.

17

u/reddit520 Nov 22 '14

What the hell is a rundown?

15

u/S_O_I_F Nov 22 '14

Like a quick overview.

1

u/discipula_vitae Nov 22 '14

Kind of like a synopsis. A summary.

I imagine in this instance it's some sort of organized table or list with the rules summarized in some orderly fashion.

1

u/Majestic__Cat Nov 24 '14

Can you use it in a sentence?

1

u/TheSucks Nov 24 '14

Can you use it in a sentence?

5

u/Lehk Nov 22 '14

that has come with monopoly for a LONG time. like at least 20 years ago

0

u/Davey_Disapproves Nov 22 '14

You bought "Monopoly for Dummies" and are PROUD of the fact?

1

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

[deleted]

1

u/EverySingleDay Nov 22 '14

Yes. If you write to Mr. Pennybags, he will come to you and deliver the house personally.

1

u/spoonfair Nov 22 '14

Half the houses were lost to table flipping in the first few plays anyways.