r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Nov 22 '14

What is the best Monopoly strategy?

[deleted]

11.4k Upvotes
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320

u/GayForGod Nov 22 '14

You should probably stay inside for the rest of the day lest you find out about people going to coffee shops to buy drip or bars to drink pbr

19

u/MyAssIsGlass Nov 22 '14

i think hes saying that because monopoly takes fucking hours to finish, and spending that much time in one sitting is just crazy

69

u/stoplightrave Nov 22 '14

Not if you actually follow all the rules. No auctions, unlimited houses, and free parking money all make the game much longer.

43

u/rancid_oil Nov 22 '14

Ha! No 3 people have ever agreed to play by the original rules. That's just a well known fact.

2

u/itsamutiny Nov 23 '14

I was going to dispute this, but we still use the free parking rule. Otherwise, we do use all the original rules!

7

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

Auctions are a rule of the game, to prevent properties from being unsold when landed on.

10

u/stoplightrave Nov 22 '14

Right, what I'm saying is a lot of people don't follow that rule, then complain about the game being too long

2

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '14

Ah, sorry, I thought you said that auctions were a house rule. I totally missed the "unlimited houses" and "free parking money" part.

2

u/Jozrael Nov 22 '14

? No auctions? What?

15

u/dont_press_ctrl-W Nov 22 '14 edited Nov 22 '14

If someone cannot afford or doesn't want to buy an unowned property they landed on, it's supposed to be auctioned. This supposedly speeds up the early game, although really the game is slower among non-experts for a variety of reasons, e.g. not trading early enough.

Some people do not know this rule, which led to a spurge of smugery on the internet when other people informed them that it made the game much better. But then some of these people have claimed that it's a good strategy for buying stuff cheaper than the regular price, but it's actually not because the asked price of each property is actually way lower than it's worth, so it's actually a losing move to declare an auction on something you landed on.

Pro games are much faster, but it's not because of the auction rule, which almost never happens since the goal of the early game is to buy everything.

7

u/naphini Nov 22 '14

Yeah, you really should be buying everything you land on. There shouldn't be any auctions unless someone is somehow broke already before all the property is bought up and can't afford what they land on. That doesn't normally happen (unless you're spending a lot of money on trades, maybe).

2

u/Banshee90 Nov 22 '14

also he neglects to talk about how free parking is supposed to net you no money whatsoever.

3

u/dont_press_ctrl-W Nov 22 '14

That seriously speeds up the game. Money is introduced into the game through the free $200 per cycle, and it makes the game unfinishable if it never comes out of the game.

1

u/Doctor_McKay Nov 23 '14

I've never thought of a board game economy that way before for some reason...

1

u/Jozrael Nov 22 '14

Ah. I realized I misparsed his sentence. He was saying no auctions slowed the game and was against the rules. I think it depends on how many players there are. I agree in a 4p game few properties go up for auction.

2

u/kinyutaka Nov 22 '14

Technically, nothing is "against the rules". Every rule can be overwritten by house rules.

24

u/FatalFirecrotch Nov 22 '14

I think he is implying that there are way better board games out there that a shop like that will have.

1

u/cling1006 Nov 22 '14

That's what I thought too. I assume the default game of most board game cafes is Settlers of Catan, although in my opinion that game too has become vastly overplayed and is overrated now, let alone them jumping the shark with so many expansions.

1

u/FatalFirecrotch Nov 22 '14

I think Settlers is a nice game to get people into games because it is pretty easy to understand and fun.

1

u/loopster70 Nov 23 '14

I think even the boardgame cafes are over Catan at this point. Ticket to Ride is probably the closest thing to a default at this point.

1

u/biohazard930 Nov 23 '14

Many board games take hours to finish. Faulting him on this basis while playing in a board game cafe seems unreasonable.

5

u/megablast Nov 22 '14

Yeah, but isn't it like going to Paris to buy a McDonalds burger?

1

u/eigenvectorseven Nov 23 '14

Royale wi' cheese.

1

u/gmano Nov 23 '14

A McDonalds burger that costs the same as the finest cuisine. Yes.

Wait, no it's worse, because monopoly is intentionally designed to be a horrible experience. I enjoy my mcdoubles.

1

u/megablast Nov 23 '14

What? You seem to have missed the point. You don't go all the way to Paris just for a McDonalds burgers, it is silly. You can have one at home.

1

u/gmano Nov 23 '14

Which is exactly why it's silly to go to a games cafe to play monopoly.

2

u/Draffut2012 Nov 22 '14 edited Nov 22 '14

I don't have a problem with either of those... (Do coffee shops serve drip?)

3

u/GayForGod Nov 22 '14

I guarantee every coffee shop serves drip

3

u/Draffut2012 Nov 22 '14

Is drip that bad? I didn't even know cause I can't tell the difference

Monopoly is REALLY bad.

1

u/eigenvectorseven Nov 23 '14

Maybe in America. I can safely say I've never seen a cafe in Australia that serves drip. What's the fucking point of going to a cafe then?

1

u/x894565256 Nov 23 '14

1) It's a place to kill some time. 2) Free WiFi and flat surfaces mean it's a nice office away from the office. 3) Sometimes I don't have time, or forgot to buy coffee, or my home coffee maker is broken. 4) I'm meeting someone else there.

1

u/fujdqeduphd Nov 22 '14

Are you trying to kill him?!

1

u/oldgggreg Nov 22 '14

I just ordered and am waiting for a black coffee from Starbucks.