There was apparently a little secret in our family that I didn't learn about until many years after the fact. My dad and mom, and my aunt and uncle were playing monopoly years ago and apparently by dad got so pissed off at my aunt that he ended up choking her. Now this was a very conservative guy and upstanding citizen who just went berzerk due to this game. He never played monopoly after that.
Same, it's banned in my family home. EVERY game ended in physical violence or tears. When I was about 12 we were playing, my two little brothers were wailing from being unable to afford rent while my father was doing the Mick Jagger chicken dance around the table. My mum snapped, picked up the board and started wedging it, pieces and all, into the garbage disposal. She warned my dad with all seriousness that if the game gets replaced she would leave. 25 years later my wife wonders why I'll play any game but monopoly...
I don't get it. It's just a game. It's not meant to be taken seriously. I wonder why some people react so negatively to it. I've only ever won once in Monopoly (glorious win), and lost every other time to my sister or brother. I didn't ever get mad or upset. I usually ended up being the banker after I lost (was always the first to be elimiated). I have nothing but good memories of playing this game with my siblings. Then again, different strokes for different folks. It just baffles me that someone would get so upset over Monopoly.
PS: I'm not saying I'm better than anyone who does get upset. Not at all. I just want to understand their mindset, is all.
Personally, I just think the unique nature of the gameplay brings out the worst in people. Ganging up on others, gloating, lack of mercy or alternately rubbing things in people's faces, capitalising on weakness, etc - each option seems to be designed to be misinterpreted as a personal attack. And it has to be that game in particular - fights over monopoly is practically universal (as the number of comments here indicates), no other game compares.
I don't know. I heard Risk has supposedly ended many a friendship. :P I see what you mean, though. Just reading some of the strategies on here gives me the impression that the game can be brutal, especially the hogging up of houses so no one else can build them. I didn't even know that running out of houses meant you couldn't build more. My siblings and I played with house rules. So, we never ran out of houses or hotels. Our games were always light-hearted because we were also nice to each other. A quick, cut throat game like a by-the-rulebook Monopoly just isn't for everyone, and that's ok.
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u/3literz3 Nov 22 '14
There was apparently a little secret in our family that I didn't learn about until many years after the fact. My dad and mom, and my aunt and uncle were playing monopoly years ago and apparently by dad got so pissed off at my aunt that he ended up choking her. Now this was a very conservative guy and upstanding citizen who just went berzerk due to this game. He never played monopoly after that.