Review Monopoly

who gets the top hat, February 9, 2001
By B. Chandler "xyzzy" (Arlington, Texas)

Monopoly is the standard by which all other board games are measured. Yet it can be surpassingly simple or complex as the sophistication level of the players change. I played this as a child with my siblings. We would once in a while adjust the rules such as no houses until a certain time. Sometime this would create a shortage of money in the bank. So we would make our own $5,000.00 notes. As we mature, the strategy is to seek patterns of behavior in the other players and the built-in probabilities of the game. It is a good idea to read the rules once in a while to remember the more obscure options.
The name of the game is Monopoly. So you can guess that that is also the objective of the game. Nobody said you couldn't have fun on the way. It can be educational in not only learning the rules of the game, but also in how these rules parallel real life. We have some chance with dice and the luck of the draw from two different card stacks. The skill comes in what to buy, build, or trade. As far as durability, you will lose the parts before they ware out.