Monopoly: should you win money if you land on "Free Parking"?

you should pay money

Edit: (everything that has been paid out as a result of ... cards + all taxes)

I kind of hate this popular variation on the game, especially when all taxes are also paid into the middle, partly because it tends to empty the bank out sooner, partly because I see no logical reason for it, mostly because of the way that its defenders feel entitled to declare someone a fun-hater if they prefer the official rules.

xpost

monopoly is actually a terribly designed game

actually

http://www.etailgifts.com/images/eaglesboard.jpg

It has some fundamental flaws, I agree.
xpost to iatee

I think you wouldn't see these kindsa jokey rules appear if the game itself functioned well, but instead it takes forever, takes almost no skill etc. so people try to come up w/ ways to make it more fun

so really the fun rules should be if you land on free parking you get to play scrabble instead

I think you wouldn't see these kindsa jokey rules appear if the game itself functioned well, but instead it takes forever, takes almost no skill etc. so people try to come up w/ ways to make it more fun

OK but turning "Free Parking" into a lottery does not address those problems. It can cause the game to drag even longer by giving a windfall to losing players + it adds an additional chance element.

Scrabble rule OTM on the other hand.

I guess there should also be a write-in option for "Yes (some other system)".

I like the free parking lottery but to those who complain the game drags, you're probably not following the official rules for when someone decides not to buy a property that is landed on, at which point it MUST be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

This is a good poll topic and I agree with Sund4r. Did we ever do a poll on which token people preferred?

Sund4r is right, but of course the trap is that Monopoly is boring and terrible, but the Free Parking payout seems like it makes things more fun. The way it drags the game out isn't so apparent, or rather is seen as a positive since the game's "drive people out of business ruthlessly" format doesn't feel "fun" to a lot of people. Playing Monopoly by the rules versus by house rules is a choice between un-fun viciousness and un-fun tedium.

fuck no

Didn't know that auctioned to highest bidder thing.

The best way to play Monopoly is to cheat outrageously - become a loan shark, team up with other players, stab them in the back when appropriate, steal if you can. This works even better to illustrate the main point of the game - that capitalism is an evil fallacy that will destroy man's humanity to man.

Philip Nunez otm, you're all doing it wrong

http://www.criticalmiss.com/issue10/CampaignRealMonopoly1.html

It's like no one even reads the rule book! And then they think you're an ass if you do! Also, you have to pay interest when you unmortgage property and can only sell houses and hotels back to the bank for half of what you paid.

wondering how many people in the social media age still play board games! I read an NPR article a couple years ago about how toy stores have practically eliminated the miles-long aisles in which we saw every conceivable board game.

I'd play Clue right fucking now.

Everyone I know who likes this dumb game seems to have learned a different version of the rules and will argue for their version to the point of exhaustion. My guess is because they grew up playing their version and don't want anything breaking that spell of nostalgia.

wondering how many people in the social media age still play board games! I read an NPR article a couple years ago about how toy stores have practically eliminated the miles-long aisles in which we saw every conceivable board game.

I am familiar with every single rule Sund4r has mentioned and admire his careful and thorough approach, however

It's like no one even reads the rule book! And then they think you're an ass if you do!

Pretty sure the recreational board game is still more or less alive and well - I don't remember there ever being mile-long aisles of actual board games (as opposed to gimmick toy games) and I still see the old standbys at your Targets and such, not to mention at bars and coffeeshops. They must be selling to someone, although, yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers are substantially down. Meanwhile, though, in the post-Catan era, Euro-type board games have taken a niche hold in adults and now occupy a good 1/3 to 1/2 of stores that formerly only dealt in Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer. There's some really good ones!

See also these chunks of, um, the politics thread:
2012 republican presidential nominee IV: NEEDS MORE BOOING
continued here: 2012 republican presidential nominee IV: NEEDS MORE BOOING

(Chrome won't let me load the whole thread anymore due to a malware insertion? Or something?)

Voted no. Another controversial house rule that lots of people seem fond of that serves no purpose: having to go around the board once before you're allowed to buy anything.

it's really tragic that all these rules people come up w/ to make them temporarily forget they are playing the horrible game monopoly just make them play it longer

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic5926_lg.jpg

could have just been the regular game, re-labelled

having to go around the board once before you're allowed to buy anything.

God, that's a terrible terrible rule.

wondering how many people in the social media age still play board games!

I've certainly upped my board game playing in the last couple of years, and know quite a few early-20-something people who are well into board games. Not sure if that's indicative of a wider trend or just a weird friendship group.

A mate of mine organises periodic meets with strangers to play Risk, Diplomacy, etc. I initially wondered if it might be some kind of hipster thing, but he himself is no hipster, and from his description the others appear to be just regular people.

It's the "Monopoly - Thatcher Edition" that I'd like to see...

Rules include:

-Selling off the Electric Company and Water Works at the first available opportunity
-Sticking a post-it note saying "Poll Tax" over the "Free Parking" space at the first available opportunity (players are allowed to riot if space has been landed on 3 times)
-Collect £200 the first two times you pass 'Go!' and then only collect £50 thereafter
-New Chance card: "You have ordered to sink the Belgrano - recieve £1000 bonus'

Etc. etc.

The way I've always played it is by putting all money from taxes and Community Chest/Chance cards in the middle and then whoever lands on "Free Parking" gets the money.

use bathroom breaks to hoard money in yr bedroom like my little brother that fucking cheater

doctor casino otm, the free parking money isn't a real rule, it's a house rule, and it serves to make the game go on forever

people say that, but if you use it in concert with the real rules, it accelerates the rich getting richer process more often than the poor getting a reprieve.

Depends what stage of the game you're in, right? Given that landing on it is random chance, it seems it'd be more likely a 'poor' player lands there assuming the 'rich' players are in the minority. Also, the payouts to Chance and Income Tax would hit the poor player harder, so getting it back means more.

if you're poor and land there, you either become rich (monopoly-able) or just have more money to give to the rich. Either way, money is kept out of govt and siphoned back to the rich at a greater rate than if it didn't exist, meaning endgame approaches faster.

well there are more poor people statistically

there might be critical points where a free parking windfall can result in an interminable balance of power between 2 or more parties, but I dunno if that happens more or less often.
You basically have to be on the edge of financing a monopoly and the windfall lets you get it. otherwise, as a poor person, you're just a proxy for the rich player, extracting $ from the govt.

the main design flaw with monopoly is that the game has no good mechanism for breaking the stalemate that occurs when all properties are bought but no one has a monopoly - any trading tends to benefit one person more than another because some monopolies (orange and red especially) are much stronger than others

like i think in around 80-90% of the games of monopoly i've finished, the person with the orange monopoly won

The main design flaw with Monopoly is that there is one optimal way to play strategically. That optimal way isn't difficult to figure out and so everyone does. Therefore you just spend a long time waiting for the die to decide who wins. I can't imagine I will ever play this crappy game ever again in my life, but if I do, I will refuse to play with this money for landing on free parking garbage.

Why would orange and red be stronger than green?
xpost

Hm, maybe because of the ratio of the cost of financing to the rent you can extract?

What is the optimal way? When I played decades ago my simple strategy was just to buy every piece of property I could and if my luck held out and I got an affordable profitable Monopoly or two before I went bust I would win.

Also, what Sund4r just said plus I think you are slightly more likely to land on those particular properties, which means those monopolies get completed faster and generate more rent collecting opportunities

I think you are slightly more likely to land on those particular properties

Why would this be?

people say that, but if you use it in concert with the real rules, it accelerates the rich getting richer process more often than the poor getting a reprieve.

Tbf, this is what happened today. I still have a beef with the way this rule distorts the game and depletes the bank.

What is the optimal way? When I played decades ago my simple strategy was just to buy every piece of property I could and if my luck held out and I got an affordable profitable Monopoly or two before I went bust I would win.

That's pretty much it. I mean, maybe you're playing with some little kids or someone and you can fleece them on a trade or something, but that's no fun either.

A funny thing about Monopoly is that at a certain point moderately late in the game, whether you're rich or poor, going to jail for three turns is pretty much the best thing that can happen to you.

Thought I responded to Sund4r earlier. Various cards direct you to those properties or right before them

I think people land on orange more statistically because of the go to jail square sending them back to a point before it where you are likely to land on it after leaving jail.

Sorry that was an xpost

Best song to mention the game in question, and appropriate for the holidays to boot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjaPXihbORk

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

We had special house rules that anybody who landed on a property with a hotel on it that was owned by another player had to wear nipple clamps the rest of the game.

Rarely had everybody finish iirc.

the whole 'do people still play board games' discussion on this thread is o_o

http://www.maa.org/mathland/mathland_6_9.html

^ monopoly probabilities

Without knowing the stats, my family always coveted the red and orange properties & the railroads. The patterns are pretty recognizable after a few plays.

Yeah, my family always prized the reds and the railways, also figured the greens were better than Mayfair and Park Lane (uh, Boardwalk and Park Place?) because you have more chance of landing on a set of 3 than a pair.

That probabilities list is interesting but sadly quite hard to read for anyone unfamiliar with the original US layout - some colouring would've been nice. (At work, don't have time to match US names to colours or UK names but will probably look later.)

Interesting that the Community Chests are so much more common than Chance - I wonder if that was intentional. Also, thanks wikipedia, how cool is this?
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/monopolys-hidden-maps-wwii-pows-escape/story?id=8605905

Now I actually bother to use my eyes, I see that the column Square # gives the position on the board, so the first property is 1, Jail is 10, Free Parking 20, final side begins with 3, etc. Sorry for complaining for no reason!

Some interesting house rules: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Monopoly/House_Rules

The Thread Where We Are Board Game Geeks

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Ah, I knew ILE would come through for sanity.

it's been so long since i played, don't remember which "free parking" rules we used

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5233/freeparkingsign500x355.png

-- Also, thanks wikipedia, how cool is this?
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/monopolys-hidden-maps-wwii-pows-escape/story?id=8605905

That's a cool story but it sounds suspect somehow. First, isn't it strange that board games would not be inspected by the Germans? And that they wouldn't find tools hidden inside the board? Also, the "none of the special games survived, all were destroyed" seems odd.

RIP, iron token.

Lucky escape for the thimble imo.

cats should stay on the internets where they belong