Most people add a whole bunch of “house rules” that actually make the game worse, and take longer. It’s not so bad if you actually follow the rules, though it is supposed to be unfair.
I watched a group of friends start a game. I warned them not to do the 400 for landing on go and the taxes go to free parking and all that bullshit. They said it’s more fun that way. I said when you’re crying in 3 hours I will rub it in your face.
3 hours later they were raging and I rubbed it in.
Also my little cousins invited me to play. I said OK, but only if we play by the written rules. I intended to demolish them so they wouldn’t want to play anymore because monopoly sucks. I grabbed the green corner, caused a housing shortage (it’s part of the game and the best strategy, never upgrade to hotels) and wrecked them. Rather than being sad, they immediately wanted to play with their friends to similarly wreck them.
Tangent aside, the whole game should take no longer than 45 minutes.
My longest game of catan was 2 hours. I had a blast making deals, predicting the future needs of 5 other players, and ripping all of the wheat from their grubby little fingers. I can’t remember whether I had won, but I remember enjoying myself the entire time.
My longest monopoly game, played by the official ruleset without any changes, was 8 hours. I was miserable for 3 hours and watching tv for 4. The first hour wasn’t fun, but at least things were happening. I won that game and my only gratification was the game ending.
Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong, modern boardgames are way better. I’m just used to people doing stuff like adding money to the free space, and not auctioning properties.
Adding money to the free space though at least gives you an opportunity to get back in the game. Admittedly, that’s how it extends the game, but the alternative is just the misery of slowly losing knowing that there’s nothing you can do.
If I’m going to invest 8+ hours into a board game though, I’d rather Axis and Allies or a war game though. Even 8 hours of The Campaign for North Africa would probably be a better use of time than “does 2d6 say you win?”
As a family game - it makes sense to have that kind of “Mario Party” random bullshit that gives the worst player a chance to catch up. Sometimes the 6 year old deserves a break.
I broke Clue when I was 10 - I figured out that you could fish for a specific item, place or person if you guess two of them that you’re holding. If no one can show you that card, you’ve confirmed the candlestick or whatever, and you also haven’t really revealed that much.
Most of the classic family games suck. Life, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland are all “random number says you win!” Monopoly can get some life from being treated like a social/backstabbing game at least.
I broke Clue when I was 10 - I figured out that you could fish for a specific item, place or person if you guess two of them that you’re holding. If no one can show you that card, you’ve confirmed the candlestick or whatever, and you also haven’t really revealed that much.
To me, it sounds like you just didn’t have anyone competent to play with. If everyone is using this strategy, they’ll also be able to narrow down which cards you have, giving them more information.
Yeah rubberbanding is great it’s just that in a game where the goal is to control all of the money and money is the fundamental unit of gameplay and ability to continue it can only make the game worse.
The problem with monopoly is the non negotiable portion is the part that sucks and anything that improves or adds to the parts that can be fun does so by acting even more so on the part that sucks
Most people add a whole bunch of “house rules” that actually make the game worse, and take longer. It’s not so bad if you actually follow the rules, though it is supposed to be unfair.
I watched a group of friends start a game. I warned them not to do the 400 for landing on go and the taxes go to free parking and all that bullshit. They said it’s more fun that way. I said when you’re crying in 3 hours I will rub it in your face.
3 hours later they were raging and I rubbed it in.
Also my little cousins invited me to play. I said OK, but only if we play by the written rules. I intended to demolish them so they wouldn’t want to play anymore because monopoly sucks. I grabbed the green corner, caused a housing shortage (it’s part of the game and the best strategy, never upgrade to hotels) and wrecked them. Rather than being sad, they immediately wanted to play with their friends to similarly wreck them.
Tangent aside, the whole game should take no longer than 45 minutes.
Lol, I did the exact same thing. I intentionally destroyed everyone with a housing shortage to make it no fun.
My longest game of catan was 2 hours. I had a blast making deals, predicting the future needs of 5 other players, and ripping all of the wheat from their grubby little fingers. I can’t remember whether I had won, but I remember enjoying myself the entire time.
My longest monopoly game, played by the official ruleset without any changes, was 8 hours. I was miserable for 3 hours and watching tv for 4. The first hour wasn’t fun, but at least things were happening. I won that game and my only gratification was the game ending.
Oh yeah, don’t get me wrong, modern boardgames are way better. I’m just used to people doing stuff like adding money to the free space, and not auctioning properties.
Adding money to the free space though at least gives you an opportunity to get back in the game. Admittedly, that’s how it extends the game, but the alternative is just the misery of slowly losing knowing that there’s nothing you can do.
If I’m going to invest 8+ hours into a board game though, I’d rather Axis and Allies or a war game though. Even 8 hours of The Campaign for North Africa would probably be a better use of time than “does 2d6 say you win?”
Which lengthens the game. Monopoly is best played as life; nasty, brutish, and short.
Given that’s the entire point of the game, that seems like it achieves the objective. Why would you want to extend that phase of the game?
As a family game - it makes sense to have that kind of “Mario Party” random bullshit that gives the worst player a chance to catch up. Sometimes the 6 year old deserves a break.
I broke Clue when I was 10 - I figured out that you could fish for a specific item, place or person if you guess two of them that you’re holding. If no one can show you that card, you’ve confirmed the candlestick or whatever, and you also haven’t really revealed that much.
Most of the classic family games suck. Life, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland are all “random number says you win!” Monopoly can get some life from being treated like a social/backstabbing game at least.
To me, it sounds like you just didn’t have anyone competent to play with. If everyone is using this strategy, they’ll also be able to narrow down which cards you have, giving them more information.
Yeah rubberbanding is great it’s just that in a game where the goal is to control all of the money and money is the fundamental unit of gameplay and ability to continue it can only make the game worse.
The problem with monopoly is the non negotiable portion is the part that sucks and anything that improves or adds to the parts that can be fun does so by acting even more so on the part that sucks
Only way to win Monopoly is to lose first. Get to do actual enjoyable things then.
Yay! That’s how my only ever game of Monopoly some 11 years ago went and now I can feel better about myself!
The problem is that there were a lot of different versions of the game that ended up being the basis for a lot of house rules.
capitalism >;(