jeffro
Jeffro's Gaming Blog: Car Wars, Star Fleet Battles, Ogre, Battletech, and more!
Does Anybody Play by the Rules??
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If you've never actually read the rules for Monopoly, you might be surprised by what's not in them: there's not one word in there about putting money on Free Parking.
Really.
Now let me give you a piece of advice. After you go verify this fact for yourself, don't bother sharing this fact with anyone in conversation! I'm serious. More than likely you'll be met with looks of stark incredulity. The whole idea of taking money on Free Parking is inseparable from most people's concept of the game.
Of course, most people also think of Monopoly as one of the most interminably boring games of all time. The reason for this is simple. Monopoly was carefully designed to keep the average income of the players low enough that they'd go bankrupt fairly quickly once the game gets warmed up. It turns out that the additional money entering the game on Free parking is just enough to keep the weaker players from going bankrupt. So there's no winner-- more than likely, people will give up on the game well before anyone can establish a vicious land grabbing empire.
The net result of all this is that not many people have actually played Monopoly. Not the real Monopoly, anyway. On top of that... most people think that Monopoly is a stupid game.
But again, I warn you... don't think that just because you've read this that you can become some sort of Apostle of the True Monopoly. No one will believe you if you try reason this out. They won't even believe you if you've got the rulebook with you. It's difficult to prove that something's not there. (It requires perfect knowledge to prove non-existence... so by even raising the question you will unavoidably assume the appearance of a know-it-all. And taking you down a peg will be much more fun for them than actually sitting down and reading the rules!)
No... if you're ever find yourself about to play a game with a small group, suggest that you'd like to play an interesting new variant of Monopoly that doesn't allow money to be put on Free Parking-- just to try it out, you know.
Then get ready to enjoy the adrenaline rush when the money gets short, the deals get rude, and the players start eviscerating each other.
Oh.... And if you're playing any new game... why not try playing it by the real rules a few times before you start adding in house rules? You might be surprised to find that the designers knew what they were doing. This is especially so in venerable games such as Car Wars and Ogre that have been tested and played and tinkered with so much.
If you've never actually read the rules for Monopoly, you might be surprised by what's not in them: there's not one word in there about putting money on Free Parking.
Really.
Now let me give you a piece of advice. After you go verify this fact for yourself, don't bother sharing this fact with anyone in conversation! I'm serious. More than likely you'll be met with looks of stark incredulity. The whole idea of taking money on Free Parking is inseparable from most people's concept of the game.
Of course, most people also think of Monopoly as one of the most interminably boring games of all time. The reason for this is simple. Monopoly was carefully designed to keep the average income of the players low enough that they'd go bankrupt fairly quickly once the game gets warmed up. It turns out that the additional money entering the game on Free parking is just enough to keep the weaker players from going bankrupt. So there's no winner-- more than likely, people will give up on the game well before anyone can establish a vicious land grabbing empire.
The net result of all this is that not many people have actually played Monopoly. Not the real Monopoly, anyway. On top of that... most people think that Monopoly is a stupid game.
But again, I warn you... don't think that just because you've read this that you can become some sort of Apostle of the True Monopoly. No one will believe you if you try reason this out. They won't even believe you if you've got the rulebook with you. It's difficult to prove that something's not there. (It requires perfect knowledge to prove non-existence... so by even raising the question you will unavoidably assume the appearance of a know-it-all. And taking you down a peg will be much more fun for them than actually sitting down and reading the rules!)
No... if you're ever find yourself about to play a game with a small group, suggest that you'd like to play an interesting new variant of Monopoly that doesn't allow money to be put on Free Parking-- just to try it out, you know.
Then get ready to enjoy the adrenaline rush when the money gets short, the deals get rude, and the players start eviscerating each other.
Oh.... And if you're playing any new game... why not try playing it by the real rules a few times before you start adding in house rules? You might be surprised to find that the designers knew what they were doing. This is especially so in venerable games such as Car Wars and Ogre that have been tested and played and tinkered with so much.
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