Monopoly, a Review in the Modern Day

Monopoly is a very old game, in fact so old it is more than a hundred years old if counting the original game before it gained the Monopoly moniker. Monopoly (aka The Landlord’s Game) started as some weird political advertisement for the economic idea of Georgism (a topic I will not dive too deep on). Although this was the first “Monopoly” it looked and played very differently than modern or the second iteration of the game. The Landlord’s Game was less competitive and had two sets of rules one of which was extremely similar to the modern game. The second iteration came from the Parker Brothers had bought the patent from Lizzie Maguire who created the original game and another man named Darrow who had produced the game as well. The game would begin its marketing in 1935 and would carry on with sales and spinoffs to the modern-day.

The game in looks alone is complex with plastic and metal pieces and an entire currency based in the game. Yet this does not compare to the number of house rules that other players have come up with, the same Monopoly game played by different families could be entirely different from each other! This is one of the things that makes Monopoly last so long anybody can add on a house rule after only a little bit of thought. To touch on another facet of the game are the official Monopoly spin-offs which seem to hold less of a spotless track record compared to the original. I personally don’t have any experience with the spin-offs so I’ll hold my tongue on what I think of them.

Without any special rules or any official deviations, the game begins with everybody picking a piece and starting at $1500. Then you begin your rolls to see who goes first, finally, the game begins with the person going first rolling and hopefully landing on a good property. Here the game already begins as somebody has become invested in a property. Now whoever has bought the property must be smart and committed lose it soon or monopolize it soon, no in-between. This game involves a scary amount of strategy, strategy which usually falls apart as soon as you talk to a fellow player. The competitiveness of Monopoly causes all strategies to fall out the window which honestly makes it more enjoyable, it’s a game that furthers conversation and talks, it doesn’t take %100 of mental focus. When focusing on the game, however, the game gets competitive and frustrating which can be a point of laughter and fun or a genuinely negative experience.

That is one of the problems of Monopoly, this game can genuinely ruin friendships. This game which is designed to be fun and playable by eight-year-olds is overshadowed by how many tables flipped and week-long silences it caused. Maybe this displays a good sign of Monopoly even with its bad connotations, the game is investing and interesting, you act like a capitalist while playing, whether that is a bad or good thing is up to the reader.

The rules of Monopoly may cause this phenomenon due to its rules and ways of play, which have you start out with $1500 and then role to land on properties on the board which you buy or auction off to others. If you’re unlucky you’ll land on a hazard like jail or a tax, if you are on better terms with Lady Luck you might land a good chance or community chest card (the contents of which might vary between good and bad). The cycle around the board continues until one has bought enough property or the other players rolled poorly enough to enter bankruptcy. Every time somebody losses it feels like their losing money, greed is a major part of this game and it shows as everybody has an unwillingness to lose what they have gained.

This revolving idea about property, money, conservation, and greed resoundingly sounds like a simplification of the American Dream. Maybe that is what Monopoly is meant to reflect in the modern-day, a more basic and even crude dissolving of the Dream and the ideas of success. Maybe this relates to why the game becomes so emotional in nature, a small little American Dream that can flourish or be crushed. That is the result of every game, for one victor there are losers. While everybody envisions their success in real life through Monopoly hopefully nobody goes so far as to ruin their lives through Monopoly.

To illustrate my previous point with the emotions and feelings about Monopoly a quote from those who have played. Peter Stanberry states “the best and worst experience of your life”. A statement I and many others could not agree anymore to. It is a wonderful experience with a wonderful history and (usually) wonderful spinoffs. Monopoly has created the good times and the bad times with memorable memories all in-between. Hopefully, this game will stay that way for ages and others can brag about how they beat each other in Monopoly. This game, even though it might split friendships is deserving of a high score from me.