Grandpa sure liked to gloat, didn't he?
Old timers and young guns alike have delighted in "Monopoly!" for more than seventy years, and it has become one of the most beloved and well-known board games the world has ever known.
Well, you're all grown up now (Grown up enough to go online all by yourself, anyway) and it's your turn to be a big bad real estate tycoon! This guide will give you a tried and true method for success that will have you passing Go with a big grin on your face for decades.
The First Time Around
On your first trip around the board, buy everything you land on. The odds of running out of money are next to nothing, assuming you start the game with the standard $1,500. You can bet that your opponents will be using this strategy and if you pass Go for the first time with few or no properties, you'll find yourself playing catch-up for the remainder of the game.
Don't forget that the game is about buying and managing properties, not accumulating as much money as you possibly can. Your strategy should always be to use your money to buy and improve properties so as to set yourself up to collect money from your opponents, and in turn use that money to improve your properties. You don't yet face the danger of not being able to afford the rents of the properties you land on, so on your first trip around the board, spend away!
Starting Off Small
Many players will pass up opportunities to own the purple and light blue properties (Mediterranean Ave. through Connecticut Ave.) in favor of more expensive properties, the idea being that they can collect more money faster. Probably the biggest mistake that a Monopoly player can make is to make an immediate bid for Boardwalk and Park Place in the hopes of building them up and cashing in a huge payday. The problem with this strategy is that in order to buy these most expensive properties from the bank and build them all the way up to hotels, you have to spend nearly $3,000 (potentially a lot more if you have to trade for them). By the time you can afford that, your opponents will have taken over the rest of the board and you're banking everything you've got on the one in twenty chance that they'll land on either of them.
A much better strategy is to buy and trade for the cheaper properties on the board, spend the relatively small amount of money needed to improve them, and bide your time. The chances are excellent that your opponents will land on these after they pass go, and even if all they do is fork over the $200 they just collected, you're that much closer to masterminding more deals, especially if they involve the purple and orange properties (St. Charles Place through New York Ave.) If you can own these four Monopolies and improve them to hotels, your opponents will have to contend with a bona-fide "row of doom" from which they are unlikely to escape unscathed.
Other Strategies and Tips
- Think very carefully before trading away a property that will give your opponent a Monopoly. Your goal should be to limit the amount of Monopolies held by your opponents whenever possible, since the more Monopolies they have, the better the chances they'll improve their properties and you'll owe them a lot of money.
- It's not necessarily a bad thing to have properties that aren't part of a Monopoly. They can always be mortgaged if you're in a bind and need some fast cash.
- Remember to be civil. Unsportsmanlike conduct or taking an opponent to the cleaners when they're trying to trade you for a property they desperately want may be common, but they're also surefire ways of being repaid in kind when you're down on your luck.
- Even though having a lot of properties with a lot of buildings is instrumental to your success in the game, you always have to live in fear of drawing the Chance or Community Chest card that forces you to pay for street repairs or damages. It's not out of the question that, if you follow these tips, drawing this card could cost you well over $1,000 in repairs. As with anything, always be prepared for the worst.
Remember, this is not meant to be a speedy game, so patience will always be rewarded. Be reasonable, play diplomatically, be prepared, and improve your properties liberally, and you'll be richer than Uncle Pennybags before you know it.
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