That last line is the rub here. I used to play Monopoly as if my life depended on it. Now I don't, because no one will play Monopoly against me anymore.
There are a bunch of great, easy to understand, easy to play games that are much better.
(HN search might find a few, there have been several threads before. Board Game Geek tends to skew toward the more complex end, but there's probably good lists of great family games.)
AKA democracy ;-)
> Monopoly requires player elimination.
> There are a bunch of great, easy to understand, easy to play games
> that are much better.
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Monopoly/House_Rules#Free_park...
It's been a long time since I played, but I can't remember "mandatory auction" was part of the core rules. Then again, who knows what changes may have been made to the Norwegian version.
> Whenever you land on an unowned property you may buy that property from the Bank at its printed price. You receive the Title Deed card showing ownership. Place the title deed card face up in front of you. If you do not wish to buy the property, the Bank sells it at through an auction to the highest bidder. The high bidder pays the Bank the amount of the bid in cash and receives the Title Deed card for that property. > Any player, including the one who declined the option to buy it at the printed price, may bid. Bidding may start at any price.
From http://richard_wilding.tripod.com/monorules.htm#buyingproper...
That rule alone completely changes the dynamic of Monopoly, transforming it from a dirge like plod around the board desperately hoping you'll roll the right number for the property you want, into a game in which people will near bankrupt themselves to buy a property they don't want an opponent to pick up.
The only way to play monopoly is to be brutal and eliminate everyone as quickly as possible.
(Ignoring the best way to win is to not play, and play any of the very much better games)
I think that with a few simple heuristics the game moves along quickly enough. I have family members who are so nice they try to prevent doing things the other players don't like. These games take forever. Geesh.
I haven't played in quite a while, so I may be remembering the game moving along faster than it actually does.
Side note: we've been playing Machi Koro at home over the last few weeks. Very simple concept, mostly luck, and interesting enough for a somewhat fun 30 minutes or so.