You DO NOT NEED to stack the game at the beginning for this to happen. This ALWAYS happens because of rent. The game is NOT fair, because it allows those with a slight and random money advantage to charge rent, which inevitably transfers all the wealth from the other players to the richest ones, who start to inflate rent prices and extract all the income of the poorer people as rent.
That’s the original point of the game as designed by the Georgists. Unless you tax wealth or multiple property ownership heavily, or you heavily regulate rent, the wealthy use rent to extract income from the other people.
Are you suggesting we should add extra rules to the game until we find stability and sustainability for all players?
The full rules do exactly that. Read the Prosperity section of the rules of The Landlord’s Game.
I’ll try to remember to do that. It’s been some time since I’ve played and even longer since I’ve read the rules. Thank you for that suggestion!
it would be interesting if all players can agree on rule changes during the game. nothing too game breaking, maybe whenever a card is drawn players can vote on enforcing it or removing it, so as inequality increases, players would be more interested in rules that hurt the richest.
Just get rid of the whole concept of rent altogether. It isn’t needed.
Played Monopoly with my family. Wife and 3 kids.
Wife started to dominate with some lucky rolls and some ridiculous mistakes from my preteen kids. It was a grim look, our only hope was to unite our lands and wealth. Become one unit that would hopefully miss all these fucking hotels and houses. We ourselves, with our combined strength had 75% of one row, with all the railroads. Also, some scattered houses on islands.
Once one person has the majority of the board, it’s close to impossible to come back. Even with 3 players uniting with meger money and property. Had to make deals to survive extra turns for that one last grasp of victory.
It was ripped away from us. One roll we land on a hotel, ok. Our last stand. Sell all hardware, turn island properties. She had already taken the railroads from us to transfer her money across the planet.
Breathe… we made it. One more roll, we had about 4 spaces to make Go and get our bullshit $200 wage. She laughs in our faces, she makes that with just slave labor railroad workers alone.
We roll 3. Land on another hotel. We have nothing left…the last gasp before the long dark. Save us from this monster.
I like the idea that Monopoly can teach the strength of unions to kids. To beat a mighty opponent we need to pool our resources.
I’t helps when the spouse cackles like a witch while holding all railroads.
That can make anyone want to unionize.
It would be interesting if someone could take the same game, with the same properties, board pieces, etc. but turn it into a “union vs. management” game. One player started as management and already owned properties and hotels, the others were in a union and pooled their resources. You could have elements like the “union goes on strike” and the “management” player couldn’t build any new hotels, but it meant that when the union players passed go they couldn’t collect $200. And, for extra twists, allow a player to leave the union if they think that it’s holding them back, and see what that does to the rest of the union and to management.
I make people hate me when I play monopoly. I hate the game as much as I hate the system it was originally meant to mock. So every so often, people I know will keep trying to get me to play.
Monopoly Pro Tip: buy everything you can afford, put as many of the little houses you can on it, but don’t upgrade to the big pieces. When there are no more small pieces, you can simply bleed everyone dry.
I’ve had people literally flip boards in anger.
And every time I hear someone say “that’s not fair”, I respond “I know it’s not, But ‘what’s fair’ doesn’t matter in capitalism.”
Yes, I get a little preachy with it.
But hey, I’ve almost never been asked to play again by the same person.
You could get even more preachy, by printing out the original rules, and creating the “Public Housing” Space that is supposed to be around the corner of “Free Parking,” similar to the “Just Visiting,” portion of the “Jail” space.
Once all players except one have ended up in public housing, the “Prosperity,” portion of the game begins, and it is likely to radicalize the most hard line capitalists out there.
I love how I tried to find a PDF of the rules for the “Landlord’s Game” and one site it was on has everything beyond page 1 behind a paywall. I’m up to my ass in irony here.
Indeed. Well we know you definitely aren’t Alanis Morriset. You know what the word means.
Wtf, an income tax? This wicked game must be trying to make kids believing in welfare? What’s next? Social security bullshit? Jeez…
TIL. The version we played growing up had London based locations. Never realised the original had NJ based names.
Same goes for other countries versions. Back in my land Monopoly board has streets from our capital city.
Atlantic City, notably. We need to let them have it, they need it.
There is no monopoly rule about murder that I know of…
Elizabeth Magie is in the houseee
That’s the point of the game.
