By Patrick R. ’23

Monopoly. If you were to think of a board game, odds are Monopoly would be one of the first games your mind goes to. This is because it is so popular and unique that it has become a staple of many childhoods and a representation of board games as a whole. Today we will go over some of the best strategies to ensure a  win, as well as my personal review of the game.

The interesting thing about Monopoly is that there is no sure way to ensure your win. Yes, there is a large amount of strategy, but every random roll of the dice can change your fate, making it fun enough to play for both beginners and experts since either could win. However, there are ways to better your chances of winning by a fairly large amount, and they are, for the most part, relatively easy to learn. The most important part of Monopoly is collecting properties and eventually forming monopolies by owning every property in a set. The question is, which monopolies have the best value? They all have different costs to initially purchase, different costs to buy houses for, and charge different amounts when landed on. One might think that the best set would be Boardwalk and Park Place, due to how much they charge, or even the lowly Browns on the opposite end of the scale, due to how easy they are to develop, but the key is to actually jump somewhere in the middle. Where do you land? The oranges. The oranges are the best properties to own due to both placement and pricing. They have one of the best ratios of cost to develop to money made. Their positioning is also the best in the game, since they are positioned six, eight, and nine spaces away from jail, which is one of the most visited spaces on the board. As a result, the oranges become the most landed upon properties. Now, you might be thinking that even if they are the best, since placement is decided by die roll, how do you ensure you get them? Unfortunately, there is no way to guarantee that, but the best way is to try to trade for them. A lot of people look past the oranges due the lower costs, and you may be able to secure yourself a good deal by offering a slightly higher priced property, such as a red or yellow, or a lower one in addition to some cash and maybe a Get Out of Jail Free card. There are many other tips and tricks you can use to further yourself in the game. One underestimated strategy is to focus on acquiring all of the railroads, since once you have them, they don’t require any upgrading, and bring in a steady flow of cash. Another strategy, while it may seem counterintuitive, is to try to go to Jail. This only works later in the game, but if every other property will charge you hundreds of dollars, then Jail can be a great space to guarantee you don’t have to pay. In the end, though, the most important thing about Monopoly is adaptability. Each game will turn out differently, and it’s all about examining your options and making the best with what you have, and hopefully that’s enough.

Monopoly is a hard game to rate due to how much of a classic it is, but at the same time, it’s not too hard, because for the most part it’s an incredible game. There’s just the right balance of luck and skill, making it so that anyone can win. There’s a great allowance for comebacks, and is just complicated enough to make it interesting, without quite too much going on. One downside is definitely its length. A game of Monopoly with only two players can take hours, and it gets longer and longer with more people. However, there are at least other versions you can buy that are faster. Personally, Monopoly is high up, and maybe even at the top, of my list of favorite games. So, I feel like it would be an injustice to rate it anything lower than a 9/10, which is where I’ll leave it.