Monopoly Expansion Kits?
Cedric Chin
a Monopoly Expansion kit. I'm not impressed b/c it's
just something similar to buying properties (the more
you have, the more you make in dividends); there are
only five stocks per color, btw.
How well does Beyond Boardwalk play and what Bay Area
stores carry it? Any other good expansions out there?
Cedric.
--
Jurassic Park has increased my faith in investing.
Kevin Maroney
paperback in 1986, and as nearly as I can tell went immediately out of
print. It's a shame; it's a pretty good, and obviously carefully
tested, variant on the classic game which makes Monopoly worth playing
by adults. (Which is to say, it adds levels of complexity and depth
that move Monopoly beyond the level of a simple parlor game.)
It is not an authorized variant; as far as I know, the only authorized
variant on Monopoly itself is STOCK EXCHANGE, an expansion set which
was originally released in the 1930's and was recently revised and re-
released by Chessex. (There are Monopoly companion games-- Don't Go To
Jail, Advance to Go, and others-- from Parker Brothers, but these are
new games that build upon elements of Monopoly rather than expansions
of the original game.)
I found a copy of the book in the Ossining, NY library a few months
ago. Pages had been torn out (the statistical analysis of the relative
values of the spaces based on probabilities of landing on them, and the
actual GO cards), but the rules were intact. I typed up the rules, re-
wording them for clarity and precision, and have kept a copy lying
around.
The core of BBAPP is doubling the "basic" price of the properties, so
that it becomes impossible for the players to follow the basic Monopoly
strategy of buying everything you can get your hands on. As a
consequence, the properties almost always go up for auction, and
players have to learn to budget their money much more carefully.
There are other changes: the utilities become additional railroads,
there are new "GO" cards added, a player can declare voluntary
bankruptcy, and others; but the real heart is the price doubling. Also,
at the end of the book, the authors included a list of "variants"
(variants of a variant), which make the game still more sophisticated,
and sometimes more blood-thirsty. I have included the variants at the
end of the rules. As I said, the book is out of print, and the BBAPP
Association post office box is closed, so I don't know if any further
refinements have been made. If you see a copy of the book, I strongly
recommend picking it up-- it's entertaining, and it has strategy hints
beyond the scope of this article.
The Rules to BEYOND BOARDWALK AND PARK PLACE
(Adapted from Beyond Boardwalk and Park Place, copyright 1986 by
Noel Gunther and Richard Hutton)
All rules are as in standard Monopoly except as follows:
1. Landing on a property gives a player the right to buy it at
double the list value. The option to buy exists only for the player who
lands on the property, and only on his opening bid (ie, before the
auction begins).
2. If the player decides not to buy at double the list price, the
piece is placed up for auction. The minimum bid is 50% of the list
price plus $10.
The player who lands on the property opens the bidding. If the
player who lands on the property does not wish to make the first bid,
he may pass. Then, moving clockwise, each player in turn has the right
to make an opening bid or pass. If every player passes on the first
round, the property remains unsold and it becomes available again the
next time someone lands on it. Otherwise, the bidding continues until
one player has made a bid that the remaining players, bidding in order,
choose not to top. Each new bid must be at least $5 higher than the
previous bid.
A player who passes in one round may bid in a later round.
3. The player who wins the auction must immediately pay the bank
the full amount of his bid. If he does not have enough cash on hand, he
may attempt to raise money by selling other property or by making a
trade. If the player is still unable to pay the bank, he is
involuntarily bankrupt and loses the game.
4. Any player may sell any real estate back to the bank at any
time, for one-half its list price, or buildings for one-half their
purchase price. Property may not be mortgaged, nor may money be
borrowed from the bank under any circumstances.
5. The utilities (Water Works and Electric Company) are treated
like railroads. Their "list price" is $200, not $120. The rent for the
six railroads is as follows:
If you own 1 railroad $ 25
If you own 2 railroads $ 50
If you own 3 railroads $100
If you own 4 railroads $200
If you own 5 railroads $300
If you own 6 railroads $400
6. A player who owns a monopoly does not have to build evenly on
each of the properties. Property can be developed in any order to any
extent as long as the player owns the monopoly.
7. Players can only buy houses or hotels immediately before the
beginning of their own turns (that is, before they first roll the dice
in their turn).
8. A player in jail cannot bid on property or build houses or
hotels, and only collects half the rent to which the player would
normally be entitled. A player may escape from jail (either with a "Get
Out of Jail Free" card or by paying the $50 fine) immediately before
any player rolls the dice; if this is done, the player moves from Jail
to Just Visiting.
9. The $1 bills are not used. All rents are rounded to the next
highest multiple of $5. Doubled rents are rounded after doubling, not
before.
10. Any player who lands on Go collects $200 and draws a Go card,
and must follow the directions thereon.
11. If a player is not in debt to the bank or to another player,
and no player has previously declared voluntary bankruptcy, the player
has the option of declaring bankruptcy. The player surrenders all
property, cash, houses, hotels, Chance, Community Chest, or Go cards to
the bank. The bank gives the player $800 and the player takes the
titles to Mediterranean Avenue and Baltic Avenue. If either property is
owned, the owner of each of these properties receives $120, plus $50
for each house ($250 total for a hotel), from the bank in recompense.
12. If a player draws the Chance card which says, "Advance token to
the nearest Railroad...", then the player advances to the nearest
printed railroad, not to Water Works or Electric Company. If a player
draws the Chance card which says, "Advance token to nearest
utility...", then the player advances to either Water Works or Electric
Company, not a railroad. Ignore the rest of the instructions on the
card; instead, the player must pay the owner of the property twice the
rent to which the owner would be entitled. If the property is unowned,
the player may buy it or place it up for auction.
13. All fines, fees, taxes, and penalties (from Luxury Tax or
Income Tax or Community Chest, Chance, or Go cards) are paid into a
kitty, which is kept in the middle of the board. If a player lands on
Free Parking, the player collects the kitty.
14. If a player lands on Income Tax, the player is allowed to
calculate the value of all her assets before deciding whether to pay
$200 or 10% of the value of the assets.
The Go cards:
1. You've been elected sheriff. Sent another player to Jail.
2. The railroads announce a special youth fare. Deduct 50% from the
rent the next time you land on someone else's railroad.
3. You win a night on the house. The next time you land on anyone
else's property, you are excused from paying rent.
4. You marry one of your tenants. Collect $25 from each other
player as a wedding gift.
5. Your brother-in-law becomes president of the bank. The bank will
contribute $100 to your final bid in the next auction.
6. The railroads run late-- again. If you own any railroads, pay
every other player $50 as a refund for poor service.
7. Your renovations pay off. Collect an additional $50 in rent from
the next player to land on one of your properties.
8. You decide to take up golf. Pay each other player $25 for
private lessons.
9. Advance to Free Parking and collect the kitty. Pay each other
player $50 as a tip for parking your car.
10. You hold a party to curry favor with community leaders. Pay $25
to the kitty to pay for the curry.
11. The city condemns one of your buildings. Sell one building back
to the bank at one-half the price you paid for it.
12. Your friends honor you as Tycoon of the Month. Collect $50 from
each player.
Other things that can be traded in deals besides cash, property, or
cards:
1. Free rides: The other player grants you one or more "free
rides", wherein you can land on a named property s/he owns and pay no
rent.
2. Indirect control: You can trade property with binding conditions
attached (eg, cannot sell it to a named player).
3. Right of first refusal: For a named property owned by the other
player, you are given the right to match any offer of sale.
4. Insurance: You pay the player a sum up front for a guarantee of
a free ride on a specific property.
5. Partnership: You promise to the other player a permanent share
of the income from a property (or properties) and/or a permanent free
ride on the property or properties.
6. Other trades are possible: futures of cards (eg, "You get the
effects of the next Chance card I draw") seems a natural. Any agreement
that involves transfer of things other than property, money, or rights
thereto must be agreed to by all other players.
Trades may not occur during an auction unless all players approve
of it before play begins. If trades during auctions are allowed, then
rights in an auction may be traded: a player can bribe another person
to limit her freedom in a specific auction.
Any agreement players might make is binding, as long as it does not
violate the rules of the game.
Variants:
1. Building without a monopoly: A player can build on a property
without owning an entire monopoly, at a significant cost. On any turn
in which this is done, the player must pay $100 to the kitty for a
"building permit". Second, buildings cost twice their list value. (Note
that when they are sold back to the bank, they still only earn one-half
list value.)
2. Buying without landing: Each player, once per game, may buy an
unowned property for three times its list value, even if no player has
landed on the property.
3. Mortgage interest: The mortgage rules are restored, with the
following change: Every time a player passes Go and collects $200, the
player must pay 10% of the mortgage value of all his mortgaged
properties to the bank.
4. Bankruptcy variations: The amount of money a player receives for
going into bankruptcy varies with the number of players left in the
game (counting the player going bankrupt).
If three players are left, the player receives $950
If four players are left, the player receives $850
If five players are left, the player receives $750
If six players are left, the player receives $700
If two players are left, neither can declare voluntary bankruptcy.
5. Surrendering to the Sheriff: Once per game, each player may
choose on her turn to forego her move and instead go directly to jail.
This decision must be made before the dice are rolled.
6. Robber Baron: A more cut-throat version of BBAPP with the
following changes:
A. A player can build houses *after* any roll of the dice.
B. Trades can be made during an auction.
C. Trades can be made which affect the right to bid.
D. There is no minimum bid in any auction. The first player to bid
may name any price for the property.
--
Kevin J. Maroney|k...@panix.com|Proud to be a Maroney|Proud to be a Yonker
Tim Shippert
>BEYOND BOARDWALK AND PARK PLACE was published as a Bantam trade
>paperback in 1986, and as nearly as I can tell went immediately out of
>print. It's a shame; it's a pretty good, and obviously carefully
>tested, variant on the classic game which makes Monopoly worth playing
>by adults. (Which is to say, it adds levels of complexity and depth
>that move Monopoly beyond the level of a simple parlor game.)
I have to take issue with this general premise: Monopoly is NOT
merely a simple parlor game. Sure, it can be _played_ that way, if nobody
bothers to trade or make deals or anything - then once every three games or
so somebody lucks into a monopoly and stomps the others, and the other 2/3
of the time you play for an hour before everybody gets bored and quits.
Playing Monopoly that way is like playing poker without any money.
That's actually a very apt analogy - poker is boring by itself, but gives
you a framework for doing the fun things: betting, bluffing, losing your
shirt, etc. Monopoly is exactly the same way - the game play is really
only a means towards getting to the good stuff: wheeling and dealing,
diplomacy, cost/benefit analysis, getting burned, etc. If you play the
game the right way, Monopoly doesn't need to be "fixed" - its a fine game
for adults as is.
Having said all that, I actually think the _Beyond Bordwalk_
variant looks fairly interesting. I found a copy of this book a few years
ago in a used bookstore for $3, but I haven't had a chance to play it yet
(there are so many games we haven't been able to play enough yet, as it
is...).
Most of the variants presented in BB are reasonable, some aren't,
and some are very fundamental and change everything about the game. Things
like being able to count your money on Income Tax, or getting rid of $1
bills, or building only on your turn, are just cosmetic changes and don't
really matter. (They might matter a great deal during actual gameplay,
especially the building one, but they don't really change the tenor of the
game all that much).
The "Go" cards are just plain silly - _BB_ claims to make it more
strategic and challenging, and then they go and one more randomizing
element to the game! Plus, most of the cards are annoying and add no fun
to the game: "Play each player $25". "Collect $50 from each player". Feh.
And one is truly atrocious: "The next time you land on anyone else's
property, you are excused from paying rent". Eyargh!!! Talk about an
unbalancing card - the whole game could depend on having this card at the
end of the game. I must admit I like the "Send someone else to jail" card.
I'd toss the Go cards altogether, and add a Sheriff card to Chance if you
want to.
The Free Parking Jackpot rules are a peeve of mine: people always
complain about Monopoly taking too long (_BB_ complains as well), but this
is everybody's favorite variant! The prime effects of having a Jackpot is
to (a) add an enourmous amount of luck into the game; and (b) add even more
money into general circulation, which can only lead to a longer and more
boring game. After all, if money is in circulation, than somebody
(probably a lot of somebodies) has to have it, which means its going to be
harder to bankrupt him, which is how you win the game. Each time around
the board adds about $78 into the game in regular Monopoly; by putting fees
and taxes into the Jackpot, that means no money ever LEAVES the game, and
all that Go and Community Chest money keeps piling up and ruining
everything. In my opinion, of course.
The fundamental _BB_ changes are (a) double price/auction of all
property; (b) six railroads; (c) uneven building; (d) no bidding and half
rent collection in jail; (e) no mortgages, but selling property back to
bank at half price; and (f) declaring bankruptcy. I'd have to actually
play a game to see if I _liked_ these rules, but I don't object to them in
principle. They certainly change everything about how the game is played,
which is not necessarily bad, just different.
A few comments - I'm certain that under _BB_ having all six
railroads is the best monopoly you can get. I calculate just under 1/5
chance of landing on a RR or utility with each roll of the dice - that
means you make about $75 everytime an opponant takes a turn. Yowza!
The jail rules I could live without - it all depends on whether you
want to have a safe haven, or a place where you get dicked over.
I have a feeling that a lot of games end up with a whole bunch of
unsold properties (after being sold back to the bank to finance building)
and everybody with one monopoly and maybe a few railroads. This might be
an interesting situation if somebody lands on an unsold, potentially
lucrative property and you have only a partially developed Monopoly - do
you bid, or save your money to build more houses?
The best building strategy is almost certainly to put three houses
on the most landed on property in your monopoly, and then work the other
properties up to three before building again. I haven't done a strict
cost/benefit analysis of this, but the quantum leap in rent from two to
three houses make it inevitable that the best return on your initial building
investment is to get three houses somewhere, fast. (Of course, this is
good strategy in regular Monopoly, too, but there you have to build
evenly).
--
Tim Shippert ship...@cco.caltech.edu
"Chadwick also wanted more sacrifice hitting, which did not mean advancing
a man with a bunt at the cost of being put out; that was considered
'veritable stupidity.' - Harold Seymour, _Baseball: The Early Years_