Monopoly Rule Ignored May Prevent Brawls And All-Night Games

A Monopoly rule ignored for decades may be a literal game changer, as the simple tenet of the classic time waster indeed alters gameplay significantly.

The Monopoly rule ignored for so long was first picked up by a blogger, who pointed out that the simple change to common gameplay (in the instruction booklet all along) was one that circumvents all night long Monopoly sessions and could settle much of the contentious bickering that has come to be associated with the board game.

Over on CriticalMiss.com, the poster explains the Monopoly rule has oft been overlooked by players of the game — who then whine that Monopoly is unwieldy and boring.

The blogger’s Monopoly rule ignored pertains to the sale and possession of properties in the game, and it goes:

“BUYING PROPERTY…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 it face up in front of you.”

The post continues:

“If you do not wish to buy the property, the Banker sells it at auction to the highest bidder. The buyer 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.”

Another blogger explains why this is such a Monopoly gamechanger:

“In a revelation that both speeds up the game and makes it more grudge-inducing, strategic and less impingement on luck, property, according to the rules we’ve not been reading this whole time, is put to auction once a player has landed on that square and decided not to purchase it.”

“Anyone can bid on it. Even the player who passed it up. This creates a whole new strategic focus to the game which encourages players to be the biggest d***s possible i.e. jack up the prices of property other players need to complete a set or purchase property at far below the market price because no one else has the money to purchase it.”

Have you been playing Monopoly wrong all along? Does the Monopoly rule we ignored sound like a better way to play?