Improvements to Monopoly Deal
As a stocking stuffer in Christmas 2009, I received a Monopoly Deal. As a Junior in high school, my friend played this game religiously. We would play it whenever we met up in college. Then 10 years pass and somehow in the 2020s this game is making a resurgence. After a decade of playing this game, I have to say that it is not very good... BUT here is how you fix it.
Terminology
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| JSN | Just Say No |
| DB | Deal Breaker |
| *M | *M dollar card (1M = 1 Million Monopoly dollars) |
| Play slot | 1 of the 3 card plays on your turn |
| Property chain | A partial or full set of same-color properties grouped together on your board |
| Wildcard | Either a color wildcard or an all-color wildcard |
| Steal Bank | Name a player and take their entire bank. |
| Steal Card | Name a card and a player: if the target player has the named card in their hand, it's yours. Works on any card, even a DB or JSN. |
| Color wildcard | A dual-color card that can be assigned to either of its two colors |
| All-color wildcard | One of the 2 rainbow wildcards that can be assigned to any color; exempt from grouping rules |
| Rent to zero | The act of renting another player for exactly the value of their onboard bank and properties combined. |
| Rent into the negative | The act of renting another player for balance larger than the value of their onboard bank and properties combined. |
TLDR
Rules Updates
- JSNs can only be played on Action cards targeting the player, or on Pass Gos.
- All rent cards can be played as any other rent card for 1/2 the price.
- Double the Rent does not take up a play slot.
- A full set of railroads with no wild cards counts as 2 full property sets. Upon completion, everyone else must golf clap and provide a compliment as if they are the Monopoly guy.
- Coalescing of same-color properties is forced. All same-color properties must be grouped together in a single chain i.e. you may not split a full set into 2 incomplete property chains to avoid a DB. Only all-color wildcards are exempt and are not forced to join incomplete property chains.
- A player may not hold two full sets of the same color.
- When a color wildcard is played or gained, it must declare its color. A color wildcard can be unlinked for one play slot to switch to its opposite color. Repositioning a wildcard while changing its color only costs 1 play slot.
- When an all-color wildcard is played or gained, it must be declared whether it is standalone or part of a property chain. After being established, an all-color wildcard can be moved to join or leave a property chain for one play slot.
- If you play or gain a card matching the color of a completed full set making a wildcard in that chain redundant, you may reposition the wildcard for free.
- Houses and Hotels can be repositioned onto full property sets from your own bank at the cost of one play slot per card.
- One of the 1M cards is a "Steal Bank" card.
- Two of the 1M cards are "Steal Card" cards.
- All remaining 1M cards are Pass Go's.
- After the entire deck has been drawn through and reshuffled, renting a player into the negative eliminates that player and the renter receives all of their bank and properties. The eliminated player's hand goes into the discard.
- If you rent a player with an all-color wildcard into the negative before the deck is reshuffled, you earn the all-color wildcard.
- The game ends immediately after someone achieves 3 full sets.
And now the game is good. You're welcome. Hit me up if you try it and have thoughts.