It always starts out with such civility. A friendly game of Monopoly – what a great way to spend a warm lazy afternoon, right? Famous last words.
If you’ve ended up bereft and bankrupt too many times, and want the right Monopoly strategy to take down your opponents, we’ve got you covered.
After all, we've joined with Hasbro and Winning Moves in launching Wollongong Monopoly - our very own version of the Real Estate Trading Game – we now see chance cards in our dreams…
Don't be the banker.
Sounds like weird advice coming from a bank – we get it. The irony is not lost. It’s just that, there really is no benefit in being the banker, and if anything, you may find yourself distracted from what is happening on the board as you dish out and rake in money left and right. If you want to focus on winning at Monopoly, keep nice and quiet at the start of the game when the ‘banker’ discussion comes up. This way, you’ll know who’s buying what – remember, if you stay ready, you ain't got to get ready.
Also, it could pay to beware of anyone who is exceptionally keen to be the banker – they may be operating under the assumption that you and your fellow players will be so engrossed in the game that you won’t notice their light fingers.
Show no mercy or fear, and be gracious.
Play Monopoly like a Wollongong local
As you begin circling the board, avoid thoughts like “God, I hope I don’t land on that hotel” or “don’t let me roll a four, please!” Play without fear, or your opponents may pick up on it. Plus, fear will only serve to make you more distracted from the nuts and bolts of the game.
At the same time, avoid gloating, especially when good fortune goes your way. If you land on an opponent’s property and they forget to collect rent from you, for Pete's sake, keep quiet. Rubbing it in their face will only make them a more vigilant landlord going forward.
Play with the smallest token.
Everyone chooses their game token with their heart, instead of their head.
Love the racing car? Awww – how sweet.
Your grandad always used to play as the Top Hat? Isn't that lovely?
Get your head in the game – the smaller tokens are where it’s at. Being one of the smallest, lowest profile tokens on the board, like the wheelbarrow, it’s that much more likely to be overlooked when you land on an opponent’s property. This could translate into less rent paid, and more money in your pocket.
Buy every property you land on.
This might sound like overkill as a Monopoly strategy, and your opponents might look at you like that one runner in the marathon at the Olympics that always burns out in front only to fade at the finish. Buying up as much as you can as quickly as you can give you the best chance of reaching a Monopoly.
Don’t focus on the blue-chip properties...
As we said, many players seem hell-bent on the royal blue properties because they’re the most expensive/prestigious. As a result, they circle the board in the hope of landing on these properties, while their opponents buy up properties and begin to establish a… what’s the word?
Ah! A Monopoly… the clue is in the name, folks. Get on with buying up - leave the pining and holding out for your perfect property to the real world.
...Instead, buy the orange properties.
Why the orange properties, you ask? Some quick maths for you:
The most common combination of rolls of the dice are 6 or 8, and these little beauties lie 6-9 squares away from Jail on the board. Just like in the real world, the rule of location, location, location applies. Snap these babies up as a sound investment as soon as you can.
Go with the odds – buy Trafalgar Square.
If you’re looking for a key property to buy, don’t worry about rushing around to the Park Lane end of the board. Go for Trafalgar Square. Why? Statistically speaking, this is the most landed on square on the board. It’s four squares off the ‘Free Parking’ square, just in case you were wondering.
Buy smart.
So, once the game really gets going, and you and your opponents are flashing the cash, jostling elbows around the board, remember these three simple rules. Always purchase a property if any of these three conditions apply:
- No other player owns a property in the same colour group,
- Buying the property you’ve landed on would give you two properties in that colour group, OR
- Buying the property you’ve landed on would block an opponent from monopolising that colour group.
Buy ahead of your opponents.
With the most common rolls of the die being 6 or 8, make sure you keep an eye on where your opponents' tokens are on the board. If you find yourself 6, 7 or 8 spaces ahead of them, be sure to carefully consider purchasing the property you’re on. It might seem a little cut-throat, but this is Monopoly, baby! It doesn’t mean you have to hang onto these properties all game – you can always offload them later.
Buy three houses on each property you own.
The simple explanation for this is as follows: by building three houses on a property, the rent you’ll receive is higher than if you build one, two or four houses. More houses = more rent. Simple enough?
There is one additional benefit to this strategy, though. Ever heard the old adage “buy land – they’re not making any more of it”? The same thing applies with houses on a Monopoly board. The more houses you buy, the less there will be for your opponents to buy. If there are no more houses left to buy, Monopoly then becomes a simple game of attrition, as you drive your opponents off the board.
Greater Bank, Monopoly Experts (obviously...).
No need to wait for your turn.
Don’t forget that you don’t necessarily have to wait for your turn to buy houses or make trades with other players. Pay attention to the board and strike while the iron is hot ahead of the next roll.
Railroads and utilities.
Sure, you may not be able to use these properties to bankrupt someone, but they can be steady earners and useful for trade.
Can you count cards?
Again, this is probably only a Monopoly strategy seasoned players would look to try, but stick with us. Usually, the Community Chest and Chance cards get shuffled at the start of the game, and then when a card is pulled it gets placed back at the bottom of the deck, right? Well, since there are only a certain number of cards, it’s possible for you to keep track of where each card is placed in the deck, and when a certain card is coming up. This is provided, of course, that you pay attention to what’s happening in the game.
The jail quandary.
What’s a Monopoly guide without some advice on going to jail? Look, early on in the game, it’s important for you to be out of jail ASAP, so you can be back on the board and buying up properties, so pay the $50 and be done with it.
Later in the game, however, when the board is full of those dreaded little green and red structures and the stakes are high, it might not be such a bad thing to spend some time behind bars. Less time out on the board can translate into less rent coming out of your pocket when you land on an opponent’s square.
Play by your own rules.
Something that’s quite common in amateur Monopoly games is to place all the Community Chest and Chance card fees in the middle of the board, and this gets claimed by anyone that lands on the Free Parking square. Sound familiar? Well, there’s no actual rule that states this must be the case (we’ve checked so you don’t have to). This is more of a ‘house’ rule, and while it adds an element of luck to the game, it can also cause a game to drag on for hours, as it can bolster the cash of struggling players at key moments. If you’re more interested in how to win at Monopoly from a strategic perspective rather than being lucky, suggest that you skip this house rule next time you play.
