zandoval 

Just a Rant...

Just got back from the jewelers getting my wife and I's 37th anniversary gift. When there I asked if they could find or assemble a charm bracelet of Monopoly Game tokens, the two young girls looked at me questioningly. Oh... Yea... The little pieces used to move around the board. My Mom used to play it with my Aunts... She paused still with a question on her face. I was surprised to find that neither of them had played the game and only one had seen it played.

Odd... After all, it is an was developed from an anti-capitalistic game...

What fun we have had with it over the years...

sdmc530

We play that game all the time with our 11 year old. Its a great game.

skidder

There's an anti-capitalistic version of Monopoly? I've got to see that!

zandoval 

Yep... I was surprised too... It was called "The Landlord's Game" and used to promote Georgism, also called in modern times geoism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord%27s_Game
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgism

I guess I should feel bad about all the fun I have had playing it. But maybe not, after all I am a Military Right Wing Capitalist with Expansionist ideologies... Ha

genec

But the real question is... How many of you played Monopoly by the rules? Or did you have your own family rules?

We had family rules... Which included a jackpot prize under certain conditions. We also did not "mortgage" properties.

indyfabz

For sure we had special rules. I forget exactly what one special rule was, but you had to put money in a pot if something happened and you won the pot if you landed on a certain space. Might have been Free Parking.

TakingMyTime

I'm always amazed at how much has been lost over time. Heck, I ask my grandkids to tell me something, anything about the Viet Nam war and they come up a total blank. None of them have a clue that cameras use to use film. So much is lost.

genec

Hey my son was born in 1987... so he is easily as old as some of you... when he was young, he asked if he too could have a record album like the ones mom and dad had.

And at a young age, he was on the computer, and had internet access.

Think of all the kids today that have never seen a dial phone. "What's a board game daddy?"

sdmc530

Growing up we played by the actual rules. When I got married her family had "family rules" and I hated it. But I am an OCD guy for rules. We now have "house rules" at home when we play with our 11 year old.

noisebeam

I've found Monopoly to be more tolerable when played using official rules.

zandoval 

Yep... For me the Speed Die changed everything...

Stadjer

Was it the only jeweler in the market?

chewybrian 

Quote:

Buying stolen properties, pimpin hoes, building crack houses and projects, paying protection fees and getting car jacked are some of the elements of the game. Not dope enough?...If you don't have the money that you owe to the loan shark you might just land yourself in da Emergency Room.

https://www.ghettopoly.com/

Quote:

Getting down and dirty at the local Ho Down, making moonshine, having your latest batch of crystal meth blowing up in your face, building trailers and double-wides, are some of the elements of the game. Not dope enough?...If you can't pass the field sobriety test you might just land yourself in da drunk tank.

https://www.ghettopoly.com/collectio...print-mint-new

sdmc530

that is messed up!!

skidder

They forgot Section 8 housing, food stamps, and rent control. If you're 'going ghetto' you might as well go all-the-way!

Juan Foote

In relation to the charms themselves. Pandora makes a line of the Monopoly themed charms.

edit- also found a much less expensive set by "Poshmark".

Kat12

Does anyone, of any age, actually play board games anymore? I know very few people who, if I suggested it, wouldn't look at me funny and think I was odd. And these are people who would have grown up playing board games. A few people might still play them with their kids, but adults with other adults? No.

TakingMyTime

About a year ago we bought a Monopoly game and to my surprise our 14 y/o granddaughter knew all about it. Her parents had one at the house and they played somewhat often. When we pulled out the game she immediately yelled "I want to be the banker". I taught her how to play backgammon when she was about 9 y/o old and always wants to play me whenever she comes over. The wife and I have always tried todistract them from their screens and get them to do something more "social" and in person. I've found doing puzzles with them is a great way to spend an evening and get to know them better.

sdmc530

I actually think is higher than you think. I don't have a huge social circle mind you but most people I know play board games and when we have get togethers we still play.

i think lots of families still have a family game night....but I certainly could be way off.

ThermionicScott 

Yeah, plenty of people are playing board games, especially RPGs. I find it's hard to get people interested in playing Monopoly, though. It has a reputation for taking forever, but a lot of that is due to playing it wrong. And "Quick Game" has been an option in the rules since shortly after introduction to prevent that.

downtube42

https://www.meetup.com/Beaverton-Tab...-Board-Gamers/

One of the dozens of Portland area board and tabletop game groups on meetup; it has 1800+ members. It's a thing.

I probably carry some emotional baggage from the ruthless cutthroat family Monopoly game sessions in my youth. In retrospect, I find it interesting that in a strict Baptist household where gambling, smoking, cards, and alcohol were taboo, Monopoly was encouraged... as long as the dice didn't stray from the game far enough to be considered evil. Weird.

canklecat

The contemporary Monopoly game could still be interpreted as a cautionary tale about capitalism, when played cutthroat style. There's nothing in the rules prohibiting side deals, favors to certain players, etc. The whole idea is to emulate the same cronyism that fuels unfettered capitalism.

It's always a guilty pleasure to watch the faces droop on people who think the game is pure luck, or played strictly by the rules they see in the game instructions, only to find themselves quickly relegated to crappy, unproductive properties and bankrupted by cutthroat players. I've lost a few acquaintances over cutthroat Monopoly, especially in church groups. But I'll bet a handful of them learned from those hard lessons and went on to lead their own megachurches.

I've said for years, there is only one board game: Monopoly. Everything else is either a revision of Monopoly, or a desperate and failed attempt to *not* be Monopoly.

Darth Lefty 

Monopoly is a terrible game. Unbalanced, capricious, worst of all tedious. Settlers of Catan is way better and even it is what, thirty years old? More?

We went through a board game phase a few years ago and our favorites were Dominion (deck building), Tower (simple but satisfying) and Liftoff! Get me off this planet! Where you have options to compete or cooperate, perhaps even at the same time at different parts of the board. We have one called King Of Tokyo that my 7yo can now play. My wife likes Sagrada.

There was a fad for cooperative games but my wife and I both want to win, hahaha

genec

Have not played Monopoly in years, but Chess and Scrabble still show on the table here from time to time.

sdmc530

If you want a heck of a fun board game check out Memoir 44 and its other add on boards. Its a war play game that revolves around actual battles from WWI-forward. Super fun and can be simple or very complex. One of my 11 year olds favorites. Another one is called Ticket to Ride another really fun game. I can go on and on. I love board games!!

Life is still a fun fav.....