Roll dice, move around the board, and buy up properties, railroads, and utilities. Build houses and hotels to charge crushing rent and bankrupt your opponents. The last player left solvent wins.

How to Play Monopoly

Overview

Monopoly is a roll-and-move economic game. Each player controls a token that moves clockwise around a square board. You buy properties you land on, charge rent when opponents land on properties you own, and build houses and hotels to raise that rent. The goal is to be the last player remaining after everyone else has gone bankrupt.

Components (what matters for play)

• A game board with 40 spaces: 28 purchasable properties (22 color-group streets, 4 railroads, 2 utilities), plus GO, Jail/Just Visiting, Free Parking, Go To Jail, Chance, Community Chest, and tax spaces.

• Title Deed cards for every property.

• Chance and Community Chest card decks.

• Houses (32) and Hotels (12).

• Two dice, player tokens, and Monopoly money.

Setup

1. Place the board, shuffle the Chance and Community Chest decks face-down on their spaces, and sort the money at the Bank.

2. Each player picks a token and places it on GO.

3. The Bank gives each player $1,500 to start (commonly: 2x$500, 2x$100, 2x$50, 6x$20, 5x$10, 5x$5, 5x$1).

4. Choose a player to be the Banker (they still play). The Banker also runs auctions.

5. Each player rolls; highest roll goes first, then play proceeds clockwise.

Turn Structure

On your turn:

1. Roll both dice and move your token that many spaces clockwise.

2. Resolve the space you land on (see below).

3. Doubles: if you roll doubles, take another turn after resolving. Three doubles in a row sends you straight to Jail.

Resolving spaces

• Unowned property: you may buy it from the Bank at the printed price. If you decline, the Bank auctions it to the highest bidder (all players, including you, may bid; bidding can start at any amount).

• Owned property: pay rent to the owner. Rent rises if the owner holds the full color group (a 'monopoly') and rises much further with houses and hotels. No rent is owed if the property is mortgaged.

• Chance / Community Chest: draw the top card and follow it (collect/pay money, move, go to Jail, get a Get Out of Jail Free card, etc.).

• Tax spaces: pay the listed tax to the Bank.

• Go To Jail: move directly to Jail (do not pass GO, do not collect $200).

• Free Parking / Just Visiting: no action in the official rules.

• Passing GO: collect $200 each time you pass or land on GO.

Building

Once you own every property in a color group, you may buy houses (and later hotels) for those properties, building evenly across the group. Houses and hotels sharply increase the rent you charge. There are a limited number of houses and hotels available; when they run out, no more can be built until some are returned to the Bank.

Jail

When you are 'In Jail' you can get out by: rolling doubles on your next turn, paying the $50 fine, or using a Get Out of Jail Free card. You must leave after three failed turns by paying the fine. While in Jail you still collect rent and may trade and build.

Mortgaging, Trading, and Raising Cash

• You may mortgage unbuilt properties to the Bank for cash (and pay to un-mortgage later, plus interest).

• You may trade properties, money, and Get Out of Jail Free cards with other players at any agreed price. Negotiation is a central part of the game.

• If you owe more than you have, you must raise cash by selling houses/hotels back to the Bank (at half price) and mortgaging property.

Bankruptcy and Winning

If you owe a debt (rent, tax, or a card) you cannot pay even after selling and mortgaging everything, you are bankrupt and out of the game. Your assets go to the creditor (another player) or back to the Bank (if owed to the Bank). The last solvent player remaining wins.

Scoring Guide (and How to Record a Match)

Standard Monopoly is not a points game - it ends by elimination, and the last player remaining wins. There is no per-game score to total; the result is the finish order (who went bankrupt, and in what order).

Standard game (elimination)

• Players are knocked out one at a time as they go bankrupt.

• The single survivor is the winner.

• What to record: the winner, and ideally the finishing order (1st = winner, then the reverse order of bankruptcy: the last player eliminated is 2nd, the first player eliminated is last).

Short Game / Timed game (official variant)

The official rules include a faster variant where players agree on a time limit (or other shortening rules). When time runs out, each player totals their net worth and the highest total wins. Net worth = cash on hand + the printed price of owned properties (and the price of any buildings) - amounts owed on mortgaged properties. In this variant there IS a meaningful score (net worth), so record each player's final net worth.

Recording Matches on Our Site

Standard (elimination) variant

• Variant: Standard

• Player list

• Winner (the last player remaining)

• Finish order (optional but recommended for placement-based ranking)

Short Game (net-worth) variant

• Variant: Short Game

• Player list

• Final Net Worth for each player (cash + property/building value - mortgage debt)

• Highest net worth wins.

Common scoring mistakes to avoid

• Counting net worth in the standard game - the standard game is won purely by being the last one not bankrupt; net worth only decides the Short/Timed variant.

• Forgetting that mortgaged property reduces net worth when totaling for the Short Game.

• Crediting a property's mortgaged-up cash as well as its full price - count the property at its price and subtract the mortgage owed; don't double count.

Record the Winner (last player not bankrupt). Recommended: record Finish Order for placement-based rankings (the last player eliminated is 2nd, the first eliminated is last). Properties Owned and Houses+Hotels Built are optional end-of-game diagnostic counts and do not decide the winner.