Monopoly: A Survival Story in Game Design
In the age of high tech in which the gaming world continually ups its game1 with
developments like ever improving designs, responsiveness and interface, it’s difficult to
see where the cardboard-box variety board game fits in. Surprisingly, board-game use
is on the rise and expected to grow globally by approximately 15% in the next five years.
Included in that upward trend is one of the most popular, enduring games of all time –
Monopoly. Families and friends continue now, as for the past 90 years, to gather around
the table with the familiar green board laid out before them. How has Monopoly been
able to pass the test of time so effectively, finding a place even amongst its strong video
game competitors? Perhaps, a closer look at what makes up this classic game will not
only pull at our nostalgic2 strings but also give us an insight into its enduring popularity.
Monopoly’s board layout is very straightforward. First, the structure consists of a
simple square frame that lies close to the game edges. Each side of this frame is divided
into ten small rectangles that represent particular properties with values that increase
incrementally3 as you move clockwise around the board. For example, the two
properties nearest GO sell for $60 each and the next ones for $100. Specifically, the
Monopoly board is made up twenty-eight properties, three Chance spaces, three
Community Chest spaces, a Luxury Tax space, an Income Tax space, and the four
corner squares: GO, Jail, Free Parking, and Go to Jail. The properties, which include
four railroad stations and two utilities, are named after locations in (or near) Atlantic City,
New Jersey. The centre of the board depicts the Monopoly mascot4, Mr. Monopoly, a
cartoon character originally called Rich Uncle Pennybags. The centre also has spaces
marked for the placement of the Community Chest and Chance cards.
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The colours of the Monopoly
board are another important feature of
the game. The background of the
board is a light green colour, perhaps
to evoke5 the colour of money, though
many have complained that the shade
of green is off-putting and actually
blocks any positive feelings. The
twenty-two “street” properties are
categorized by colour, with each
assigned a dollar value. The two
cheapest properties, Mediterranean Avenue and Baltic Avenue, are placed nearest the
GO square, worth $60 each, and recognizable by a dark purple colour stripe at the top
of the square. These two streets are part of a “property family,” which is an important
feature in terms of game play. The other colour families, in order from GO, are dark
purple, light blue, pink, orange, red, yellow, green, and dark blue. They increase in value
as the players advance toward GO. The four railroads and two utility squares follow
similar “family” rules but are not coloured. Instead, they have cartoonish icons6
representing their purpose. Similarly, the game squares marked as “Community Chest”
and “Chance” are also colourfully designed with an appropriate symbol, as are the two
tax squares. The remaining squares, GO, Jail, Go to Jail, and Free Parking, make up
the four corners of the board and are colourfully designed to help them stand out.
The game components are also highly recognizable as being exclusive7 to
Monopoly. As a result, any game maker who tries to copy the Monopoly equipment will
be guilty of copyright infringement. To begin, Monopoly money is colourful and designed
to reflect the board, including little icons for a train and house, along with the numerical
denomination. Denominations8 and their respective colours in Monopoly are as follows:
white $1s; pink $5s; yellow $10s; green $20s; blue $50s; beige $100s; and orange
$500s. The tokens used to move around the board are little metal charms of different
shapes. The classic game tokens are a battleship, boot, cannon, horse and rider, iron,
race car, dog, thimble, top hat, and wheelbarrow. The houses and hotels are red and
green, respectively. The other main components are the cards used in play. There is
one property card for each property square on the board, and it matches the colour and
value of the square. The cards also include information on the rental price of the
property, as well as the price of any houses or hotels the player might choose to
purchase for that square and the rent he or she could charge. The back of the car shows
the mortgage value of that property. The other cards are those of Community Chest and
Chance, both of which direct players to do certain things in the game.
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Monopoly has likely survived through the
years because of the relative simplicity of its
seven basic rules of play. To play standard
Monopoly, a player is first chosen as “banker” and
gives each player $1500 in a prescribed9
assortment of denominations. In other words,
every banker must follow the rules on which
banknotes to dole out to each player. Next, all the
players decide who will have the first turn. A
typical turn begins with the rolling of the dice and
advancing a piece clockwise around the board the
corresponding number of squares. If a player rolls doubles, he/she rolls again after
completing that portion of their turn, as long as doubles are rolled only once or twice.
However, a player who rolls three consecutive10 sets of doubles on one turn has been
"caught speeding" and is immediately sent to jail instead of moving the number shown
on the dice for the third roll. After landing on an unowned property, a player may buy it,
but, if he or she lands on a property owned by another player, rent must be paid to that
player. In addition, the non-property Community Chest and
Chance squares require the player landing on them to draw a
card that directs them to take some kind of action, such as
going to jail, advancing to a railroad, or collecting money from
the bank. In the next steps, as the game progresses, a player
may acquire a monopoly, which means that he or she owns all
the properties of a particular colour family. Upon this
achievement, the player may purchase houses and hotels for
those properties, thereby substantially11 increasing the
property’s rental fee. To illustrate, normal rent on Boardwalk
costs a player $50, but, when it has been ‘developed’ with a
hotel, the price is $2000. A player continues to travel around
the board paying rent to the other players, spending time in jail,
purchasing properties, and collecting a “GO” allowance of
$200 for every trip around the board. Eventually, one or more players will find
themselves bankrupt, at which point they are eliminated from the game. The last player
remaining on the board is the winner.
While many variations of the game exist globally, the original 1935 US board game is
still the most popular today. The basic layout and rules of play have survived generations
of updates, company takeovers, and even wars. Battles over Park Place or Boardwalk
and attempted railroad takeovers have long been a beloved part of family gatherings and
resonate12 in our memories of the recent past as much as our childhood walks through
nostalgia-lane. Monopoly’s design and concept clearly have something that many other
board games do not possess – the ability not only to challenge the flashy bells and
whistles of video gaming but also to surpass it in popularity and endurance.
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References
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2021, June 4). Monopoly. Encyclopædia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/sports/Monopoly-board-game.
How big is the board game market?: 2020 Insights. Insights on the global eCommerce & DTC
businesses. (2021, January 29). https://blog.pipecandy.com/board-games-market/.
Monopoly. Monopoly Wiki. (n.d.). https://monopoly.fandom.com/wiki/Monopoly.
Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, June 2). Monopoly (game). Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly_(game).
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