Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 21-25 of 146
 Monopoly, the King of Board Games May 2, 2008
'MaryLou Cheatham (Louisiana)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
What did children do before they had 100 channels on their televisions, the latest I-Pods, cell phones, computer games, and door-to-door transporation? ANSWER: They played Monopoly! Having gone through my formative years in the 1950's, when we had two channels on a snowy black and white screen and the use of our aunt's eight-party telephone line, we learned how to have a good time with what we had. And we had a rip-roaring good time playing Monopoly, the king of board games.
We played it fast paced, and we developed many skills. We learned from interacting with each other in a nonthreatening environment, as we sat around a little square table. (Imagine a family sitting around a table and conversing for hours!) We learned how to handle imaginary money, count, add without paper or a calculator, make change, handle real estate, roll with the punches, lose gracefully, and win without too much bragging. We developed social skills and vented our frustations as we played Monopoly.
I'm glad I grew up with Monopoly, a social feast in a box. We wanted to play to the end of every game, but sometimes we had to go to bed or do our chores. At that time, we would cash in so we could declare a winner.
Monopoly is the perfect balance between luck and skill. It is great for young players and adults alike. Playing with children is a super way for parents to learn about their children and teach them.
There is one problem I have with the new Monopoly games: I loved the little wooden figures that we used. It does not seem the same without them.
We are on the verge of a renaissance of board games. Monopoly is a great game for starters.
 Driving people into the poorhouse is not supposed to be a game! February 28, 2008
Ransom Carroll (Moving around in North America)
5 out of 31 found this review helpful
Who would have guessed that the street names of a small and seedy New Jersey town wouldn't be the basis for a fascinating and fun game? Surprisingly, Monopoly turned out to be a game that (1) was incredibly long; (2) involved slow, grinding failure for those who were losing; (3) involved almost no skill but also (4) none of the excitement of chance. As far as I can tell, the only joy people get out of it comes from handling play money.
In many board games one goes round and round. But generally there is the sense one is going SOMEWHERE. In Monopoly--more true to life--there is nowhere to go. Just keep working and paying the man. If one is attracted to the idea that repetition can be the highest ethical moment, one only needs to play this game to be quickly disabused. In contrast to, say, Mousetrap [see my review] which highlights the nature of irreversible transitions, in Monopoly one orbits around a gaping hole of debt, slowly circling inwards towards failure.
This is also, unfortunately, one of those games that children always think will be fun. But for some reason it is incredibly unpleasant to lose at monopoly. In chess, you die an honorable death. In Monopoly you are slowly sucked dry by other, increasingly hateful, players.
The funny thing is, apparently Monopoly was actually invented (not by the goofball who gave it the street names) precisely to demonstrate the theories of the great American radical economic theorist Henry George. George argued that the cause of human misery was private ownership of land, an ethical monstrosity in itself. The game shows that when we allow people to own property, then even if all start out equal and are equally industrious, things can only end in the most extreme inequality.
That was NOT supposed to be enjoyable. It is a testament to the perversity of the American economic and judicial system that we turned this cautionary tale into a game in which the goal is to "win" by sapping everything from everyone else. This is simply a horrible game: I don't understand why there aren't analogue games like "ethnic cleansing" or "slum clearance." [24]
A Timeless Classic January 12, 2008
Trudy G. Owens
Never get too old for this game....must have for every kid, no matter the age. I enjoy playing it with my granddaughter as much as I did playing it when I was a child with my brothers and sisters.
whatever happens, don't go broke !!!! January 10, 2008
Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service)
Monopoly is an excellent game for almost all ages (eight years and up). The object of the game is to use your money and income to buy properties, railroads and more--and then charge rent to the other players when their tokens (playing pieces) land on them. Players simply roll the dice to see how many steps ahead they have to move their token; and the game can go on for hours and hours if the players are savvy enough and have the right experience playing the game.
I agree with many reviewers when they note that part of the fun of Monopoly is that you can make up a few of your own rules as you go along. You can get more than $200 for passing the "go" space, for example. You can trade properties, print your own extra money if you need more money and of course Monopoly official rules let you mortgage properties so that you can buy even more real estate. The game also comes with a special set of rules for a shortened version of the game.
The real estate starts relatively inexpensively and get more and more expensive as you and the other players go around the board. This helps to make the game exciting.
This game has another clear advantage: it teaches children how to count their money (counting skills) and it also helps to teach children how money is used in real life. Very young players just starting out should play this game with an older relative or a parent who can explain the rules to them.
Overall, I predict that Monopoly will be around for ages to come. There are many different editions of the classic Monopoly game. The newer versions of Monopoly have all been designed in the last twenty years or so--thus the game's popularity is very high.
I recommend this awesome game for ages eight and up.
i didn't remeber how much fun monoply was to play January 7, 2008
Michael K. Shaw (Northville MI)
Great game that i hadn't played in 25 years. We had a game night last wek and my seven yeare old loved to play also. Its a good way to teach a child his age counting money and different denomonations.
Showing reviews 21-25 of 146
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