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Monopoly is a board game first marketed by Parker Brothers in the 1930s. The game involves using play money to trade real estate (with properties named after locations in Atlantic City, NJ,). It became popular in the United States during the Great Depression.

Although Monopoly is frequently thought to have been invented by Charles Darrow, its origins actually go back to 1904, when Lizie J. Magie patented a game called "The Landlord's Game". This original game was played in various forms over the years and later became known in some circles as "Monopoly." One version of the game with Atlantic City street names was taught to Charles Darrow, who then took the game to Parker Brothers.

Monopoly has been produced for international markets, with the place names being localised for cities including London, England and Paris, France, among others.

In recent years, the owners of the game have created dozens of versions in which the names of the properties and other elements of the game are replaced by others with some theme. There are versions about National Parks, Star Trek, Disney, various particular cities (as Las Vegas), states, NASCAR, and many others.

The game is played by 2 or more players who move tokens around the edge of a board in a circular path. There are 40 squares, composed of 28 properties, 3 "Chance" squares, 3 "Community Chest" squares, a "Luxury Tax" square, an "Income Tax" square, "GO", "Jail", "Free Parking", and "Go to Jail". Players take turns in order (as determined by chance prior to the game). A player's turn consists of rolling 2 dice and advancing on the board the corresponding number of squares.

If the player lands on an unowned property, he may buy it. If he lands on his own property, he does nothing. If he lands on an unmortgaged property owned by another player, he pays rent to that person, as specified on the property's deed.

Properties are arranged in "colour groups" of two or three properties. Once a player owns all properties of a group, she may purchase either 1 to 4 houses or 1 hotel for their properties, which raise the rents that must be paid to them when other players land on the property. Players may also freely make trades amongst themselves, involving cash and/or properties. This is often done to obtain all the properties in a particular color group. At least in some versions of the game, trading doesn't happen until all properties are owned by someone. At this point, play stops and trading ensues until all players are satisfied (usually when everyone owns at least one color group).

A player continues playing until they owe other players more than the value of their assets and are thus "bankrupted". The winner is the last player left solvent.

Whilst involving a substantial portion of luck, with the roll of the dice determining whether a player gets to own key properties or lands on squares with high rents, the key to the game is the awareness of the strategic value of the various properties at any particular time, so that the player can make advantageous trades.

Special squares

Chance

the player receives a card that has instructions on it which must be followed. Most of these involve amounts of money, e.g., "Bank error in your favor. Collect $200"

Community Chest

same as Chance, except a different set of cards.

Luxury Tax

the player must pay the Bank $75.

Income Tax

the player must pay the Bank $200 or 10% of his assets. (Most players just pay the $200 after making two trips around the board.)

GO

the player receives $200 for passing this square, except when going to Jail.

Jail

the square is divided into two parts "Just Visiting" and the Jail proper. If the player lands on this square through a regular dice roll, he goes to the "Just Visiting" area and no penalty applies. A player can be sent to Jail from the "Go to Jail" square, a combination of die rolls, or a Chance / Community Chest card. A player can leave Jail by paying a fine, using a "get out of jail free" card, or by making a successfull dice roll.

Go to Jail

the player must move his token to Jail

Free Parking

nothing takes place here.

Properties

• 22 streets, divided into 8 color groups. A player must own all of a colour group in order to build houses or hotels.
• 4 railways. Players collect higher rent if they own more than one railway. Hotels and houses cannot be built on railways.
• 2 utilities. Players collect higher rent if they own both utilities. Hotels and houses cannot be built on utilities.

The Locations

America

British (London)

Park Lane Oxford Street

Papers

Monopoly as a Markov Process, by R. Ash and R. Bishop, Mathematics Magazine, vol. 45 (1972) p. 26-29.