History TabletopGame / Monopoly

* ''CalvinAndHobbes'' had them playing it in one strip, but with his own {{Calvinball}}-like rules (Calvin robs the bank, and Hobbes dumps all twelve Hotels on Baltic).

* ''CalvinAndHobbes'' had them playing it in one strip, but with their own {{Calvinball}}-like HouseRules (Calvin lands on a space with double hotels.)

* PoisonMushroom: The "Go Directly to Boardwalk" card.

* AwesomeButImpractical: Nobody ever lands on Boardwalk. Besides, you need a steady cash flow before you can even develop the blues.

** Nobody ever lands on utilities. It's a waste of money to buy these (at least at full price). Railroads are also a money drain unless you manage to snag all four.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The Green properties. High rents, and a powerful group if you can get them developed...but they cost more to fully develop than any other color group in the game, and they are in the shadow of the Go To Jail space, making them less likely to be landed on than many of the lower-priced color groups before it.

* BoringButPractical: Statistically, in a long-run scenario, the orange set has the highest chances of being landed on. Someone just coming out of jail[[hottip:*:''the'' most-visited square, as there are four separate ways to end up there]] has a high chance of landing on at least one of these properties. The red properties are also just within range.

* ThePlan and/or MagnificentBastard: Anyone who willingly gives an opponent a monopoly on the Orange group is one of these. Either that, or they're [[TooDumbToLive Too Dumb to Win]].
** Another Gambit involves never upgrading houses to hotels. Each property can have up to four houses on it (which can then all be traded back to the bank for a hotel) — but there are only 32 houses in a Monopoly set. If they are all on the board, ''no one'' can build houses until someone sells the houses back or trades them in for a hotel; nor can they skip houses and go straight to hotels, for that matter. It's AllThereInTheManual, and called a "Housing Shortage."

** ''Monopoly 2'' ([[NoImportForYou Japan only]]) ironed out this problem somewhat. After a few rounds, the CPU opponents start trading with each other like mad; however, the AI is more reluctant to trade a property which will grant ''[[MyRulesAreNotYourRules you]]'' a monopoly. Also, there will always be one opponent out of the four who is a complete dick.

** ''Monopoly 2'' ([[NoImportFoYou Japan only]]) ironed out this problem somewhat. After a few rounds, the CPU opponents start trading with each other like mad; however, the AI is more reluctant to trade a property which will grant ''[[MyRulesAreNotYourRules you]]'' a monopoly. Also, there will always be one opponent out of the four who is a complete dick.

---

In 1990, MervGriffin produced a twelve-episode ''Monopoly'' GameShow for {{ABC}} as a companion for ''Super [=~Jeopardy!~=]''. Michael Reilly, a former ''Jeopardy!'' contestant, served as the host.

-->''Sometimes we do awful things in our lives, even if we don't know it. Sometimes the only proof that we've made mistakes - terrible mistakes the UNIVERSE ITSELF punishes us for - is that we look around and find we're playing...Monopoly.''
-->--''[[http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1944 Dinosaur Comics]]''

''Monopoly'' is a board game that Parker Brothers claims was created in the 1930s by Charles Darrow, who patented it in 1935. Players get $1,500 of starting cash, then roll dice to move their tokens around the board. They may then land on property squares, Chance squares, Community Chest squares and even Free Parking. The object of the game is to become the Monopoly - that is, to bankrupt every other player by buying, selling, and collecting rent from properties.

Properties are the cornerstone of the game. If a player lands on a property square that is unsold, they may buy the property at its listed price. If they decline, everyone gets to bid on the property and the deed goes to the highest bidder. If the player lands on a property square that is sold, however, he must pay the listed rent on the property deed to whoever owns the property (there's no charge for landing on one of his own properties). Should a player collect all the properties in a color group, they can then use money to build houses and hotels - which dramatically increase the amount of rent players have to pay for landing on their spaces [[OneHitKill (Hotel on Boardwalk will likely bankrupt a player in one turn)]]. In between turns, players have the option to broker trades with other players. They may trade money, properties, Get Out of Jail Free cards or any combination thereof.

The colored properties in the U.S. version of ''Monopoly'' were named for streets in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Foreign versions of the game rename the properties after local features and use the local currency: London, for example, has Mayfair [a very high-end residential area] take up the £400 slot.

Chance and Community Chest cards can award the player money, take it away, or whisk him off to another square. Free Parking varies wildly based on HouseRules - it may just be a square where nothing happens, it may award you any cash that was paid to the bank (as opposed to paid to other players), or somewhere in between. Passing or landing on the starting "Go" square will award a player $200. Finally, there's the Jail square. If you land on Jail, don't worry - you're "Just Visiting". If you roll doubles three times in a row, land on the "Go to Jail" square or draw the infamous card, then you must [[DoNotPassGo "Go to Jail. Go Directly to Jail. Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Collect $200."]] To get out, you must pay $50, roll doubles or use a GetOutOfJailFreeCard.

Also on the board are two utilities, Electric Company and Water Works, and four railroads: the B&O, the Pennsylvania, the Reading and the Short Line.

A well-known (at the time) lawsuit from 1976 to 1985 over the game Anti-Monopoly revealed that Parker Brothers' story about the game's creation wasn't accurate; the first patent on a similar game was from 1904 by Elizabeth Magie. Charles Darrow did not invent the game himself.

When Darrow first approached game manufacturers about publishing the game, they rejected it - sending him a letter saying that there were "52 fundamental errors" in his game. Undaunted, Darrow then manufactured his own sets and sold them himself - selling out each run he made. Parker Brothers then decided to publish his game once they heard of the success, and a magnate was born.

In 1990, MervGriffin produced a 12-episode ''Monopoly'' GameShow for {{ABC}} as a companion for ''Super [=~Jeopardy!~=]''. Michael Reilly, a former ''Jeopardy!'' contestant, was the host.

Doing a pub crawl based on the London board layout is a popular drinking activity, albeit a swift way to get very drunk.

Only indirectly related to [[MegaCorp the other kind of monopoly]].

!!Monopoly is the TropeNamer for

!!Tropes Found in Monopoly Include:

!!In media:

----

** Post-2008 editions of "classic" US game upped the luxury tax from $75 to a whopping $100. They also changed Income Tax to a flat $200, as opposed to a choice between that and 10% of your assets[[hottip:*:your on-hand cash, the face value of all your properties, and what you spent building houses and/or hotels]].

* In the ''RedDwarf'' novel ''Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers'', Lister wakes up on Mimas [one of the moons of Saturn] after a Monopoly pub crawl around London, which ultimately ends up in him joining the ship.

*** Of course anyone that willingly took 10% had to be crazy.
**** Unless, of course, you have less than $2,000 in assets. Since you start with $1,500, this is actually a possibility, especially in the early game.

**** Unless, of course, you have less than $200. Then it is the only choice that makes sense.

* This shows up in ''SnoopyComeHome''. Charlie Brown, Lucy and Schroeder are playing, others possibly. Lucy taunts Charlie Brown with her Boardwalk and Park Place; Chuck ends up drawing 'Go to Jail'. Lucy then lands on one of Schroeder's Green properties. With hotel''s'', plural.

* RougeAnglesOfSatin: The correct spelling of the housing area just south of Atlantic City is ''Marven'' Gardens. Monopoly's spelling is considerably better known.

* This shows up in ''SnoopyComeHome''. Charlie Brown, Lucy and Schroeder are playing, others possibly. Lucy taunts Charlie Brown with her Boardwalk and Park Place; Chuck ends up drawing 'Go to Jail'. Lucy then lands on one of Schroeder's Green properties. With hotel''s''.

* BoringButPractical: Statistically, in a long-run scenario, the orange set has the highest chances of being landed on. Someone just coming out of jail has a high chance of landing on at least one of these properties. The red properties are also just within range.

* BoringButPractical: The orange set. Someone just coming out of jail has a high chance to land on at least one of these properties. The red properties are also just within range. Statistically speaking the orange set does have the highest chances of being landed on in a long-run probability scenario.
* CardboardPrison: Whenever you go to Jail you can get out for just $50, or rolling a double. Or use a ''card''.

** Even more ironic if the owner of said Electric Company is on the brink of elimination himself. If your assets are depleted enough, it is possible to [[TakingYouWithMe go bankrupt by bankrupting another player]], because you inherit all their mortgaged properties and immediately have an interest payment due payable to the bank.

Properties are the cornerstone of the game. If a player lands on a property square that is unsold, they may buy the property at its listed price. If they decline, everyone gets to bid on the property and the deed goes to the highest bidder. If the player lands on a property square that is sold, however, he must pay the listed rent on the property deed to whoever owns the property (and no charge for landing on one of his own properties). Should a player collect all the properties in a color group, they can then use money to build houses and hotels - which dramatically increase the amount of rent players have to pay for landing on their spaces [[OneHitKill (Hotel on Boardwalk will likely bankrupt a player in one turn)]]. In between turns, players have the option to broker trades with other players. They may trade money, properties, Get Out of Jail Free cards or any combination thereof.

* In ''{{Nethack}}'', it is ([[YetAnotherStupidDeath unsurprisingly]]) possible to die on the very first turn, without making a single move. If this happens, you are told "Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 [[{{Zork}} zorkmids]]."

* XanatosGambit[=/=]MagnificentBastard: Anyone who willingly gives an opponent a monopoly on the Orange group has/is one of these. Either that, or they're [[TooDumbToLive Too Dumb to Win]].
** Another Gambit involves never upgrading houses to hotels. Each property can have up to four houses on it (which can then all be traded back to the bank for a hotel) — but there are only 32 houses in a Monopoly set. If they are all on the board, ''no one'' can build houses until someone sells the houses back or trades them in for a hotel; nor can they skip houses and go straight to hotels, for that matter. It's AllThereInTheManual, and called a "Housing Shortage."