Commonly Missed Monopoly® Rules
I am quite often asked questions about playing Monopoly, and often this is
because some people have grown up playing Monopoly® with their families or friends and have never sat
down to read the rules through properly.
The following section will list some of the most commonly missed or
incorrectly interpreted rules of Monopoly®. Some of this section may duplicate some of the information
on the FAQ page, but it is better to have these points repeated than not written at
all.
Buildings
There are just 32 houses and 12 hotels in a full set of Monopoly®, if there were any
more, the balance of the game would be affected. It would be very difficult to bankrupt opponents.
Once the 32 houses or 12 hotels have all been purchased, no more can be acquired. This rule can be used by
some players to get an advantage, if they buy the last house, they know no more building can occur.
When houses or hotels are sold back to the bank, you only get half what you paid for them.
Buildings can be bought or sold, and other business can be conducted, at any time, between rolls of the
dice. When transactions are being made, a brief pause should be observed.
You must build evenly, if you have two houses on Park Place, you can have no more than three houses on Boardwalk.
Auctions
If you land on a property that you don't wish to buy, the bank immediately puts that
property up for auction. All players can bid in the auction, the property is sold to the highest bidder.
Chance and Community Chest Cards
Once a Chance or Community Chest card has been drawn, it is placed, face down at the bottom
of the pack. The pack is never reshuffled during a game.
It can often throw up some interesting situations, knowing that the "Street Repairs" card is
coming up soon, when the board is loaded with houses and hotels, can be pretty scary!
Income Tax
Income Tax is calculated, taking into account all of your assets. So property and
buildings are counted, not just cash on hand.
You must decide whether you are going to pay 10% or $200 before you total your assets.
The Bank
The bank cannot pay players for anything, other than houses and hotels, and that is only
half of the purchase price.
The bank cannot loan money, except when a player wishes to mortgage property, and 10% interest is due on
that loan, (see Mortgages).
If a player owes the bank more than his/her assets, the player is declared bankrupt, and the bank must
immediately auction that player's property.
Mortgages
When a property is unmortgaged, 10% interest is paid to the bank.
If you are the new owner of mortgaged property, you must immediately pay the mortgage price and 10%
interest to the bank.
If you don't unmortgage the property straight away, you still have to pay the 10% of the mortgage value.
If at a later time, you unmortgage the property, you still have to pay the mortgage value plus the
10% interest.
As an example:
Boardwalk is mortgaged, mortgage value is $200.
If you are the new owner, you must pay $220, this unmortgages the property.
If you don't unmortgage instantly you must pay 10% of the mortgage value, i.e. $20. Later you have to pay $220 to unmortgage the property. Total cost = $240.
Debt
Once your assets are down to zero (or less than), you are declared bankrupt and you are out
of the game. You can't go into debt.
Jail
A player can collect rent and conduct business while in jail.
If you fail to roll doubles three times in a row, you have to pay the $50, or use a "Get Out Of Jail
Free" card if you have one.
Trades
Players cannot lend money to one another, or transfer houses
between property. They
can however, buy and sell anything else. Property, cash and "Get Out Of Jail Free" cards can be
traded, with the seller getting whatever they can for assets.
Free Parking and GO
Nothing happens when you land on "Free Parking", no money or property is collected.
You don't collect $400 for landing on GO, instead you earn the normal $200.
My Monopoly Site
Monopoly®, the distinctive design of the
game board, the four corner squares, as well as each of the
distinctive elements of the board and the playing pieces
are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. for its real estate trading
game and game equipment. ©1935, 1936, 1947, 1951, 1952,
1954, 1961, 1973, 1984, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002,
2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Hasbro, Inc.