Monopoly/House Rules

The game of Monopoly has many variations, even in the rules. Many casual Monopoly players are surprised and disappointed to discover that some of the rules they are used to are not actually part of the official rules. However, since 2014 & 2015, famous house rules were added into the rulebook.

Free parking cash
A very common house rule is to have a pool of cash based on the Free Parking space placed in the center of the board. A player who lands on Free Parking collects the cash, and the pool is restarted. The pool may be built in several different ways, for example:


 * by placing a 100 bill from the bank into the pool at the beginning of the game and whenever it is emptied.
 * all fines and taxes go into the pool rather than to the bank.


 * some people place one of each bill into the pool instead of just a 500 bill.
 * some people put "Get Out of Jail Free" cards into Free Parking. Some return the cards upside-down to the bottom of their respective decks, placing only cash into Free Parking.
 * some people require every player who passes Free Parking without landing on it to pay in a specified amount.
 * Some see avoiding landing on other players' developed properties as sufficient reward and do not award a FP jackpot.
 * some people place the final unsold property into the pool as soon as the penultimate property has been purchased, and it must be won by whoever lands on Free Parking. Any player who lands on the property in question while it is in the pool may not buy it. Players pay the base rent price for landing on that property into Free Parking as long as it is in Free Parking. Some people place only cash into Free Parking.
 * Players moving out of jail are not entitled to receive any jackpot money if they land on Free Parking.

The more money is kept in or brought into circulation through this method, the longer the game will take; be aware that adding just a single rule from this list may add hours to game time, based on the number of players.

Go and movement
Many house rules contain some or all of the following provisions:


 * Awarding players 400 for landing on Go, either by dice or card. The card states '...collect 200'; double this amount.
 * Making explicit each player’s responsibility to collect 200 from the bank on passing Go. Each player has until the next player’s turn to collect salary, otherwise it is forfeit.
 * A player must completely travel around the board once (having collected 200 by passing Go) before he is allowed to purchase property.
 * If the previous provision is in effect, all players may purchase property once at least one player has passed Go.
 * Players are allowed to "Take a Chance" when they land on a Chance square. They have the option 1) to draw a Chance card, or 2) to do nothing and sit freely on the square. The players are allowed to trade, sell, and negotiate any Chance card. No choice is given, however, when landing on a Community Chest square; the player must draw a card from the appropriate deck.
 * "Go To The Airport:" If a player lands directly on Go, they have the right to buy a "plane ticket" with their 200 salary and "fly" directly to any square on the board. Or they may elect to accept their 200, remain on Go, and advance on the next roll.

Rents and auctions
The original folk game of Monopoly was played in 1910 as an auction monopoly derived from "The Landlord's Game." Auctions were very much a part of Monopoly until 1930s when the Quakers of Atlantic City eliminated auctions from Monopoly and assigned fixed prices on the board. Jesse Raiford made the fixed prices of Monopoly found on sets today.

Some house rules omit the auction rule. That is to say, when a player lands on an unowned property and elects not to purchase it (or in some cases, merely doesn't announce an intention to purchase it before the next player rolls the dice), the property remains unowned, rather than being auctioned among the players. Others opt for the opposite extreme. When a player lands on a property, they may only choose between engaging in a public auction for the property or passing. This serves to deplete cash reserves and to force players into making more strategic decisions.

Although, the rules explicitly state otherwise, some house rules prevent an owner from collecting rent or auctioning while in jail or if they do not notice that another player is on their property before the players turn is over.

Another rule limits the owner to collect only half the rent while in jail to discourage staying in jail.

In the official rules whereby the owner of a landed-on property has until the player has said that it is no longer their turn e.g saying “your turn” in many circles the rule used is that the owner must demand rent before the very next player states that their turn is over. The rules claim that if a player lands on somebody's property on a roll of doubles, he/she is not "staying the night" and therefore does not need to pay rent.

Some people play by a rule, which states that should a player land on a property and not win the auction, he or she must pay rent to the player who does. The player with the most assets wins.

If the owner of a property is within their own property they can not collect rent from other players landing on their property.

Mercy rule
When a player reaches a certain level of wealth determined by the players, that player automatically wins. When that happens, you have an option to get 1,000 or to get all the lots of any group that isn't owned by any of the players When dealing with cards swapping, cards that are under level 2 can be swapped. No cards over level 1 are allowed to be swapped unless all the players agreed.

Trades and negotiations
According to some home rules no property trading happens until all properties are owned by someone. At this point, play stops and a flurry of trading proceeds until all players are satisfied. Trades may be made regardless of a players turn in the game. If you are trading property for money and try to cheat the other player by giving him wrong bills but stated an amount you will be sent to jail for three turns and must pay double to get out of jail. You must then pay the player the correct amount. No property can be traded to be placed on a higher ranking square however if this square is controlled, a player can pay half a house cost to move an existing house.When a wild card says something strange is going on each of the players have to pick one of their cards to exchange. You may choose your property for a forced property swap you trade them a property and they let you choose yours.

Property improvements


A common house rule is to exclude the requirement of owning all properties of the same colour before being able to buy houses.

Another house rule; building houses is allowed once all properties of the same colour has been sold ignoring the original rule having to own all properties of the same colour. The maximum number of houses that can be built follows the original rules.

Another common house rule is to ignore the number of available houses the bank possesses allowing players to build them indefinitely. One way to keep track of this number of houses is to only place them on one property, signifying that number on all properties of that color group.

Some house rules allow a player to build a hotel directly, even if there's not enough houses in the bank (one hotel equals five houses). This way a building shortage only affects poor players.

Another common house rule allows players to build on a certain property only when they land on it. Combined with the requirement that properties in a colour group be developed equally, this makes development very slow as it can only be done one house at a time.

Property dealing
At the start of the game, players will draw numbers from a hat, and can choose which set of properties he or she will buy. The next player will go, and the railroads and utilities are treated as properties. For example, during a 3 person game:

Person #1 chooses Boardwalk and Park Place Person #2 chooses the railroads Person #3 chooses Atlantic, Ventnor, and Marvin Gardens Person #1 chooses Indiana, Illinois, & Kentucky Avenues Person #2 chooses States, Virginia, and St. Charles Place Person #3 chooses the utilities Person #1 chooses Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues Person #2 chooses Pennsylvania, Pacific, and North Carolina Avenues Person #3 chooses New York, Tennessee, and St. James Place The remaining property set (Connecticut, Vermont, and Oriental) is split between the 3 players.

Original rules for a short game (1-1 1/2 hours)
The official Monopoly rules allow five rules changes for this short game.


 * 1) During preparation, the banker shuffles and deals two Title Deed cards to each player. No payment of properties to the bank is required.
 * 2) You need only three houses (instead of four) on each lot of a complete color-group before you may buy a hotel. Hotel rent remains the same. The turn-in value is still one-half the purchase price, which in this game is one house less than in the regular game.
 * 3) If you land in jail you must exit on your next turn by using a "Get Out of Jail Free" card if you have (or can buy) one; or by rolling doubles; or by paying a fine of 50. Unlike the standard rules, you may try to roll doubles and, if failing to do so, pay the 50 on the same turn.
 * 4) The penalty for landing on Income tax is a flat 200 (i.e., the option to pay 10% of cash on hand is removed). The UK version of the game, as well as newer American versions, make Income Tax a flat tax anyway.
 * 5) The game ends when one player goes bankrupt. The remaining players value their property: a) cash on hand; b) lots, utilities, and railroads owned, at the price printed on the board; c) any mortgaged property owned, at one-half the price printed on the board; d) houses, valued at purchase price; e) hotels, valued at purchase price including the value of the three houses turned in. The richest player is then declared the winner.

Other short games (unofficial rules)
One way to shorten the game is to play for a predetermined amount of time. When the time limit is reached, the winner is the one with the greatest assets in cash, property, and houses. This method is used for tournament play.

Another way to create a shorter game is to randomly distribute a predetermined number of property cards before the start of the game.

A third way is to play until all have gone around the board a certain number of times.

Another way to end the game fast is to place an unused token on the board, every time the dice rolls 1 the token will move one space, 2 if the player rolls a double, once the token has gone around the board, the game is over and whoever has more money, wins.

Capitol hill variation


The origin of the capitol hill variation came from an attempt to add house rules that would make it more difficult for a player to establish a monopoly. It would also provide players who have emerged out of the early phases of the game at an asset disadvantage to level the playing field through simulated “government support.” These rules were originally intended to add to the game optional rules that would simulate anti-trust, labor, and welfare governmental regulations, but other rules have been used.

Rule additions or modifications appear in the form of bills, and the collection of bills from which a player can sponsor are located on the “docket.” The docket is agreed upon by players prior to the start of the game. The particular set of bills on the docket can vary with individual house rules, but usually at a minimum, they contain rules that simulate anti-trust, labor, and welfare regulations.

A sample docket could contain any or all of the following bills:

General play
Standard Monopoly rules apply except when a player lands on either Free parking or Go. When a player lands on either Free Parking or Go, the player, in lieu of collecting any funds to which he or she would otherwise be entitled, the player may instead opt to “go to Capitol Hill” to "lobby" for additions or modifications of certain rules of the game.

If the player chooses to go to capitol hill, he or she selects a bill to sponsor. After reading the bill aloud, the sponsor asks if anyone would like to join the caucus to support the bill.

The sponsor and the other caucus members then pay a fee to the bank to attempt to pass their legislation. If the caucus members represent a majority of the players then each player pays 200. Otherwise, each caucus member pays 500.

Passing legislation
The sponsor rolls both dice. If this roll results in a "majority vote" the legislation passes. The required roll to establish a majority vote depends upon the number of players in the caucus:

After passing the bill
After passing a bill, all non-caucus member players must pay to the Sponsor 100. Bills go into effect immediately after they are passed.

Repealing a law
It’s important to note, all laws, once enacted, can be repealed through the same process of enacting any other bill.

Miscellaneous

 * Six railroads: the two utilities are treated like additional railroads. They cost 200 to buy and can be mortgaged for 100. The rent for five railroads is 300 and for six railroads is 400. (An "Advance To Nearest Utility Card" can either be removed from the deck or changed to "Advance to Nearest Railroad and Pay owner twice the rental...")
 * Travelling railroads: whenever a player lands on a railroad, the player may choose to move his or her token to any other railroad owned by the same player. The player must pay rent even if he or she does not choose to travel. A player may travel on his or her own railroads for free. A player may not travel on unowned railroads. Travel is across the board, so a player does not get 200 for passing Go when he or she travels from Short Line to Reading Railroad. The owner of the railroads may not prevent the player from traveling. A player may travel to or from a mortgaged railroad. (NOTE: If a player travels from a mortgaged railroad to an unmortgaged railroad, he does not have to pay rent.)
 * Borrowing money from the bank: at any time a player may borrow 500 from the bank. Until the loan is paid off, the player will only receive 100 when passing Go, as interest. A player may not pay off the loan until he has passed Go at least once since borrowing the money. If you go bankrupt the creditor inherits your debt. Anyone who inherits a debt cannot pay it off until he has passed Go once since inheriting that debt.
 * Jailing cheaters: if a player is caught cheating by the other players, he or she must go directly to jail. They don't pass go or collect 200. After the normal procedure to exit jail, they still have to make the cheated players whole.
 * Mississippi bankruptcy: before a player (referred to as "the dealer") rolls the dice, there is a betting round, in which, starting from the dealer's left and moving clockwise around the table, each player (other than the dealer) is given the option of betting by placing money on one or more unowned properties around the board and/or on Free Parking. After the betting is completed, the dealer continues with his or her turn, and if the dealer rolls doubles, then the bank doubles all the money on the board. If the dealer rolls snake eyes, then the bank pays out 10 dollars for each dollar down. If the dealer lands on a property that has money on it, then as long as the player who put money down, put down at least 10% of the cost of the unowned property, then that player has purchased the right to bid in an auction for the property against the dealer and any other player who had put down at least 10% of the cost of the unowned property on that property. Also, those players' tokens are then moved directly to that property, without passing Go, without collecting 200. Bidding begins at the property's original cost. Players who lose an auction have to pay the winner rent. If none of the players bid on the property, then the property remains unsold, and no money changes hands. A player who wins an auction, if he or she has completed a set, does not have the option of building houses on said property, even if it is his or her turn, until after the losing player or players have paid their rent. If a player puts down money on Free Parking and the dealer lands on Free Parking, then the player's token is moved to Free Parking (without passing Go, without collecting 200). After the dealer's turn is completed, play continues to the dealer's left and the next player to roll the dice becomes the new dealer.
 * Mulitiple-board: if you have multiple Monopoly boards of different versions (ie. Original, dotcom, NHL, Canadian, Star Wars, etc.) you can overlap the corners of the boards with free parking above free parking or go above go. Each board will overlap at most two opposite corners.  You need different versions so you know which properties belongs to which board.  Starting money is 1,500 per board in play.  Rents for Utilities are 1: 5x roll, 2: 10X roll, 3: 15X roll, 4: 20X roll etc.  Railroad rents keep doubling: 1: 25, 2: 50, 3: 100, 4: 200, 5: 400, 6: 800, 7: 1,600 8: 3,200, etc. Play proceeds around the outer edge of the row of boards, so when you reach an overlapping square, you turn to the left.  When being sent to Go, or Jail you advance to whichever on would next appear in your travels.  When advancing to a specific railroad, utility or other property it is conceivable to pass by several Go spaces on your way depending on how many boards are in play.   Houses and hotels built, must be from the pieces available for that board. If you're playing with the free parking cash optional rule, there is a pot for each board, and you collect the pot for the board you were on when you rolled the dice to land on free parking.  Game time may be quite long or quite short - depending on whether one player manages to collect many of the railroads as large numbers of railroads are the quickest way to put an opponent out of the game!

A version of multiple-board Monopoly exists with different rule variations than those above. First, the "Go" spaces of the two boards overlap, effectively creating one "Go" space shared by both boards. Railroad rents max out at 200 as in a standard one-board game. So a player having 5 or more RRs still receives only 200 rent per RR (but obviously his chances of getting rent are greater). Utilities work similarly: Rent maxes out at 10x the roll, even if a player has three of more utilities. Also, if a player lands directly on "Go," he may choose to travel onto either board the following turn. This also applies at the beginning of the game when all tokens are on "Go." But, players must announce before the roll which board they will advance onto. Keep in mind that if a player does not land directly on "Go" he must advance onto the next board as normal. If playing with the Free Parking reward, the money is pooled into one kitty which is won by landing on either of the two Free Parking spaces. As for building properties, one must have the complete color monopoly (i.e. an Orange monopoly means SIX oranges). However, if a player has a monopoly on only one board, he may build up to 2 (TWO) houses on the properties until he obtains all six properties (or, in the case of Mediterranean/Baltic (Old Kent and Whitechapel) ( & Park Place/Boardwalk (Park Lane/Mayfair), all 4 properties). Once a 6-property monopoly is obtained (usually via trades), the player may build more than 2 houses. Houses of their respective boards are kept separate (32 houses, 12 hotels per board). Upon going to jail, the player goes to the jail on the board from whence he came. A player can never advance to the other board's jail. Regarding cards which require movement (excluding "Go To Jail" cards), the player must follow the instructions and move around the boards normally. So if a player hits the Boardwalk/Mayfair-side Chance and must move to Illinois Ave/Trafalgar Square for example, he moves to the other board's Illinois Ave/Trafalgar Square.
 * Not noticing when someone lands on your property ** The person that lands the property doesn't have to pay**


 * No players can donate or loan money to another player at any time.