Jacob Davenport

This version of Monopoly is best played with six or more players. It combines many home rules, plus some extras, to make the game as interesting and competitive as possible. Unless noted, the original rules apply. This game uses two sets of dice, a Double Board, Minimum Bid, Option to Auction, Honest Game, Immunity, Loans, Maximum Punishment, Start at Corners, Traveling Railroads, and a few other odds and ends. It is an evolving rule set, so I am certainly open to comments on this game.

Board: Two boards are used, one a standard Atlantic City board and the other a London board, with the London Go overlapping the Atlantic City Go. Players move around both boards in a figure eight pattern. When a player lands on Go, he or she may choose which board to enter next, and in whichever direction including backwards. The player must declare his or her intended direction before rolling the dice. The player must continue in that direction until such time as they land on Go again and may then change direction at his or her discretion. The player’s token should be pointed in the direction they are moving. If a player messes up and goes in the wrong direction around the board, he or she is sent directly to Jail, without the option of bail, as soon as another player points out this error.

Money: Both dollars and pounds are used, but they are not equal. You may only use pounds on the London board and only use dollars on the Atlantic City board. When you pass go, you may take either $200 or £200. If you need a type of currency that you don’t have, you’ll have to negotiate with another player to get it. Both banks are set out on the table to make them easily accessible to players, and are self serve banks. Stealing from the bank will be punished by decapitation. You start the game with $800 and £800.

Dice: Two sets of dice are used, one a pair of standard six sided dice (the “sixes”) and one a pair of eight sided dice (the “eights”). Both sets of dice are used simultaneously, so two players both are having a turn at the same time. When a player has dice, he or she may buy houses or unmortgage property before throwing them, but may not do so on the property that the other player with dice is moving into. Players may only buy houses or unmortgage property when they have dice and before they make their rolls. Then, after throwing the dice and proceeding, the player may take time to resolve the results of the throw before passing the dice. The dice are then passed to the next player on the left who does not already have dice. A player must accept dice that are passed. Upon receiving dice, the player may demand that the player currently in possession of the other set of dice take his or her turn first. If this demand is made three times in a row, then the game switches to only having one player taking a turn at a time but being allowed to pick which set of dice to use on her or her turn. Once the game switches, the player who made the third demand then passes the turn to the next player.

Passing: A player may pass the dice along without doing anything else for a $100 or £100 fee, depending on the board he’s sitting on, paid directly to the bank.

Raising Money: A player may mortgage property or sell houses at any time.

Starting Locations: Players each roll all four dice to determine the order in which they will place their tokens on the board, with the person who rolled the lowest placing first and proceeding clockwise around the table until all the tokens are placed. Tokens may be placed at Go or at any other corner of the board to start, including either Go to Jail square (but they do not go to Jail), but not on a corner already selected by an opponent, unless all seven corners are taken. Then players roll again to determine the order of play, with the player rolling the highest number starting with the eights and the player rolling the lowest number starting with the sixes. Right before a player makes his or her first roll, he or she must declare which direction he or she is going around the board.

Jail: When a player is sent to Jail, he or she is sent to the Jail on the board that they were occupying before going to Jail. If the player rolls doubles the third time in a row in a turn, the player moves directly from his or her starting spot to the Jail on that board. If that spot is Go, then the player goes to the London Jail. A player may elect to pay $200 bail or use a “Get Out of Jail Free” card to avoid spending any time in Jail, in which case the player is moved to Just Visiting and his or her turn ends. While in Jail, a player may not collect rent, nor may he or she make deals with anyone who isn’t in the same Jail or Just Visiting. As per the normal rules, the player may pay a $50 fine and move to Just Visiting on his or her next turn and then roll, or the player may roll whatever dice are passed to him or her to try to get doubles to get out of Jail free. After the third failed attempt, the player must pay $50 and move the results of the third roll. Upon exiting Jail, the player must move in the direction he or she was going before being sent to Jail. Of course, in the London jail, you must pay in pounds.

Chance and Community Chest cards: A player advancing to a named property as per instructions on a card may pass Go twice, collecting $400. Cards which affect all players or all properties, such as “pay all players $50” or “building repairs”, only affect the properties and the players on the same board as the affected player.

Buying Property: The unpurchased properties will lie in the middle of each board, prominently displayed. Each player has one marker that they may put on top of any unowned property deed, and may change the property, if any, that has their marker at any time. When a player lands on an unowned property that has no marker, it may be purchased immediately. If the player decides not to purchase the property, he or she yells out “Auction”, and an auction begins with that player with a bid of $10 or £10, based on the location of the property. If there is a marker on the property, he or she yells out “Auction”, and an auction begins with the marker’s owner automatically making a bid of twice the normal price. All other play temporarily ceases, and an auction for the property is held. Players must bid at least $10 (or £10) more than the previous bid.

Paying Rent: When a player lands on property that is owned by another player, he or she is obligated to find out the rent and pay it. A player pays rent only on houses that were on the property he or she just landed on. For example, if the player with the eights just said that he would be buying two more houses on Boardwalk and Park Place, but the player with the sixes then rolls and lands on Boardwalk before the houses have been erected, the player with the sixes does not need to pay the higher rent that the two extra houses would have required. However, as another example, the player with the eights cannot quickly decide to buy another house on Pall Mall right after the player with sixes just rolled and is still moving his piece to Pall Mall. Questionable calls of timing go to the renter.

Deals: Players may make any sort of deal at any time with other players, and may include immunity, profit sharing, loans, or any other agreement. Deals are finalized and are binding when the players involved in the deal shake hands, and not before. Thus, if a deal is struck to make a trade of properties, players shake, and then immediately someone lands on one of the traded properties, it is treated as if the properties have already exchanged hands.

Casino: The Free Parking spot on the Atlantic City board is a casino. Players landing their may choose to make a wager of any amount, which is put into the bank, and then roll the ten sided die that is sitting on that square. The player wins twice the wager if a two is rolled, thrice the wager if a three is rolled, quadruple the wager if a four is rolled, but loses the wager on any other roll. You can bet either dollars or pounds.

Railroads: When a player lands on a railroad owned by another player, and the owner holds more than one railroad, the player may optionally move his or her token to one of those other railroads. The player must pay rent even if he or she does not travel. A player may travel on his or her own railroads, for free of course. A player may not travel on unowned railroads. Travel is across the boards, so a player does not get $200 for passing Go when he or she travels. A player may travel to or from a mortgaged railroad. The owner may disallow a player from traveling on his or her railroads if the owner refuses to take the rent from the player landing on it. The owner must decide to disallow travel before the player is required to specify his or her destination, if any, and the player should not declare an intention to travel until he or she has paid the rent. The owner must allow travel from a mortgaged railroad for free. After travelling, the player may chose to move in either direction around the board before his or her next roll.

Utilities: If a player lands on Water Works or the Electric Company and it is owned by another player, he or she must pay the owner $5 per property that he or she owns on that board plus $5 per building that he or she owns on that board, unless the owner holds both Water Works and the Electric Company, in which case he or she must pay the owner $10 per properties and building. A hotel is one building. If the player has no buildings or properties on that board, then no money is due. For example, George owns Park Lane and Mayfair, and has three houses on each, and also owns five other properties on the London board. He lands on the London Water Works. The owner of the London Water Works also owns the London Electric Company, and George must pay her £130 in water and electric bills. The Chance card that states “Advance Token to Nearest Utility” is also modified: if the utility is owned the player must play the owner $10 or £10 per property and building that he or she owns on that board.

Repossession: When a player is bankrupted by debts to another player, the debtor must auction off all his or her properties to the highest bidder and then pay the creditor as much as possible. The player may decide the order of properties being auctioned, because the auction could give the player enough money to pay off the debt.