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Monopoly Varient - A New Take on an Old Game
by Larry Levy © HuzonFirstGames.com

So maybe you've read all about the new European games and you're still not ready to give up your American favorites. That's okay. A simple variant can sometimes make an old game seem like new. Here's a variant of the classic games of Monopoly that take some of the luck out of those games. Try it out--you may find it gives you a new game and you won't have to spend a dime!

Variant for Monopoly

Before you begin play, you need to form a Strategy Deck. Take a regular deck of cards and remove the four Tens. The remaining cards are interpreted as follows:

* The Black cards from Ace through Nine are +1 cards;
* The Black cards from Jack through King are +2 cards;
* The Red cards from Ace through Nine are -1 cards;
* The Red cards from Jack through King are -2 cards.

Shuffle the deck well and give each player one card face down.

Play according to the usual rules, with the following exceptions. Every time a player passes or lands on Go, in addition to collecting his salary he picks a Strategy Card. He keeps this card face down until he chooses to use it. Strategy Cards may be traded or sold between players.

A player may use a Strategy Card after she rolls the dice. She plays the card, adjusts the roll by the amount indicated on the card, and then places the card on the bottom of the Strategy Deck. For example, if a player rolls a "7" and then plays a "-2" Strategy Card, she moves his token 5 spaces. A player may never play more than one Strategy Card per turn.

A modified roll can be as high as 14 (a +2 applied to a natural roll of 12) or as low as 0 (a -2 applied to a natural roll of 2). In the latter case, the player's token stays where it is and his turn proceeds just as if he had landed on that space. In addition, players only get credit for rolling doubles (which gives them an extra turn) if the natural roll is doubles and if no card is played.

Players may threaten to use certain Strategy Cards (including those they don't possess) or may negotiate with other players about whether they will or will not play a card. However, once a player exposes a card and declares that she is playing it, the decision is final.

When playing this variant, do not collect any money when landing on Free Parking.

After you've used this variant a few times, you can extend it if you like. For example, you can play that after a player plays a Strategy Card, another player can play the opposite card to restore the first player's roll back to its original value. Thus, if Alice rolls a 9 and plays a -1 card to make it 8 instead, Barney (or any other opponent) could play a +1 card to convert the movement back to the original roll of 9. Or, for a wilder game, you could simply play that anyone can play any Strategy card at any time and the end result is the player's roll modified by all the played cards. The best variant for you gaming group depends upon the style of game you all prefer.

That's it! Have fun!