Monopoly Plaza

The Monopoly game was invented in the depression of the thirties as the Landlord game by Charles Darrow. Well, that's very short, and perhaps not accurate. The origin of the game has been the subject of attention of the some conflicts in court.

Other interesting sites on the net.

• James Molesworth has an interesting and well looking sites with the rules, frequently asked questions and interesting facts.
• And of course there is Parker Brothers own home page on the game. Parker Bothers is a subsidiary of Hasbro, a games multinational.

Variations.

• There are many home brewn variations, and one of the easiest is this:
  Money paid for fines and getting out of jail is put on the center of the board. If a player arrives at free parking, he receives this money.
• Players may borrow money from each other, and pay 5% rent when the loaner passes START. Usually this sparks controversions as some players feel gruntled. It's probably better to let bankers do the banking.
• The start of the game has a very large luck factor, and is not the most interesting part of the game. So this part of the game got the special attention of improvement intentions. One possible improvement is acquiring by auction. Another is the Quick Start. Wayne Schmittgerger also suggested the fair start.
• The designer no doubt had a noble idea in mind when including jail. Personally, I like being in jail in the later stages of the game, as I get money but don't need to pay. Also, I never understood why I should turn into jail without being convicted, and without having done anything wrong. This latter variant is for adults only.
• Also a controlled advance decreases the large luck factor of the game.
• Some players get incredibly rich. What can you do with your money, well, YCDBSOYA.
• These and other variations may be downloaded in Word Perfect 5 format.