My daughter Kathryn had a job babysitting the kids next door this afternoon. Lexi (the ten year old girl) wanted to play Monopoly. None of the boys could be bothered with anything so tedious, and two handed Monopoly is not much fun, so Kathryn asked me to participate.
We sat down at one. Lexi threw in the towel after a couple of hours. I lasted one more hour before Kathryn cleaned me out. If there were three adults playing seriously the game could easily have lasted twice as long. I finally folded when Kathryn had 60% of the board and I landed on one her properties that rented for $1400. I had less than $500 cash. If I had mortgaged everything I might have been able to pay the rent. That was the end.
I must say that Lexi played pretty well. Of course, I am pretty far removed from knowing what the capabilities a ten year old should possess. She had all the mechanics down pat, but her trading acumen was not quite up to snuff. She virtually gave away a couple of her properties to my rapacious daughter who took advantage of her quite shamelessly. I was shocked, I tell you, shocked to my very core! Cutting in front of me like that without even a by-your-leave. That's how you win in Monopoly, go for the throat and don't let tradition or respect cause you to waver in your course. Riches are what we are after, and the devil take the hindmost!
Playing this game I was reminded of all the annoying little details that bother me, like little plastic houses that won't stay still, money that is too slick and too small to count easily, Chance & Community Chest cards that slide all over. I was thinking that it wouldn't take too much to make the game a little easier to handle, but then a computer could handle a lot of the mechanics much more easily. Problem is that the whole point of a board game is to be sitting at a table, across from your opponents. It is the social interaction that makes the game interesting, not the game itself. An electronic tablet the size of the game board that everyone could sit around might be a good idea. A computer screen as big as a typical game board would be expensive, and I don't know if the viewing angle would work for people sitting around a table. And then there all the hazards at a typical gaming table: food, drinks, people pounding on the board. Would it survive? It would basically be like a Kindle. One piece of electronic equipment to replace the paper item, and then a selection of software for all the games you want to play.
Good for entertainment purposes only, not for gambling, though I am probably wrong about that.
Another update: It occured to me that part of the social nature of the game is the business of dealing with the stupid little pieces that slide all over the board. What percentage of Monopoly games include someone cursing the little plastic houses?
Update February 2017 replaced missing picture.
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