From: beowulf@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (john.a.foley)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Report on Two Monopoly Variants
Keywords: Auction, Stock Exchange
Date: 3 Sep 92 16:41:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: cbnewsm.1992Sep3.164139.18175
Organization: AT&T

The previous weekend I played 3 evenings of Monopoly
with 6 players using two known variants, the first
being R. Wayne Schmittberger's (and others perhaps)
variant known as Auction Monopoly, the second from
Parker Brothers itself (thanks to Nick Sauer) known
as the Monopoly Stock Exchange--a 1938 expansion.

Auction Monopoly is a simple but profound change:
whenever *ANY* player lands on an unowned property,
that property is *ALWAYS* put up for auction, with
an opening minimum bid of the mortgage price on
the back (eg, Mediterranean starts at $30, Boardwalk
starts at $200), with bidding increasing in $10
increments.

Aside from determining your group's style of bidding
mechanics, that's all that there is to it.

We were astounded by the effect of this optional
rule.  In fact, we will *never* play the basic way
again.  Unlike the basic game, every player is
immediately involved during every player turn in
the initial acquisition phase of the game.  The
excitement and tension is tremendous.  However, we
found ourselves playing a radically different game.

In the first game, players sort of decided what
monopoly they were going to try to bid for and so,
we had St. Charles Place going for $750; some monopolies
were formed right away using this process.  This didn't
guarantee a win!  In fact, most of us found ourselves
terribly cash poor and poorly diversified to boot.
In the aftermath, we realized that we were relearning
some fundamental laws of business.

In the second game, players took a more complex approach,
restraining themselves somewhat (not entirely 8-), and
building for themselves clever trade opportunities.
We still didn't get it right, however, but we couldn't
stop talking about the nature of this new beast.

We believe that further play would yield a complex,
strategic, market game that would play fast, be
exciting for all, remove the bitterness factor that
creeps into the classic version for players who
only land on Luxury Tax and the Electric Company.

One thing to avoid doing: don't be tempted to solve
the cash flow problems by giving players more money
at the start (until you've played this variant).
The problem of managing your cash in a free market
is most instructive.

We also played with and without the Stock Exchange.
Basically, if you play the strict Classic version,
which takes longer to play (we suspect), then you
might be interested in the Stock Exchange.  The problem
is that this option is a very long term investment that
only begins to pay off if you are in a game where you
have gone through the Chance and Community Chest decks
at least 3-4 times, and expect further play.

We didn't think this option added too much to the game
at all and do not plan to use it (too bad I spent so
much time hand making the certificates and cards, etc).
The Exchange is not dynamic at all.  However, if you
ignore the Stock Exchange expansion and use the Auction
Monopoly variant, you'll think you're at the Merc, on
Wall Street, and gee, that variant is a total blast.

John A. Foley
Newsgroups: rec.games.board