Monopoly Jr.

## Overview

**Monopoly Junior** is a simplified version of the board game Monopoly, designed for young children. It has a smaller, rectangular board than the standard game and rather than using street names it is based on a city's amusements (a zoo, a video game arcade, a pizzeria, etc.) to make the game more child-friendly.

## History

Parker Brothers began producing *Monopoly Junior* in 1990, explicitly marketed for players aged five to eight, with a simplified board and gameplay as compared to the standard *Monopoly* game. The *Monopoly Junior* board was based on a fair's midway, and featured 16 "amusements" rather than 28 properties. Players chose a car token in one of four colours (red, blue, green and yellow), and used corresponding coloured "ticket booths" (hotel pieces from the standard *Monopoly* game) to denote ownership of the amusements in lieu of title deeds. The gameplay mechanics are the same as the standard game: players roll a die (a single die, rather than two dice) and move their token clockwise around the board the number of spaces corresponding to the rolled die.

When players land on an unowned amusement they must purchase the amusement for the price shown on the board; the player cannot decline to buy the amusement, and there is no auction. Amusements cannot be improved with houses or hotels as in the standard *Monopoly* game. When a player lands on an amusement owned by an opponent they must pay their opponent the value of the amusement marked on the board. If a player lands on one of a pair of amusements of the same color owned by the same player they must pay their opponent double the value of the amusement they landed on. Play continues until one of the players is bankrupted; the player with the most cash on hand wins.

In 2013, the game was revised with the board now based on a simplified version of a city rather than a midway. The player tokens were replaced with a green car, blue ship, orange cat and black dog. The ticket booths were replaced with "sold signs", cardboard pieces featuring cartoon caricatures of the player tokens. The $1, $2, $3, $4 and $5 notes were replaced with single-denomination "Monopoly money" notes, and the prices on the board were denoted with a Monopoly money currency glyph (an uppercase 'M' with two horizontal crossbars) instead of dollars or pounds. The board became more reminiscent of the standard *Monopoly* board, replacing the "Rest Rooms" (or "Café", depending on the version of the board) with "Jail" and "Uncle Pennybag's Loose Change" with "Free Parking". The four Railroad spaces, the Fireworks space, the Water Show and two Chance spaces were also eliminated, reducing the board size from 32 spaces to 24.

## How to Play

Place the board in front of you you can start putting pieces in place. The Chance cards go in their spot of the board. Set the plastic ticket booths to the side and organize the stacks of money that have undoubtedly gotten disorganized in the box.

Pick one player as a banker. This person will have the role of distributing and collecting money throughout the

game. For right now however, they can hand each player their initial cash amounts. Each player receives *five $1’s, four $2’s, three $3’s, two $4’s, and one $5*.

The last thing to set up is perhaps the most important. Choose which color car you’ll drive throughout the game and set them on the “Go” spot.

### Monopoly Junior Rules: A Basic Turn

The game is played in turns. The player with the highest number on an initial dice roll goes first.

Each turn is played the same way with a player rolling the die and moving that number of spaces. Your car will park on different spots and that’s where the game’s complexity emerges. Regardless of the consequences, follow the instructions on the space where you land.

### Here are the spots you can land

**Amusement -** If you land on one of the spaces with colored rectangles, you have landed on some aspect of an amusement park and, understandably, will have to spend some money. This can happen a few ways however.

If the amusement does not have a booth set up by another player, you must pay the bank the dollar amount listed on the spot. As a result you now may control that amusement square by placing one of your color’s ticket booths on that colored rectangle.

If, on the other hand, you land on a spot with an opponent’s ticket booth on it, you must pay the money amount on that spot to the owner of that amusement. If both amusement of the same color are owned by that player, you must pay double that amount.

**GO!**

**-** If you land on or pass the GO! spot, you may collect $2 dollars from the bank.

**Railroa'***d -'* Railroads extend your turn. Roll the die again and move that number of spaces as if it were one roll.

**Pay $2 Dollars Spo'***t -'* Going to see the Fireworks or a Water Show will cost you $2 dollars paid to the “Loose Change” spot opposite GO! on the board.

**Restrooms -** If you land in the restrooms, there is no result to your turn. Landing on the “Go to the Restroom” is much worse. If you land there, pay $3 dollars to “Loose Change” and move your car to the “Restroom” spot

**Chance -** Draw a “Chance” card and follow the instructions. Some might move you elsewhere on the board. Some may direct you to put a free booth on a certain color. If that color is completely occupied by one opponent, this is impossible and you can draw a new card. If however, both spaces are occupied by two different opponents, you can remove one of the two booths.**Loose Change -** Jackpot! With a few other spots funneling money to the “Loose Change” spot, there is usually a hefty sum to be won by landing there. If you are so lucky, collect that money and laugh at your opponents.

### Monopoly Junior Rules: Winning the Game

The game proceeds with money traded back and forth until one player has run out. When this happens, the player with the most money is the winner of Monopoly Junior.

## Links and References

How to Play - wikiHow

BoardGameGeek Review