18 Apr 2025 4 min read

Monopoly now has expansions

Here they are!

This is just a quick note to talk about how much I love these expansions from a game design perspective. I haven't played them, and I don't plan to, but just skimming the descriptions gives me an idea of them. So here we go:

What's the problem with Monopoly?
It takes forever, it's a slow grind to complete, one player is clearly going to win and yet everyone has to sit there for hours until they do.

What's the best thing about Monopoly?
Everyone has house rules they love to argue over. The way these house rules function as culture, the way people are attached to them and debate them...

How do these two things interact?
Most of the house rules make the game slower to play. They're added to allow a player to stave off defeat, and in so doing just make the game drag out longer.

So how do these expansions help?
Each expansion tackles a particular house rule. They take the place of that house rule, they provide the pleasure that that house rule provides (or mimic that pleasure, at least). But! In doing so, they also adapt the logic of the rule, such that the game is over much quicker and without the drag of waiting for a foregone conclusion.

Let's take them one by one.

House rule: put money under free parking, take it when you land there.
It's fun because it adds some direct abilities to win cash for landing somewhere, not just lose money or gain slower strategic advantage.

Expansion:

And the expansion adds spinners to the board! Direct excitement of spinning to get free stuff!
And also changes the rule so that the game ends when all the properties have been bought. And some of the free stuff is properties...

• PLAY IN HALF THE TIME: Play the Monopoly family board game in about 40 minutes with this easy to learn, quick-playing expansion! It’s great for fitting in fun mischief with family and friends anytime
• A FAVORITE HOUSE RULE IS NOW A REALITY: Attach this expansion to the Monopoly game and enjoy the classic Monopoly gameplay players know—plus an easy-to-learn twist! Transform Free Parking into a spin-it-to-win-it jackpot
• SPIN FOR A CHANCE TO WIN BIG MONEY: In this fun family game extension, the Chance and Community Chest spaces are now Spin spaces. Players who land on them can spin the spinner to go for the Jackpot

House rule: Ignore the auction mechanic if a player passes on buying a property
Why do this? Because it feels punishing if someone didn't buy because they couldn't afford it, it's fussy

So the expansion: adds new ways to buy properties. Including the other spaces that aren't normally for sale. I guess this one is not so much co-opting the house rule as replacing it with one that is more in alignment with the original intent.

Also spinners, also extra conditions for ending the game early.

House rule: cheating
It's fun because it's fun to cheat. Sneaking money from the bank when you're not supposed to? Delicious fun, low consequence. Especially because it's just outside the game...

So the expansion: Adds some crime mechanics to the board, adds "super jail", adds more direct excitement with spinners.

Honestly this one doesn't really have the thrill of the original, but alas it's very difficult to make a commercial product which encourages the very delicate and situational play of violating norms outside of the magic circle of the game.

(A question which came up recently on the Pube Discord - what's a work of art which encourages visitors to steal parts of it? It's a fun question because it can't openly give permission for theft without it no longer being theft. It also brings up interesting dynamics where the artist and the gallery are at odds with each other. Fascinating design question, imo)

Again on my streak of "game design is fun" - what a fun problem, to make a saleable and profitable product that fixes long standing game design issues, and does it without consumer rejection for going against long standing and much-loved house rules!

(Just a shame it does so by attempting to eradicate those house rules. Even if they do make the game worse, I am more attached to the idea of those rules than the idea of actually playing the game. But then, I'm probably not the ideal audience for a Hasbro expansion.)