Game Design Challenge: Make Monopoly Fun
Results from Game Design Challenge: Make Monopoly Fun[10.02.08]
- Manveer Heir and GameCareerGuide.com staff
Recently, The Parker Bros. asked you to come up with three new rules to help make Monopoly, one of the most successful games of all time, more fun.
The three major issues to correct were that 1) the game takes too long, 2) there is too much luck, and 3) players who go bankrupt have nothing to do while others finish the game. Many designers abhor the game Monopoly and are amazed that it has been so successful, in spite of these flaws.
The goal of this challenge was to make you think about the flaws of existing games and ways to fix them within the framework. Oftentimes, as a game designer, you cannot make major changes to the way a game works. For example, if you're working on a sequel to a well-known franchise, usually you can't get away with implementing a fundamentally different style of play.
However, there are still ways to help fix some of the flaws that may exist in the game, and that's what this challenge was all about.
The submissions varied from very basic rule changes (game ends after X number of trips around the board) to extremely complex (variable tax rates).
There are three flaws identified, and optimally the three rules would address the three flaws in some way. In reality, only a few entries were able to do that. Many entries addressed two out of the three (or one) but few hit three out of three.
Additionally, there were many rules that, while interesting, seemed overly complex and tough to understand. Clarity and simplicity are important. Reading the rules multiple times in order to understand them is a bad thing, especially for a game as casual and family-oriented as Monopoly.
On to the best solutions to the Monopoly challenge!
Best Entries
E. McNeill, Dartmouth College, Front Loading Capital (see page 2)
E. McNeill's entry was the only one to come up with three solid rules for making Monopoly a more enjoyable play experience. By front loading capital in the game, the process of acquiring properties is sufficiently sped up.
Will Armstrong IV, Fame and Fortune Edition (see page 3)
Will Armstrong's version of Monopoly is as much an update on the theme as a series of additional rules.
Webster Chang, Editor, Monopoly Malice (see page 4)
Many readers submitted ideas for how to allow players to wreak havoc on one another, but Webster Chang takes his the furthest.
Honorable Mentions
Jeff Koerber, game design student, Flashpoint Academy, Chicago, Pressure to Trade
1. Once every property has been purchased an "inflation multiplier" will take effect. Each time the owner of Boardwalk passes Go, the multiplier will increase by 1 and with it the rent of each property will be multiplied accordingly.
Players who are reluctant to trade property can keep a game in a stalemate. With Inflation the $200 for passing go will slowly become insufficient for merely surviving in the game. This will possibly encourage trading earlier but definitely end the game sooner.
2. Players do not collect rent while in Jail. When the board is littered with hotels Jail seems like a safe place to be; especially since you can benefit from others landing on your properties. Why are we making imprisonment a reward?
3. Players may choose to roll one or two dice. This adds a minor level of strategy without interfering with the inherent design. Odds will prevent you from ever being able to avoid an opponent's property every time but you can still benefit from tipping the scale a bit.
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