Monopoly Deal First Impressions
Monopoly Deal is a quick Monopoly themed card game.
Is it as bad as you probably assumed it is?
Enjoy the rollercoaster experience of Monopoly in just 15 minutes! Collect full property sets to win!
Monopoly Deal Game Play
So I bought a few old/easy/quick/cheap games for the office so we could play at lunch. Then, one day the motorway was closed causing a massive traffic jam outside our office. Rather than sit in traffic, we decided to go to a table, get a nice hot coffee and wait for it all to blow over.
So we played Monopoly Deal which I picked up as one guy in the office really enjoys it. (Plus it tipped me over a free shipping threshold for an order meaning I technically made money adding it to my basket!)
The deck is shuffled and each player gets 5 cards. Each turn player draws 2 cards.
On a player’s turn, they can play up to 3 cards.
Players can play money cards face up in front of themselves as their bank.
They can play property cards face up in front of them in their property section putting matching colour properties into sets.
Or, a player can play action cards, resolve them and discard them.
These action cards let you steal properties and money from other players and other fancy pants things. If you need to give money to a player but you don’t have it, you have to give them properties up to the value.
At the end of their turn, players discard down to 7 and play continues clockwise.
The first player to complete 3 full property sets is the winner.
Theme
Monopoly! But quicker.
Setup & Rulebook
All good here. Some timing issues for cards are not explained as you usually find for games made for the mass market.
Components & Artwork
Cards in a box. Art is functional and recognisable but far from pretty.
Ease of Teaching
It’s very simple. Everyone has pretty much played Monopoly at this point so the idea of collecting sets of cards and charging rent is something players already know.
Monopoly Deal Summary
So if I’m going to play a quicker version of Monopoly I would pick Monopoly Gamer every time. But as I didn’t have my game collection with me, and Monopoly Gamer is no longer in my collection, Monopoly Deal it is!
And you know what? It’s actually not that bad.
Turns are quick and usually someone targets you with an action card on at least one player’s turn so you’re involved a lot out of turn. Even if it’s just to give money and/or properties to a player.
It’s a take that game which I generally don’t like but it’s SO take that that it barely registers. Just hope people are ‘taking that’ on the right player.
It’s actually better than I thought it would be, we had fun playing.
So, while I won’t be taking this to Essen to play with people in the hotel bar, it’s a good game to play when you’re stuck in the office out of work hours.
We now do regular after-work board game days where one guy brought in Dune: Imperium so it’s things turned out OK
Jesta ThaRogue
