All top-hats should now be replaced with Donald Trump hair pieces. This includes the game piece, but also all top-hats that appear on the cards. So, for example, the Monopoly man isn't "technically" bald anymore on the cards where we're used to seeing him with his top-hat on; and cards like the one where he's being carried away to jail by the cop maybe have the Trump hair piece embarrassingly falling off.

The Yorkie game piece (my favorite). And the dice... it still needs to be a game of chance.

Dan D.V.

The game and all players should be subject to terrorist attack. The game should be financed by debt and the only possible winner is the bank. One player...the stronger...must be allowed to attack another who threatens his-her strategic interest or ability to acquire oil. Government and law always favor the richest player. Taxes are paid only by the players with the least money. The winner will not survive revolution. Any act of self-imolation will spark revolution an the richest player goes to jail forever.

There is nothing worth saving

norman

How about some global rules that would affect all players for that game - to either be chosen by roll of the dice, or by players (maybe the banker?) at the beginning of the game with additional cards for that set of circumstances. Such as government regulation of RRs -- or universal health insurance -- or pollution costs for those polluting and those affected -- or casinos that can be put on Boardwalk making people rich and poor --

If you don't keep the basic format and iconic elements like the shoe, the capitalist, do not pass go and do not collect $200, Boardwalk -- well, it's just not Monopoly anymore - it's a different game. The nostalgic element of a game that was played in the depression by our grandparents and great-grandparents is part of the appeal -- and perhaps relevant again today.

Penny

He who lands in Jail most Wins.

Guy with the mustache, harks back to the days of games that came with rules!

superf88

1 rolling the die and movement- when the die is cast the number rolled is the maximum spaces a player can travel. a player may also choose to land on any property owned by another player within that range. this is to allow players some freedom in where they “rent” property. It would also introduce a strategic element- who do you want to give money to? giving money to a poor player extends their life in the game, giving to a rich player increases their advantage.
2 lower rent - a player may offer lower rent to another player who might land on their property. A rule to work with the previous rule. Thus a bidding war may begin -
Player A: “Choose Vermont Ave. I’ll only charge you X dollars.”
Player B: “No, go to Oriental Ave. I’ll only charge you X-10 dollars.”

3 Business partners - allow player to join forces against others. they may agree to not charge each other rent, or lower rent, etc... they may join financially, pooling their money. They must keep separate game pieces however, and roll separately. this will allow weaker player to band together.
4 Conditional Partnership - if a Strong player wishes to partner with a weaker one they may enter a conditional partnership. The stronger player may ask for half of the weaker player’s rent, or some of their property etc..., in exchange for support.
5 ending a partnership - players may end partnerships when they wish. there may be disagreements over shared property/funds they must work it out themselves. players not involved in the partnership may offer their opinions should an agreement not be possible. If an agreement is still not found, then all players should vote on it. (bribery is allowed prior to the vote)
6 Head hunting - players may seek to break up a partnership by offering one of the partners a deal. “break up with him and come join me” or “break up and I’ll give you Virginia Ave”

6. Economic growth - so long as any player buys or improves a property each time around the board, all players receive 200 dollars for passing Go, because the economy is ‘growing’. If a player doesn’t buy or upgrade a property as they go around the board, they only receive 100 dollars, as the economy is ‘stagnating.’ If no one has bought or improved any property in 2 rounds, then players receive 0 dollars, as there is now a ‘recession.’

7. Chance/community chest cards - chance cards will always affect either specified property or all players. community chest cards affect only the player who draws it.
8. Using chance for balance- chance cards should be used to make cheap property worth more, or expensive property worth less.
“Highwaymen - The next person to move past Mediterranean or Baltic Ave. pays rent, regardless of weather or not they land there.”
“subsidised housing- any player who owns Connecticut, Vermont or Oriental receives $50 per property”
“Boom times- the rent at Virginia, States Ave, and St Charles Place increased by $50 for the players who next land on each of those spaces.
“Bust times - the next person to land on boardwalk or park place pays only half rent”
“Eminent Domain - the government buys back Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Pacific Ave, at 50% their original price”
“embezzlement - anyone owning either Marvin Gardens, Atlantic or Ventnor Ave, loses $200 per property owned”
9. using community cards for balance- well to do players will be penalized for their success, poor people will be rewarded by sheer luck.
“Property damage- pay the bank $10 per house you own, $50 per hotel”
“Farm subsidy- the bank pays you $20 for each property you own that does not have a house or hotel on it.”
“Counterfeiting- replace your $1 bills with an equal number of $5 bills”
“Restructuring- if you have less than $200, skip your next turn. then on the following turn you will gain $500.”
“Closing the corporate loopholes- if you have more than $2500, then the next time you move past Income tax, you must pay it, regardless of weather or not you land there”

10. Jail- Go to Jail is now specifically because of corporate fraud, so you cannot collect rent while in jail. You are also assumed to have defraud-ed you fellow players, so to get out of jail early, you may pay each of the other players $50 in reparations to get out of jail early.

11. the dice- six sided die are so boring. get a 10-sided or 12-sided die, or three four-sided die. something that could be unique to monopoly.

the general rules and board. it's best not to force players to unlearn things.

Travis M.

Increase incomes, rents, and fees to reflect modern prices. Add tax shelters, stocks, 401k references. Replace RRs with shipyards, aerospace industries, and trucking. Utilities could be green energy and Internet/WiFi. Maybe add making money on currency exchange as a card bonus. New pieces...smartphone, laptop, newer car, iPad, cruise liner.

The basic gameplay.

Robert

I'd make the property prices vary more over the course of the game.
Either they could all increase after a certain number of rounds, or a chance card could have 'property bubble: pay double rent for the next ten rounds'. Or what dice you roll could be a factor in deciding what you buy/pay.

The stations and utility squares.

Rob

the board should have the same number of spaces, but they might look better as a ring of circles instead of the dull squares. a black background with a less pastel/pasty color palate would be nice

money should be in increments of $1000.00, 10,000.00, 100,000.00, etc.

new rules as follows:

1. replace the street names with city names, color coded to the seven continents. monopoly is an international "game" now.

2. everyone moves the same number of spaces at the same time, each player taking turns as the one who roles. rolling player gets the first option to buy or sell the city.

3. city owners can purchase businesses (houses) until they have enough to corner that city's factories (hotels). when non-owners land in developed cities they must import goods/pay tariffs (rent) based on the number of businesses/factories.

4. railroads are replaced by resources: oil, nuclear, water, agriculture. owning two resources doubles the amount collectible on a player's city property; three resources triple the amount; but owning all four means the player must forfeit all current and future city holdings in exchange for payment when landing on the resource squares. the amount collected is determined by a role of the device as a percentage of the player's income (1= 1%, 2= 2%, etc).

5. when one player owns all the cities on two continents the other players can form an alliance and declare "war" at which point they break away and travel around the board the opposite direction, rolling the dice separately. when the alliance lands on a city owned by the player they are at war with they do not need to pay tariffs and can, if they wish commandeer one (1) building on that space to be surrendered as a spoil of war.

6. if more than one player controls two continents those players are at war with each other and the other players must choose which player they will side with. the warring players consolidate their resources and act as one, with the controlling players making final decisions.

7. if a person lands in exile (jail), for whatever reason, they are there forever. players land in exile as the result of randomly landing on the scandal (chance) or government oversight (community chest) spaces. the cards for these spaces will have a mix of fines and punishments and windfalls, with seven cards dedicated to removing a player (or players) from the game. once in exile, all properties are returned to their neutral states, but the exiled player keeps whatever money they have.

8. players traveling in a group that land in exile all go to exile together.

9. the winner is the last player not exiled. if all players are exiled at once, the winner is the one with the *least* amount of money.

the dice

david

I would add the ability to create corporations, hedgefunds and shareholder agreements. I would also add more utilities and infrastucture. Airports, deepsea ports, highways, telecommunications, and even garbage disposal are some ideas. These could all be purchased. Combined with the ability to create hedgefunds, corporations and shareholder agreements, you could pool capital, borrow capital and purchase more expensive property or developments. By allowing for shareholder agreements, you could also share revenue by percentage owned in a company.

Also, I would privitize the bank and allow for more liberal borrowing. This of course would be coupled with higher interest rates and the ability of the bank to freeze / seize assets on loan defaults. Players may purchase shares in the bank and receive dividends from interest earned.

The pieces and paper money.

Jimmy

To update the classic game to more modern times, I suggest some common financial and political changes: We need a Too Big To Fail card, Inflation pegged to energy prices (everything will cost more if a monopoly on oil is achieved), a Chinese prescence, in the form of sovereign funds buying out the banks.
Higher taxes.
An Insider trading penalty card.
Instead of RailRoads, Airlines and Cargo Ocean lines.

the lower rental properties should be called Compton, Bronx, West Phillie, South Boston...

Maybe an Ipad as a new symbol instead of the Shoe.

I would keep the colors, the dice and most of the higher rental property names.

Massimiliano

As a Economics nerd I probably would change many of the rules to both mirror our current system and add a fantastical flair. I would add more taxes, like a value added tax; I would add a moving interest rate that either goes up as the game goes on or that would be decided some other creative way; I would permit players to buy as many house and hotels as their little heart desires (it is monopoly anyway); I would add in inflationary and deflationary periods probably to be decided by community chest or chance cards (key word probably); I would divide the board into communities and let players with property in the area join a community organization, with players only being permitted to join one. Aesthetically I would probably change the puke green of the board, maybe a yellow. I've thought extensively about this and I have millions of other ideas that I won't bore you with.

The pieces are timeless. Overall they should stay the same, maybe adding in a little laptop or a to-go coffee cup. Also Boardwalk and Park Place are cultural institutions that should remain the highest priced items on the board.

Robert

1. Add politics to the game (optionally, or maybe as an alternative Chance or Community Chest). Pay a lobbyist or contribute to a politician to put deed restrictions or zoning restrictions on another player's property, cash out another player's property through eminent domain, add rent controls, break up a monopoly and auction the pieces to the highest bidder, etc.
2. Make hotel and house pieces stackable so that players can create skyscrapers.
3. Add an optional dummy player represented by a monkey, who buys everything he can. See if you can beat the monkey.

The game is classic. Shouldn't really change things too much.

Peter