My Monopoly House Rule

It's fair to say that I'm not a fan of Monopoly, and it's fair to say also that I'm really not a fan of house-ruling it: most of the house rules that people use serve to render a long and boring game even more long and boring.

That said, I have a house rule to propose that I think will improve things somewhat, especially with regard to the end-game that so often just drags on.

The game starts as normal, and plays as normal up until all the properties are sold. (I strongly recommend that the 'auction' rule be used, as this significantly speeds this part of the game.)

As soon as the last property is sold, though, there comes a reckoning: anyone who does not own a complete set is immediately eliminated from the game. All their properties are returned to the bank, as is any money that they have. (The complete set can be any set on the board and can include one or more mortgaged properties. The key question is whether they own one or not.)

(If only one player holds a complete set at this point, that player immediately wins the game. If nobody does, the game is a draw.)

From that point onwards, play continues normally, except that of course there are far fewer players, and there are probably some more properties available for purchase.

The reason for this house rule is simple: once all the properties are sold, anyone who holds a complete set has an almost overwhelming advantage over anyone who does not. It's almost certain that this will lead to the weaker players gradually bleeding money until they are eliminated from the game. Better just to drop them out now and save everyone the time and ill-feeling that results. (And if nobody has a complete set, the end game will be an interminable slog that will probably end only when everyone quits the game in disgust. Again, better just to stop.)

The other scenario, which is where two or more players hold complete sets, can be quite interesting - this is likely to be a fairly explosive set of transactions with the balance moving back and forward quite quickly, until someone runs out of cash. And that's likely to be pretty fast. Which is no bad thing.

So, anyway, that's my Monopoly house rule.