by Escher26
Monopoly. That one word will polarize geeks into two distinct camps: Those that loathe it and those that merely despise it. In all seriousness, if we are being honest with ourselves, Monopoly is probably the first game that we all played as kids - the one that fired us up. At least if you are an American, Monopoly was probably the cornerstone of many a family memory.
But we here at the Overhauling crew have decided that we need to take this classic and give it a new, more 21st century make over. So, below, I list things that folks hate about the original that are addressed by Monopoly - DEAL.
1) It takes FOREVER to buy properties.
Fixed! What we did here is we made the game a card game, so that properties are actually dealt out to each player as part of their 'hand'. Also, even though there is only one card of each named property, we put in a bunch of wild cards so that you can complete a set even if your little sister has Boardwalk and won't sell it to you.
2) It takes forever to COMPLETE a set.
Well, see above, but again, we made it a card game with lots of opportunity to get the sets outright. Then, as an extra measure of interaction, we put in a whole bunch of Action cards that allow you to steal a card from an opponent, trade a card, or even steel a complete SET.
3) It takes forever PERIOD!
Ah, we've taken the goal of run your opponents out of money and turned it into Complete three sets of properties. While the game might take a half hour or so in a group of five or more players, it is unlikely to take much longer than that.
4) My opponent has a lead, I'm screwed.
Not anymore! In addition to the above mentioned Action cards that allow you to swap / steal properties, there are other action cards which allow you to charge your opponents rent, or just outright demand money from them because hey, It's Your BIRTHDAY! The interaction between the players ensures that it will be difficult for a single player to run away with a victory. It can still happen, but it requires the luck of the draw - and every player has the same chance at this luck.
5) It's all luck anyway, there is no real strategy.
Well, this one we had a bit of trouble with. It's hard to make any game where the core mechanic is random draw into the next Strategy Game of the Year, but it's not just pure chaos. There is a fair amount of luck, to be sure, but by playing your sets of cards at strategic times, and holding on to special cards which can allow you to cancel a deal, you CAN put together a pretty good strategy despite the random draw mechanic.
Well, that's about it for this edition of Overhauling. If you'd like to pick up a copy of Monopoly Deal, it is widely available at most Big Box retailers (Wall Mart, Fred Meyer, Target, etc.) for about $5.99 plus tax. It's worth it. Heck, pick up two so you can play with six or more!
-Robert 'Escher'
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