International Standard Rules for Monopoly

Monopoly – The game of wealth is no longer unfamiliar to us. However, many of you may still not have played by the rules of this legendary board game, resulting in an incomplete gaming experience. Therefore, in this article, Mytour will clarify the most accurate rules for playing Monopoly.

I. Game Setup

The rules of Monopoly are not difficult, and they are very specific. Playing with 2 or 4 people is ideal.

The objective of the game is to become the wealthiest player through buying, selling, and renting properties.

In a Monopoly game, you need to have specific components, including:

• Game board
• 32 houses
• 12 hotels
• 16 Chance cards
• 16 Community Chest cards
• 28 property deeds
• Money (approximately 128 bills)
• Tokens
• 2 six-sided dice

Place the Chance and Community Chest card decks (face down) and the 2 Chance – Community Chest spaces on the board.

Each player selects a game piece and places it on the Starting square. Along with that, each player receives a starting amount of $1500, consisting of:

• 2 bills of $500
• 2 bills of $100
• 2 bills of $50
• 6 bills of $20
• 5 bills of $10
• 5 bills of $5
• 5 bills of $1

One player is chosen as the Banker. The Banker manages all remaining money and all property, including land, houses, and hotels until they are purchased. The Bank never runs out of money; if it does, any piece of paper can be used, and the amount can be written on it.

A player can serve as both a player and the Banker, as long as they keep their assets separate from the Bank's assets.

The Bank is also responsible directly for handling taxes, fines, lending money, interest, etc., in Community Chest and Chance, as well as on the board.

II. Starting the Game

1. Turns

All players mutually agree on the starting player; subsequent turns will then proceed clockwise from the starting player.

There are four main steps for each turn:

Step 1: Roll the dice; based on the result, move your game piece in the direction of the arrow. Each point on the dice corresponds to moving one space. Passing the Start square earns you $200 from the Bank. If you roll doubles, you get an extra turn.

Step 2: Purchase properties. You can buy land from the Bank on the square you land on if it's unowned. Pay an amount equal to the displayed value on the board and receive a property deed. If you choose not to buy, the Bank will auction the property to the highest bidder. Any player, even those who initially declined to buy, can participate in the auction.

(Some house rules may exclude auctions; players can only purchase properties when landing directly on them.)

When you have all the properties in a color group, you're allowed to charge double rent to those who land on any of those properties.

Step 3: Build houses. You can only build houses when you own all properties in the same color group. You can construct a house at any time on any unimproved property within that color group, paying the corresponding amount on the property deed. However, the next house must be built on another vacant property within the same color group (or a different color group). For example, to build a second house on a green property, all other green properties must have one house each. Once you've purchased four houses on a property, you're allowed to upgrade it to a hotel, removing the houses.

Step 4: Complete necessary actions. Pay rent if you land on a property owned by another player. Pay taxes if you land on a Tax space, and draw the corresponding card when you land on a Community Chest or Chance space. These cards are placed at the bottom of the deck after you've followed their instructions.

2. Go to Jail

In the rules of Monopoly, you find yourself in jail when:

• Your game piece lands on the Go to Jail square
• You draw the 'Go to Jail' card
• You roll doubles three times in a row

Your game piece is moved to the 'Jail' square opposite the 'Go to Jail' square.

There are four ways to get out of jail:

• Pay a $50 fine before rolling the dice
• Use a Get Out of Jail Free card
• Roll doubles when attempting to get out of jail
• After three failed attempts to roll doubles, pay a $50 fine and go to jail.

While in jail, you can still buy and sell properties and collect any rent owed. You won't go to jail by landing directly on the 'Jail' square and won't incur any fines.

3. Selling and Mortgaging

If you don't have enough money to pay rent, mortgages, or other obligations during your turn, you can choose to sell houses, hotels, or properties. Houses are sold to the Bank for half their purchase price and cannot be sold to other players. Property ownership can be transferred to another player with mutual agreement, but you must sell houses back to the Bank first if the property has any.

The process of selling houses must be carried out similarly to their construction. You must sell houses one by one on properties within the same color group.

Unimproved properties can also be mortgaged to the Bank at the mortgage value printed on the back of the property deed. You must flip the property deed face down when mortgaging. No rent is collected when someone lands on a mortgaged property. All houses must be sold before mortgaging the property.

To redeem a mortgaged property, a player must pay the mortgage amount to the Bank (without assistance from other players) + 10% interest. Players can also sell a mortgaged property to another player. The new owner must pay the mortgaged amount to the Bank + 10% interest.

4. Bankruptcy

You go bankrupt when the total value of your assets cannot cover your debts to both the Bank and other players.

If you owe another player, you must pay the debt and exit the game. Sell all houses to the Bank at half price and surrender all money and property deeds to your creditor. If there are mortgaged properties, the creditor must immediately redeem them by paying the mortgage amount + 10% to the Bank. If the creditor wishes to redeem later, a 10% interest must be paid upon receiving the property. Subsequent redemptions also require paying the mortgage amount + 10%.

In the event of bankruptcy due to debt to the Bank, even if you've tried selling all assets, the Bank seizes and immediately auctions off your properties (excluding houses and hotels).

Note that money can only be borrowed from the Bank through land mortgages; players are not allowed to lend money to each other.

III. Ending the Game

You can choose to conclude the game at any point and tally the total value of each player (including houses and property values). Alternatively, you can play until only one player remains, with the rest having gone bankrupt.

And that's what you need to know to kick off a Monopoly game with your friends. If you have any questions during play, feel free to leave them in the comments, and Mytour will address them promptly. Have fun!