How to Play Monopoly

Series Summary

Monopoly is a board game whose popularity reaches back to the beginning of the 20th Century. In 1904, Lizzie Maggie, a Georgist who distributed the game with the intention of showing the public how the renting system made landlords richer while further impoverishing the poor, obtained a patent on the earliest known version of the game, which at that time was called The Landlord's Game. Parker Brothers (now owned by Hasbro) acquired the rights to the game and most of its popular variations in 1935 and continues to sell the board game today. Monopoly comes in many versions, including Star Wars Monopoly, NASCAR Monopoly, and various localized versions, but the standard edition is based in Atlantic City. The intrigue of the game centers around its sophisticated rules and strategies, but some view the game as too complicated and time-consuming.

In this free how-to video clip series, our expert attempts to aide board gamers by offering tips and strategies for optimizing players' experience with the game of Monopoly. He presents explanations of the rules, such as choosing a banker, buying and trading property, mortgaging property and filing for bankruptcy, and he gives tips on buying houses and hotels, controlling color groups and winning the game.