Monopoly, and Games for the Whole Family

Who hasn't ever played Monopoly? This past Thanksgiving holiday we got together with our daughter and her family. They have three boys the oldest being nine. They have begun to enjoy playing board games at their house so we weren't surprised when the old Monopoly game was pulled out of the closet one evening. There are so many themed Monopoly games these days.

My husband and I haven't played this game since our kids were young and I hate to tell you just how many years that has been. We play card games like Hand and Foot Canasta, Pinochle, Cribbage and Solitare. We also enjoy domino games like Chicken Foot and Mexican Train. We are also known to play some online games like Mah Jong. Some of the board games have been retired at our house having played them often with our kids. So when we go to the grandkids' home, we grin and bear it while we play Chutes and Ladders or Candyland. Monopoly is in the same category.

We set it up like usual for those of you who are familiar with Monopoly, with one person being the banker and each of us with our pot of money. Going around the board several times made our bank account multiply so we were beginning to feel confident in purchasing some of the properties on which we landed. It was interesting to note that none of us got all of the properties we went for due to the competitive nature of our relations. So all of us had bits and pieces of land all around the board.

After awhile we could tell we were going nowhere so my daughter decides to offer a partnership with her husband provided he give her Park Place which went with her Boardwalk. He would have a percentage of the profits once hotels were put on the property. If you have ever played this game, you know that Boardwalk and Park Place are prime properties. Landing on these with hotels can cost you over $1500 at a whack! So they decide to do this partnership.

I countered by explaining that this wasn't part of the game and they weren't following rules. It fell on deaf ears. Okay, two can play that game. I offered the other three players to be shareholders in my corporation all sharing profits from the houses and motels that were jointly purchased by the members. We pooled all our properties which were considerable and began placing buildings on them which gave us quite an income. Whenever someone landed on our property, we divided up the income. Of course, any of the members of the corporation got benefits by not having to pay for landing on their co-owned property so basically it was the partnership paying out. One of them went bankrupt so he was sitting back just watching the unfolding of the competitive game.

It was us against them. My two grandsons were in the corporation and they were getting quite a kick out of raking in the money and for several turns of play, the partnership was glad to spend time in jail so that they didn't have to land on our property. Meanwhile, several of us landed on Boardwalk and Park Place helping each other out with the huge fees to pay. None of us were really making money hand over fist, but it was fun sticking up for each other. All I can say is that it was probably a good thing it was ten o'clock and time for bed or we might not have come out smelling like roses.

So while we didn't follow the rules of the game, we had a lot of fun making up our own. It was particularly fun watching each family member's interraction and reaction to events of the game. It was also provided lots of laughter, teasing, and building memories. Games can be a joyous time with each other and makes us look forward to getting together for another game even if it is Monopoly!