I thought about this game because I played it as a kid, and then recently when I was in the hospital, to pass the time. There is this nice wood board version that I really like, and then there is this Mega version that increases the number of, purchasable parcels, and has skyscrapers and train depots, and then there is a version with 64 different tokens to choose from. There is also a version of Monopoly where you just buy companies. I realize that I know enough about large format printing and bronze casting that I could actually just create my own Monopoly board and my own tokens and edifices, but these are some interesting modifications to the original game.
More Thoughts on Monopoly Variations and Improvements:
So If I were to change Monopoly, I wouldn't even use a board. I would use a map. The player would roll a 48 sided die, or 9 standard dice to determine which State in the contiguous United States he or she is in, and then decide whether or not to buy the entire state, or, if owned by another person, whether or not to create a leasing agreement.
Once a state is purchased, it may be subdivided, or improved through permanent or movable fixtures. Which themselves can be either purchased, or leased for a defined and agreed upon number of turns. All improvements, purchases, leases, or whatever, that is to say, the various other transactions would be documented by a player designated as the Recorder.
There would also be a player designated as the Accountant, who would document transactions and file the appropriate income statements and balance sheets and cash flow statements, as well as any and all appropriate regulatory filings, and a Financier, who would handle the lease agreements, mortgages, swaps, and issues related to risk. Then a player designated as the Auditor would verify the veracity of the activities reported by the Recorder, Accountant, and Financier.
A player designated as the Attorney would then draft all legal documents, and both defend and represent any plaintiffs and defendants simultaneously.
The player designated as the Jester would provide comic relief during the onerous duration of the turns, which would be expected to last no less than 24 international standard hours.
Background:
The very insightful, but slightly more left wing than I, Jason R. Tippitt just nominated me to be part of "Share the Love Library." That means I'll post the cover of a book that has stayed with me, once a day for seven days, without any explanation, and nominate someone else to do the same.
Here's my Day 1 and my first nominee is Autumn Joi Ellis, who is probably the only person to have ever paid for a book that I've written.
I actually don't think that I will get around to doing more than one day, and I will go ahead and break the rule of posting without explanation. The book is about an accountant who creates these fantasy worlds with these board games that he invents, he makes dozens of games with opponents or characters who actually have personalities and aspirations. At one point, the protagonist actually quits his job, telling his boss to fuck off by having the boss spin an arrow and then pick a card from a deck, and the card instructs the manager to go fuck himself.
When I was in the hospital recently, I thought of this book because I was playing Monopoly all by myself. I had five characters: Napoleon, Nimitz, Octavian, Artanis, and Toto. I created a ledger or journal so that I didn't have to fuck around with the actual cash, and I was about to photo copy the "Title Deed" cards so that pricing history could be tracked.
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