Monopoly House RulesHasbro has announced plans to grant recognition to a select set of Monopoly house rules. The company is not changing the regular rules of the game but rather will print a group of up to ten optional variants in a special Monopoly: House Rules Edition to be released in the fall.

Ten potential house rules have been posted for debate on the Monopoly Facebook page:

  • Free Parking, Fast Cash: All taxes and fees are placed in the middle of the game board and collected by the next player to land on Free Parking.
  • Dash for the Cash: Players collect a double salary, $400M instead of $200M, for landing on Go.
  • Frozen Assets Rule: Players in jail may not collect rent money from other players.
  • Lucky Roller: A player gets $500M for rolling double-ones.
  • 3’s a Crowd: When there are three players in a row on three unique properties, each gets an extra $500M.
  • Cash Advance: Players can may agree to invest in each others properties, dividing rent money as they see fit.
  • Break The Bank: Initial money is distributed by taking half the bank, mixing it up in the center of a board, and then having the players grab as much as they can.
  • Mum’s the Word: Mothers always get out of jail free.
  • See the Sights: Players can’t purchase properties until traveling at least once around the board.
  • Property Boom: Players are not required to own a complete set of properties before they start to build houses.

Monopoly is so often played by different rules that I expect many people will be surprised that some of these aren’t already official. Also interesting is how these rules are weighted toward adding money and extending the game.

Debate on the house rules will continue through April 3rd, after which Hasbro will announce which ones will find a place in the box.

Of course, nothing prevents people from playing by an entirely different set of rules at home—one of the beautiful things about tabletop games.