Monopoly Deluxe

"Give and Take"

I thoroughly enjoy the classic Parker Brothers board game, Monopoly, so it’s only logical that I should take at least a little pleasure in Monopoly Deluxe, the freeware PC version. There are, as in all things, advantages and disadvantages to the computer edition. While you don’t have to set-up (and eventually, clean up) the entire board, there are technical bugs that would have no effect on the old-fashioned board version. Either way, this game remains Monopoly.

It’s still the same basic formula: choose a game piece to play as (go Ship!), and prepare to do bloody financial battle with either other human players, computer-controlled opponents, or a mixture of both, for a total of eight players maximum per game. From there, start with 1500 bucks, and roll the dice, hoping to land on property to buy, or pulling down some sort of bonus or benefit from the community chest or chance areas. Hazards, as always, are present; you can end up in jail, forfeiting taxes, or having to play the other players (again assuming your misfortune with the chance/community chest cards). The object is to attain monopolies buy purchasing all of the properties with the same color so that you can purchase houses and hotels to place on them, enabling you to chare much greater amounts of money to players unlucky enough to land on your property, and, ultimately, to force them into bankruptcy.

The perks of playing this PC version are silly animations, zany sound effects according to the game piece moving along the board (the tap-tap-tap of the shoe; the whistling wind blowing hat along steadily), and, of course, the ease of it all with just the mouse and a couple of drop-down menus. Click the dice, watch the character move. Obviously, there’s no property ownership cards to hassle with; just click ‘buy’ when you land on an available property, and it’s yours.

If you choose to pass up purchasing a property (or simply cannot afford it), then what takes place instead of leaving the property open is an auction. I’m not sure I’m too crazy about this particular feature – it means that no properties will remain available once they’ve been landed on, because they will always be purchased.

Everything about playing Monopoly Deluxe is easy and tidy. You can set up the game rules (such as whether or not landing on Free Parking lands you a big bonus), set the computer players’ skill levels at one of three levels, and propose trades involving properties and cash. And, of course, Monopoly games can last quite a long time. Thankfully, you can save games at any point, and reload them when you’re ready to continue.

Unfortunately, the completely indecipherable varying skill levels change the game little to none. Computer players act almost exactly the same on all three difficulties. They always buy property until they’re poor, and they always accept dimwitted, one-sided trades, just so that they can attain a monopoly.

Listen to the tale ----

I hold Mediterranean Avenue, the cheapest, least-beneficial property on the board. Hat (named Baron Von Hat, that evil bastard!), holds Baltic Avenue, the companion of my purple Mediterranean, as well as a slew of other valuable properties: Park Place, Reading Railroad, Kentucky Avenue, and Pennsylvania Avenue. I propose a trade in which he receives the coveted Mediterranean Avenue, guaranteeing him the monopoly. In return, I request all of his properties besides Baltic, plus 800 of his 860 dollars. The imbecilic fool accepts my outlandish offer with alacrity. The benefit of computer players isn’t such a benefit if I have to make sure I’m not “trying my hardest” to win the game. They act too irrationally, too often.

There are other imbalances I would also question. For example, computer players roll a ridiculous amount of doubles (which, in Monopoly, allows the player to roll again). Clearly, the probability of throwing doubles is a bit too high as far as the programming goes. Watching the horse run laps around the board before you even see a turn again (and hearing the never-ending clapping of his feet all the way) gets irritating.

But in the end, no computer foolishness or repeating double rolls could take away the addictive qualities of Monopoly. Growing in power by buying up more properties and raking in more cash from the other players makes this a joy to play.

You may step away from Monopoly Deluxe occasionally because of it’s modest problems, but you’ll be back.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/26/03, Updated 06/26/03