I’ll say what this means to me

Notes

Monopoly is a terrible, terrible game.


I can hear the mixed reactions already – the murmur of approval from some, outraged shock from others. For many people, Monopoly is what they think of immediately when board games are mentioned. It’s ingrained in the popular consciousness – the most common response to someone discovering that I like board games is to then say, “what, like Monopoly?”


This equating of Monopoly with board games has, unfortunately, ruined our relationship with the board game. It’s not just Monopoly‘s fault, of course, but it’s the main culprit – it shares some blame with Clue/Cluedo, Frustration, The Game of Life, and a few others. Board games, to most people, mean frustrating over-long games of random chance, or simple children’s games that simply are not appealing to adults.


“But I have good memories of playing Monopoly!” you may be thinking. But you don’t. What you do have are good memories of spending time with your friends and family, and having a nice time despite the awful game sitting between you, not because of it.

(from: http://www.analoguediversions.com/2011/monopoly-is-terrible)

I have had this exact conversation many times over, and close variants as well — “what, like Clue/Parchisi/Risk?” — but it is most galling with Monopoly because, as cogently argued herein, Monopoly is terrible

Filed under monopoly