Are you a fan of Monopoly and card games? Enjoy the best of both worlds with the Monopoly Deal Card Game – like classic Monopoly, but in card game form!
Overview
Instead of playing classic Monopoly on a regular board with all the player pieces, you can now gather your friends around the card table and play a game of Monopoly using cards. Monopoly Deal features a variety of cards that allow you to play the popular property trading game, complete with its rent and dealing features.
As with classic Monopoly, players aim to collect as many property sets as possible in Monopoly Deal. Along with the regular property cards, you can also play different special cards to add more strategy to your gameplay.
For instance, if you play an Action Card, you can charge others rent and scheme your deals. House and Hotel Cards will raise the value of your rent, while you can make payments to others with Money Cards. If you are unable to obtain a complete property set, you can simply use a Wild Property Card to fill up your missing slot!
What’s Included
A standard set of the Monopoly Deal Card Game includes the following:
- 110 cards
- Action Cards
- Property Cards
- Rent Cards
- House and Hotel Cards
- Wild Property Cards
- Game guide
Pros
At a retail price of only $4.99, Monopoly Deal is definitely an affordable buy. It is readily available on most online retailers or at your local game store, something you can easily pick up on your next visit to the shop. This is probably one of the cheapest Monopoly-branded games around and promises to provide many rounds of fun for everyone involved.
The game is also quick and can conclude in 15 minutes, perfect for filling those spare pockets of time when you are waiting or have nothing to do. The fewer players you have, the faster the game finishes. Each play is different since the cards are dealt out randomly, making subsequent plays of Monopoly Deal more interesting than classic Monopoly, where there is a set strategy to win.
Furthermore, since all the game requires is the deck of Monopoly cards, there is no set up required. It is highly portable and comes without the hassle of pulling out different stacks of paper money, player pieces and Chance cards. The card deck can be packed easily in a small bag, making it perfect to bring along on road trips or vacations or even to play on the go. Once you are done playing, the game is quickly packed up by gathering all the cards back into the pack.
Cons
One disadvantage of Monopoly Deal is that the game only allows a maximum of five players, so you cannot play it with slightly larger groups of friends like you can with other editions of the board-based Monopoly. However, you can always circumvent this restriction by bringing two packs of Monopoly Deal and splitting a large group of people up into two.
We also noticed that there are some scenarios that are not clearly explained in the game rules. For instance, the game does not explain whether players are allowed to use a “Just say no” card against another “Just say no” card. As such, it may be necessary for friends or family to establish their own rules for such situations so that everything can be kept consistent.
You may also want to be careful about which version of Monopoly Deal you are purchasing. For one, there are different region-based editions of Monopoly Deal, featuring different place names for different countries. Although the gameplay is the same on the whole, there may be slight differences in the quality of the cards for different editions. We found that the cards in the American version tended to be a little thinner and see-through if the player held it up against the light. Keeping that in mind, you may have to try various packs of Monopoly Deal before finding one that suits you.
Overall Review
Considering all its advantages, we would highly recommend this game to anyone interested in a quick, hassle-free game of Monopoly. Given its extremely affordable price, we feel that you would have little to lose by trying out this game. Even if you do not intend to play it often, it still makes for a great addition to your Monopoly collection and can be packed away nicely for the occasion.
We also think that this game would make a great gift to anyone who is a fan of Monopoly and card games. Although a new player may have to spend some time understanding the rules at first, Monopoly Deal is ultimately intuitive and easy to play once everyone knows what to do.
In a nutshell, this is one of the Monopoly games that has received an overwhelmingly positive recommendation from players around the world. We would rate it worth a try!
Maria Garcia