Monopoly Rules in Plain Words

What the game is

Monopoly is a buying and trading game. You move a token around a board, buy streets and other property, and charge other players rent when they land on what you own. Little by little, the other players run out of money. The last player who still has money wins.

Players: 2 to 6. Ages: 8 and up.

What is in the box: a game board, 8 tokens, 28 Title Deed cards (a Title Deed card is the card that proves who owns a property), 16 Chance cards, 16 Community Chest cards, 32 houses, 12 hotels, 2 dice, and a pack of play money.

Setting up

1. Pick one player to be the Banker. The Banker looks after the Bank's money, the houses, the hotels, and the Title Deed cards, and runs auctions. The Banker may also play, but must keep their own money apart from the Bank's money.
2. The Banker gives every player $1,500 to start: two $500 bills, two $100 bills, two $50 bills, six $20 bills, five $10 bills, five $5 bills, and five $1 bills.
3. Put the rest of the money in the box. That is the Bank.
4. Shuffle the Community Chest cards and set them face down on their spot on the board.
5. Shuffle the Chance cards and set them face down on their spot on the board.
6. Each player picks a token and puts it on GO.
7. Set the dice near the board.

How a turn works

1. Every player rolls both dice once. The highest roll goes first, and play passes to the left.
2. On your turn, roll both dice and move your token forward (clockwise) that many spaces.
3. Do what the space you land on says. The board spaces are explained below.
4. If you roll doubles (both dice the same), roll again and take another turn. But if you roll doubles three times in a row, you go straight to Jail and your turn ends at once. You do not finish the third turn.
5. When you pass GO, or land on it, the Bank pays you $200.
6. Your turn ends. The player on your left goes next.

The board spaces

• A street, railroad, or utility that nobody owns: you may buy it for the price printed on the board. Take its Title Deed card. If you do not want to buy it, it goes to auction — see the box below.
• Property owned by another player: pay that player rent. Street rent is printed on the Title Deed card. Railroad rent grows with how many railroads the owner has: $25 for one, $50 for two, $100 for three, $200 for all four. Utility rent is based on your dice roll: 4 times the roll if the owner has one utility, 10 times the roll if the owner has both. The owner has to ask for the rent before the next player rolls. If the owner forgets to ask, you do not have to pay.
• Chance or Community Chest: take the top card, do what it says, then put the card at the bottom of the pile. A Get Out of Jail Free card is the one card you may keep until you use it or sell it.
• Income Tax: pay the Bank $200. Luxury Tax: pay the Bank $100.
• Free Parking: nothing happens. It is just a rest spot.
• Go To Jail: move your token to the Jail space right away. You do not collect $200 for passing GO. Your turn is over.
• Just Visiting: if you land on the Jail space by a normal roll, you are only visiting. Nothing happens.

Owning a full color set, houses, and hotels

1. Streets come in color sets. When you own every street in one set, the rent on those streets doubles, and you may build houses on them.
2. To build, pay the house price printed on the Title Deed card and put a house on the street.
3. Build evenly: you must put one house on every street in the set before any street gets a second house. A street can hold at most 4 houses.
4. When a street has 4 houses, you may trade them in for a hotel: pay the hotel price on the card, give the 4 houses back to the Bank, and put one hotel on the street. One hotel per street is the limit.
5. You cannot build on a set if any street in that set is mortgaged.
6. Houses and hotels are limited. If the Bank runs out and two players want the last one, the Banker auctions it.

Trades and deals

1. Players may buy, sell, or swap property with each other at any time, for money, other property, or Get Out of Jail Free cards — whatever both sides agree to.
2. Before a street can be traded, all houses and hotels on its whole color set must be sold back to the Bank first. Buildings themselves are never traded between players.
3. A mortgaged property can be traded. The new owner must either pay off the mortgage right away, or pay the Bank 10% of the mortgage value now and keep the mortgage.

When you cannot pay

1. First, try to raise money. Sell hotels and houses back to the Bank for half of what they cost. Hotels come off first, and houses must come off evenly across the set, the same way they went on.
2. You may also mortgage a property: sell all buildings on its color set first, turn its Title Deed card face down, and take the mortgage value printed on the card from the Bank. A mortgaged property collects no rent.
3. To lift a mortgage later, pay the Bank the mortgage value plus 10%, and turn the card face up again.
4. If you still cannot pay, you are bankrupt and out of the game. If you owe another player, that player gets your Get Out of Jail Free cards and your mortgaged properties. If you owe the Bank, your properties go back to the Bank and are auctioned off at once.

Jail

1. You go to Jail when you land on Go To Jail, draw a card that sends you there, or roll doubles three times in a row.
2. To get out, you have three choices at the start of your turn: pay the Bank $50 and then roll and move as normal; use a Get Out of Jail Free card and then roll and move; or try to roll doubles — if you roll doubles, you move that many spaces, but you do not get an extra turn for those doubles.
3. You get up to three turns to try for doubles. If you still have not rolled doubles on your third turn, you must pay $50 and move using that last roll.
4. While you are in Jail, you may still collect rent, bid at auctions, buy and sell buildings, and trade. Being in Jail does not stop your business.

How you win / how the game ends

Players drop out one by one as they go bankrupt. The game ends when only one player is left with money. That player wins.

Common questions

Do I have to buy the first property I land on?

No. But the property does not just sit there — if you say no, the Banker auctions it on the spot, and you may bid in that auction too.

The owner forgot to ask me for rent. Do I still owe it?

No. The owner must ask for rent before the next player rolls the dice. If they forget and the next roll happens, the rent is gone.

Can I build houses before I own the whole color set?

No. You need every street in the set first. Owning the full set also doubles the rent on those streets even before you build.

What if the Bank runs out of money?

The Bank never goes broke. If the printed bills run out, the Banker can make more money on plain paper.

Can I sell a house whenever I want?

Yes. Houses and hotels sell back to the Bank for half price, at any time, as long as they come off evenly across the color set — and you must sell the buildings on a set before you can mortgage or trade any street in that set.