Both of those things are part of the joke. Monopoly is a parody of capitalism, intended to make you hate rich people. The luxury tax is tiny, reflecting how there’s no real cost of living for rich people. Rich people can “go to jail”, but it’s trivial to get away again.
Last game I had I was rocking up on my brother’s properties (which had hotels on them) so before I rolled the dice I bought a cheap property from my neice (the youngest player in the game) with all of my money, then then sold all of my property (including the one I just bought for all of my money) to her for $1. Rolled the dice, landed on my brother’s property and handed him the $1 I had left and was out of the game.
Had I not done so, I would’ve been bankrupt and had to hand over my property to my brother and it would have been an easy win for him at that point. As it was, the game was actually competitive.
So the lessons learned: 1) regulation can lead to a more competitive market, 2) If you’re about to go bankrupt, transfer all of your assets to a family member and 3) Monopoly sucks and people will hold grudges over what you do in that stupid game.
the main mechanic to even get the opportunity to do anything is literally dice rolls. the game is very explicitly that if you luck out to get ahead you dominate and if you don’t then you’re fucked.
Both of those things are part of the joke. Monopoly is a parody of capitalism, intended to make you hate rich people. The luxury tax is tiny, reflecting how there’s no real cost of living for rich people. Rich people can “go to jail”, but it’s trivial to get away again.
It was originally called The Landlords Game.
Can’t you buy your way out of jail?
yep, that’s the point
We clearly have had very different experiences. Monopoly teaches financial planning.
Last game I had I was rocking up on my brother’s properties (which had hotels on them) so before I rolled the dice I bought a cheap property from my neice (the youngest player in the game) with all of my money, then then sold all of my property (including the one I just bought for all of my money) to her for $1. Rolled the dice, landed on my brother’s property and handed him the $1 I had left and was out of the game.
Had I not done so, I would’ve been bankrupt and had to hand over my property to my brother and it would have been an easy win for him at that point. As it was, the game was actually competitive.
So the lessons learned: 1) regulation can lead to a more competitive market, 2) If you’re about to go bankrupt, transfer all of your assets to a family member and 3) Monopoly sucks and people will hold grudges over what you do in that stupid game.
the main mechanic to even get the opportunity to do anything is literally dice rolls. the game is very explicitly that if you luck out to get ahead you dominate and if you don’t then you’re fucked.