Monopoly — Rules
Goal of the game
Move around the board, buy properties and collect rent. The last player with money after all others go bankrupt wins.
Setup & who starts
Choose a Banker. The Banker manages the Bank’s money, Houses, Hotels, Title Deed cards and auctions, and may also play if their own money stays separate.
- Shuffle Chance and Community Chest and place them face down.
- Each player chooses a token and places it on GO.
- Each player starts with 1500.
- Everyone rolls both dice; the highest roll starts. Play continues to the left.
Your turn & doubles
- Roll both dice.
- Move clockwise by the total rolled.
- Resolve the space you land on.
- If you rolled doubles, roll again and take another turn.
If you roll doubles three times in a row, go directly to Jail and do not complete the third turn.
Unowned properties & auctions
When you land on an unowned street, railroad or utility, you must either buy it for the printed price or let the Banker auction it.
An auction starts at 10. Any player may bid, including the player who declined to buy. Bids may increase by as little as 1, and turn order does not matter.
Owned properties & rent
If you land on another player’s property, the owner must ask for rent before the next player rolls. If they ask in time, you must pay.
- Streets: pay the rent shown on the Title Deed.
- Railroads: rent depends on how many railroads the owner has.
- Utilities: with 1 utility, rent is 4× the dice roll; with 2 utilities, rent is 10× the dice roll.
- Owning a full color set doubles the base rent on its unimproved streets.
Action spaces
- GO: collect 200 when you pass or land on GO.
- Chance / Community Chest: draw the top card, follow it, then return it to the bottom of its deck.
- Go To Jail: move directly to Jail, do not collect 200 for passing GO, and your turn ends.
- Income Tax / Luxury Tax: pay the amount shown to the Bank.
- Free Parking: nothing happens.
- Just Visiting: place your token in the Just Visiting area.
Jail
You may still collect rent, bid at auctions, buy Houses and Hotels, mortgage and trade while in Jail.
To get out, choose one of these options:
- Pay 50 at the start of your next turn, then roll and move normally.
- Use a Get Out of Jail Free card at the start of your turn, then roll and move.
- Try to roll doubles. If successful, move by that roll and end your turn. You may try for up to three turns; after failing on the third, pay 50 and move by that third roll.
Houses & Hotels
Once you own a complete color set, you may buy Houses at any time. Build evenly across the set: you cannot add a second House to a street until every street in that set has one. Maximum: 4 Houses per street.
After every street in a color set has 4 Houses, you may upgrade a street to a Hotel by paying the Hotel cost and returning its 4 Houses to the Bank. Maximum: 1 Hotel per street.
You cannot build on a color set if any property in that set is mortgaged.
Building shortages
If several players want the last available House or Hotel, the Banker auctions it. If the Bank has no buildings left, nobody can buy more until some are sold back.
Deals & trades
Players may buy, sell or swap property at any time. Property may be exchanged for cash, other property and/or Get Out of Jail Free cards at any agreed value.
Before selling or trading a street, all buildings in that color set must first be sold back to the Bank. Buildings themselves cannot be sold or traded directly to another player.
Mortgages
Before mortgaging a property, sell all buildings in its color set back to the Bank for half price. Turn the Title Deed face down and collect the mortgage value from the Bank.
To remove the mortgage, pay the unmortgage cost: mortgage value plus 10%. No rent may be collected on a mortgaged property.
Debt & bankruptcy
If you cannot pay what you owe, first try to raise money by selling buildings back to the Bank and/or mortgaging properties.
If you still cannot pay, you are bankrupt and leave the game. If you owe another player, transfer your mortgaged properties and Get Out of Jail Free cards to them. If you owe the Bank, return your properties to the Bank and they are auctioned. The remaining players continue until only one player remains.