

It’s also worth investigating the benefits of house buying and whether hotels really are the best buildings to aim for. More opponents means more turns, and hence it makes more sense to put your money into longer-term investments. Since the average game of Monopoly takes about 30 turns per competitor, the set you want will change depending on how many opponents you have. At all times, you are looking to hold the property whose line is at the top of the pile, which changes depending on how long the game goes on. There is no single set that holds the key to winning the game. But there is always one set which will be the best for you to target - the secret to which lies in the x axis. So, dramatic as it might be when someone lands on Boardwalk, it’s just too rare an event to be worth the backing. This means it requires a smaller investment than the greens and so starts higher on the y axis - but it also means fewer opportunities to pull in the cash. The navy blue set also has two rather than three squares. Park Place, which is very expensive to buy and build on but is rarely visited, ends up dragging down the Boardwalk effect. This graph gives a more accurate picture and tells quite a different story. For that, you’ve got to apply the same idea to the performance of complete sets. And so the previous graph - although it demonstrates why so many people go for Boardwalk - doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

If you plan on building any houses or hotels, you’ve got to invest in complete sets. If you can afford to buy and build on Boardwalk, it looks like it’s a winning strategy.īut Monopoly doesn’t let you build on single properties. Despite starting way down on the y axis, it soon streaks into first place, and it stays there for the rest of time. However, very much like in real life, it’s unlikely they will get you anywhere fast.)īoardwalk (line 11), however, is the standout property on the board. (In Monopolyland, unlike real life, the railroads are relatively affordable. New York Avenue (line 6), with its steep slope of $30 expected earnings per roll on the graph, is quickly into profit and holds on to the lead of the best-performing property until well over 30 throws. Oriental Avenue (line 2) does a lot better and is up there with the best-earning sets until about 25 rolls. The slope of Mediterranean Avenue (line 1) is very shallow, meaning it takes a long time before it will start making money - and even when it does, you won’t make much. Of the properties you can build on, those from the brown and light blue sets start closest to the dotted line because they are so cheap to buy and build on. Each property starts off with a negative value, as you have to invest in them to begin with as soon as a property crosses the dotted line at zero the amount it’s earned in rent exceeds the amount it cost you. With a hotel on each, your earnings are shown up the vertical (y) axis and the total number of your competitors’ rolls along the horizontal (x) axis. The below graph shows a selection of properties from each set. To make a well-informed decision about which are the best properties to buy, you want to know how quickly you’ll make your money back and how quickly you’ll earn the big bucks once you do. So, to find the best strategy, we need to take into account how much you can expect each property, fully loaded with hotels, to earn for every roll of the dice and how much investment is required to get you there. Knowing which sets are likely to give you better returns is your ticket to board-game glory, ensuring it’s you with the smug, satisfied smile on your face while your family members weep into their ice cream bowls over their devastating defeat. This is where mathematics steps in to help. The key to success in Monopoly is noticing that not all properties are created equal. But if you are going to be involved in a vicious fight with your family, you might as well emerge the victor. Monopoly, whose sole objective is to have you force your friends and family into poverty, seems to have the ability to turn even the most angelic of us into a monster. In reality, it ends when your sister accuses one or all of you of cheating, flips the board across the room, and storms off in a shower of miniature plastic houses. Officially, Monopoly ends when all players but one go bankrupt. To our minds, there is nothing more magical than a full-blown family argument caused by a good old-fashioned game of Monopoly. Forget utilities - these are the properties you really should be investing in. IStock Mathematicians Hannah Fry and Thomas Oléron Evans have crunched the numbers.
