Monopoly & Other Board Games

[Techguy]

Here it is. How and when did you get started playing Monopoly? Was the game a Christmas or birthday gift? How does it compare to other board games?

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

[trisha]

It was my dad's, I don't know where he got it. I'm always the Scottie dog, and I have a compulsive need to own Marvins Gardens.

Monopoly is fun, but takes too long for my taste, and since I have only won once in my life, it's not my favorite. I'll take Clue over Monopoly anyday

[elizabethbay]

Yep, Monopoly is fun. Have never known a game to end happily though. Truly this is a 'board game' - at the end, the board usually ends up being thrown over by some disgruntled bankrupt. A maiden aunt taught her young nieces to play Parcheesi, a shrewd way of ensuring that we would visit often. Still fondest of that ancient board game. I wonder if anyone still plays it, or have XBOXes and Wii killed it off?

[Sirenna]

It was my brothers'.

It had all the old London roads like Pall Mall, Mayfair (the most expensive property) and Victoria Station. He and his best friend used to have tournements. Serious ones. They would start after school. If the game lingered because they'd added their own rules like "extortionist banker": to be used when the losing party had used up all his regular bank money and you had to ask the person in the lead to lend you money to keep playing, it didn't matter. They would keep playing into the wee hours and on a school night too.

The fallout? Well, they're still close friends to this day, but my brother became a businessman and his friend became a lawyer.

(Actually bad lawyer jokes aside, R. became a human rights lawyer here in Canada and a damn good one, too.)

[sobergal95]

This is actually hard: I can't remember NOT having a Monopoly game, but agree about elizabethbay's conclusion: that it usually did not end well. Plus it just got boring after awhile. Clue is a great game too. My Aunt taught me to play Canasta when I was about 10 or 11 and I loved it. And I gained a whole new level of respect for my grandmother, a sweet old 4th grade teacher, once I learned to play Bridge with her. She could be downright ruthless in pursuit of making her bid, but the snacks were always great. But playing "Pictionary" with my Grandma was about like playing it with Monk. We also had a game called "Masterpiece" where you try to buy art, but I can't really remember the strategy or how it worked.

My family also liked a game called "Killer", you have as many cards as players and appoint a certain card to be the "Killer" (generally an Ace or face card), and deal each player a card. The "killer" then tries to "kill" victims by winking at them, and if you are winked at you wait a few seconds and announce "I'm dead". The remaining players try to figure out who the killer is before getting killed. This games works well with really little kids who don't know how to wink, and is best with more than 3 players. What can I say, we were easily amused.

[trisha]

OMG, Sobergal!!! I also had Masterpiece and played 'Killer' with my family! (my little brother always cheated by acting like he didn't see you wink, the spoil sport)

Masterpiece ... that's a great game, and I think I got an early appreciation of art from it, too. I think I'll have to look for that game now. I've been trolling ebay for all sorts of childhood memorabilia lately. Since you both play 'Killer' and owned Masterpiece, did you perhaps own a talking Jimmy Walker doll? I really miss my JJ. Don't squeeze me too tight, I'm dy-no-mite!

[gorensdoppelganger]

When I was a child my family were really into playing boardgames. I loved the game Masterpiece Sobergal95. In brief: The art works of the masters are up on the block, and you are bidding against some of the most eccentric art speculators around. Will you bid higher for your favorite work, or is it just a worthless forgery.

Another game which is for older children is called RISK. In todays times I don't know if I would enjoy playing it as much because it's about building up armies and taking over countries, but it really did work the brain muscle.

My memories of my paternal grandmother very much involve the game Scrabble. To use your word Sobergal, she was ruthless, but in a marvelous way. She and Grandpa would come about every 6 weeks from Brooklyn to the Long Island by railroad and bring peanuts, NIPS coffee chews, Cipicol throat lozengers (which sad to say she liked as hard candy). However, the funny part was that Grandma was slightly allergic to peanuts, so she (brought them for us), but would actually eat about half of them

Monopoly wasn't my favorite game, my brother (just call him Donald Trump) took it way to seriously, cheated, and always won.

[gorensdoppelganger]

Trisha I did look on Ebay, made me want to buy it too

It's priced any where from $5.00 to $10.00 US dollars before shipping and handling.

Sorry you have a the flu, feel better.

[Sirenna]

"don't squeeze me too tight, I'm dy-no-mite." Too cute.

I have to remember that. Useful for real life, I'm thinking.

[NikkiGreen]

Can't remember the when or where of the very first Monoply set I ever had. It was in the early '70s.

But, I did buy a vintage set early last week. It's wooden and the board rotates.

My youngest nephew loves his NHL version of Monoply.

I wonder... Techguy, do you also have the NHL version? ;D

[sobergal95]

trisha said:

OMG, Sobergal!!! I also had Masterpiece and played 'Killer' with my family! (my little brother always cheated by acting like he didn't see you wink, the spoil sport)

Whew, I can't remember how or where we learned "killer", so its kind of good to know we didn't just make it up! Sorry on the JJ doll, never had one. The Easter Bunny did bring us all matching "Fonzie" t-shirts one year. Did you guys play "Spoons" too?

Can't remember who brought up "Risk", but I didn't play it as much as my sisters, although I think it helped me some with the "geography test" someone posted here a couple weeks ago, even if I did have 2 countries left when I totally gave up. ;D

We memorized all the "Trivial Pursuit" cards, and I bought a book on how to solve the "Rubick's Cube". "Simon" anyone?

[Sirenna]

Nikki, let's do Mrs. T a favour and not encourage him.

[elizabethbay]

Here's a sound clip of VDO playing Battleship with an interviewer. I'm sure many of you have heard it, but for those of you who haven't, it's an insight into the 'boy' who became the man. Will to win? In spades! You do NOT want to play Monoploy with this guy ;-) Scroll down to the third clip inthe audio box menu.

www.moviejuice.com/2000/donofrio.htm

[Sirenna]

When I hear him curse because he missed and then tell the interviewer he's having a good time and then deny it could ever be a draw... mmm, mmm, mmm.

Damn he's fine.

Mikeyrocks, Chris Noth has nothing on this guy.

Thanks for this one.

[sobergal95]

Thanks for the audio clip! That was kind of fun.