# How did Monopoly get a reputation as a game that goes on forever? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244 "2007-10-19T00:01:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/1 "2007-10-19T00:01:45Z")
Since I was a child, Monopoly has had a reputation as a game that takes forever to play. When I’d play as a kid, my mother would say, “Well, you’ll be occupied for the next three days”. In our recent threads about the game, people made jokes to the same effect. But, none of my games ever took that long. In fact, none of them took very long at all. Generally, after we’d gone around the board a few times, and landed on most of the properties, one person would have the most color groups. That person would get their houses and hotels up first, and pretty soon the unluckiest player would be forced into bankruptcy. Then the player who forced them out collects their assets and starts redeeming the mortgages. That makes that player even stronger, and pretty soon the board would be ringed with houses and hotels and every player except one went bankrupt in short order. Were your games different? Did you have to put in place “house rules” to make them last longer? I didn’t get it as a kid, and I still don’t get it now. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/2 "2007-10-19T00:09:51Z")
Don’t know if it was any kind of house rule, but as kids we chose to ignore the provision that (IIRC) you’re supposed to buy any unoccupied piece of land that you happen to land on. There were a number of vacant lots well into the middle of our games, which did take a while to play. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/3 "2007-10-19T00:10:16Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] Then the player who forced them out collects their assets and starts redeeming the mortgages. That makes that player even stronger, and pretty soon the board would be ringed with houses and hotels and every player except one went bankrupt in short order. [/QUOTE] This is one of the reasons for the reputation, I think. Not only do the games tend to go on, but they go on for a long time even after its become pretty evident who is going to win. It’s hard to keep interest in a game whose outcome is determined 30 turns before it actually ends, and so the endgame seems drawn out even if it isn’t that long in real time. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/4 "2007-10-19T00:11:45Z")
People play the Free Parking Rules. All the money from fees and whatnot go on the free parking square and whoever lands there gets it all. It’s nice if you’re needing a windfall but it does lengthen the game considerably. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/5 "2007-10-19T00:13:10Z")
It depends which rules you follow. Silly additions such as the free parking jackpot can drag things on for ever. Not auctioning unpurchased properties makes for a verrrrry slow start to the game. The trouble is, these kind of things are encouraged by the same ‘oh, but it gives everyone a chance’ mothers who then complain about the game lasting too long. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/6 "2007-10-19T00:13:39Z")
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve played, but I seem to remember a typical game taking an hour or two. Plus I often heard it referred to as ‘Monotony’, so the similarity of the two words encouraged the idea. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/7 "2007-10-19T00:20:01Z")
When you say your games weren’t very long at all, what do you mean? Everywhere I’ve looked seems to give a 60-180 minute playing time. I’m not a huge fan of board games so an hour seems plenty long enough for me, 3 hours would definitely feel like “forever”. That’s a lot of games of Cribbage, ISTM. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/8 "2007-10-19T00:22:51Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] This is one of the reasons for the reputation, I think. Not only do the games tend to go on, but they go on for a long time even after its become pretty evident who is going to win. It’s hard to keep interest in a game whose outcome is determined 30 turns before it actually ends, and so the endgame seems drawn out even if it isn’t that long in real time. [/QUOTE] Exactly. That’s what I came in here to post, said more succinctly than I would have. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/9 "2007-10-19T00:28:10Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] Not only do the games tend to go on, but they go on for a long time even after its become pretty evident who is going to win. It’s hard to keep interest in a game whose outcome is determined 30 turns before it actually ends, and so the endgame seems drawn out even if it isn’t that long in real time. [/QUOTE] I’ll buy that. I distinctly remember the “agony of defeat” when you were about to be eliminated, ringing the board over and over and knowing it was just a matter of time until you landed on one of the other guy’s nine hotels and got your clock cleaned. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/10 "2007-10-19T00:30:28Z")
Monopoly lasts a long time compared to games which have a more definite end point. Most board games of the Monopoly era had a definite end point right there on the board, and the company first approached by Monopoly’s creator turned it down for this reason, among others. More games these days seem to be of the Monopoly type; Trivial Pursuit can go on endlessly if no one knows anything. I remember a old Harlan Ellison rant about arcade video games, and how kids were learning that you can never win in life because you can never win the games – they just get harder (to which anyone with wit would have replied, “yeah, just like PINBALL! The goal is to make that quarter last forever”). So no, compared to most games played by adults these days, Monopoly doesn’t last all that long. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/11 "2007-10-19T00:36:19Z")
I’ll just reinforce what others have said. As a kid, I never even knew about the “auction off a property if the person landing on it doesn’t want to buy it.” That made the game longer. We never did a lot of trading so that made it hard to get all the properties of the same colour. Once there is a dominant player, the minority player can still survive a long time by returning houses to the bank, mortagaging property, etc. Finally, of all the board games we played, Monopoly was the game that took us the longest time to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/12 "2007-10-19T00:37:18Z")
I just can’t believe they’re getting rid of the cash in Monopoly. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/13 "2007-10-19T00:38:48Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] I’ll buy that. I distinctly remember the “agony of defeat” when you were about to be eliminated, ringing the board over and over and knowing it was just a matter of time until you landed on one of the other guy’s nine hotels and got your clock cleaned. [/QUOTE] Yes, and I’ve even encountered people who insist that everybody keeps rolling the dice and moving their piece, even though they’re bankrupt, because they might land on Free Parking. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/14 "2007-10-19T00:47:02Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Yes, and I’ve even encountered people who insist that everybody keeps rolling the dice and moving their piece, even though they’re bankrupt, because they might land on Free Parking. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] There’s a special place In Jail for blasphemers like that! Do you counter with the variation that if a bankrupt player playing this rule lands on your property, you get to break his/her kneecaps? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/15 "2007-10-19T00:48:56Z")
Even if played properly, Monopoly takes longer to play than most other games that are played by kids and/or that have been popular for generations. So, for any given person who has ever played Monopoly, the chances are good that their first experience with the game was that it lasted significantly longer than any other game they had ever played before. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/16 "2007-10-19T00:56:47Z")
I agree that house rules tend to lengthen the game; if you stick with the official rules, it plays longer than many games, but not interminally. It also help the more players you have, or if you use the Miracle Monopoly Cheating Kit®. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/17 "2007-10-19T01:00:14Z")
House rules really lengthen the game. If you don’t auction everything when it’s first landed on, and if you give away money all the time (I hate “free parking” giveaways. That’s just lame.), people simply don’t lose quickly. There are much longer games out there. I think my siblings and I once played “The Farming Game” for a week. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/18 "2007-10-19T01:03:52Z")
[QUOTE=Enfant Terrible] Do you counter with the variation that if a bankrupt player playing this rule lands on your property, you get to break his/her kneecaps? [/QUOTE] Yes…if they insist on still playing, they also need to fetch drinks as appropriate 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/19 "2007-10-19T01:38:11Z")
And if you allow embezzling money from the bank, it’ll extend even longer. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244/20 "2007-10-19T01:38:49Z")
I can’t recall taking anything less than 3 hours when we played regularly. Even putting it away and going to bed after 4 hours… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-monopoly-get-a-reputation-as-a-game-that-goes-on-forever/423244.md?page=2)