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Right up front I need to admit that I am a big fan of the board game Monopoly. I own about a half-dozen different versions and as I learned the game on an English set, I am far more likely to think about playing the game in terms of Euston Road and King’s Cross Station than I am to consider the original American equivalents of Ventnor Ave and Reading Railroad.

Not only that, but years ago I subverted the largest minicomputer at HP’s Fort Collins Networking Operation facility on weekends to run Monopoly simulations so I could amass very large amounts of statistical data regarding which properties were most likely to be landed upon, which offered the best cost/benefit ratio, etc. This involved simulating dice rolls, the Chance and Community Chest cards, and even modeling the rules of getting into, and out of jail.

As I sit here and type this blog entry, I can glance up and see my (relatively rare) Express Monopoly card game, Monopoly Jr., a big hit with my kids, and a new “opoly” game called Horse-opoly, thematically tied into the world of equestrians where you’re buying breeds, not property. I also just recently bought The Anti-Monopoly Game, an anti-establishment game from the mid 70s, after reading about it in Orbanes’ book, though I haven’t yet had a chance to play it.

Suffice to say, I’m probably the perfect person to read and review Monopoly: The World’s Most Famous Game and How It Got That Way by Philip Orbanes. I didn’t realize it when I started reading the book, but I already have - and have compared notes and findings based on my analysis with - Orbanes’ previous book, The Monopoly Companion, wherein he presents his own statistical analysis of the board and offers up some smart playing strategies. For the record, our findings are quite similar.

When Da Capo Press sent me this book for review I admit I thought it would be interesting, but pretty dry reading, insularly focused on the evolution of the game within Parker Brothers. I was completely wrong. In fact, this is a fascinating book that spends far more time talking about the economic and historical situation during various points in the evolution of Monopoly than the nuts and bolts of the modern game itself.

Book Review: Monopoly: The World’s Most Famous Game, by Philip Orbanes

Against Me!’s major-label status might not be very “punk rock,” but the band’s blazing new LP is, in Bigger Than the Sound. This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.