Learning tool / Monopoly: do you suck at it or just miss the point?
Learning tool / Monopoly: do you suck at it or just miss the point?
I wrote a post a while back on how I use monopoly to teach my children about money, finances, and the skill to negotiate – Yes I know their only children. But the point is that children are not taught in school how to manage money much less how to think when it comes to business, managing art the art of deal making. While the school system is teaching them how to play nice, be fair and no one losses, the real world is ready and waiting to knock them on their kister. It has been reported that teens as well as young adults who graduate high school do not even know how to balance a check book. Now you might suggest that with the age of technology that doesn’t matter – but you would be considerably wrong.
As parents we all say we teach our children about money – but in truth, most of us do not. Balancing a check but is more than just balancing a bunch of numbers. Also Monopoly is also more than just a simple game to pass the time or an outdated game that should be forgotten.
Article I read: You Don’t Hate Monopoly, You Just Suck at It
By Jonathan Chait / the national interest
I agree with the article that the game is fun and that if played right it is not boring. I don’t agree with the assertion that it can be played quickly and people shouldn’t complain that it takes too long to play.
Personally I play with my children and sometimes my wife joins in and that gives us the right mix of three to four players with a diverse method in playing style ( I believe the game is even better with more players ). The fact that negotiating is an intricate part of the game, it is also what makes it fun and to be honest – it is what takes up much of the playing time. I believe that negotiating, learning how to manage (play) money is the intended purpose of the game. If you want to play a quick fun game, go play cards, the turnover rate is high. But if the only reason you hate Monopoly is because you don’t like games that take a long time to play, then you are also the type of person who has probably never finished a video game in your life. Video games take time, sometimes days and for some weeks to finish – if monopoly is too long then most real hardcore video games are not your thing as well.
Look, maybe it’s just me but I have sat for hours playing games, like checkers, chess, life, and many of the new games: time is not the issue. If I play one round for an hour or if I play three to four rounds for an hour – the time stays the same. It’s the quality of the players, the fun and interest the people who are involved in the game that truly matters.
Comment from article: “Monopoly was an exciting game for the 1930s, and there's nothing wrong with appreciating it as a classic example of early board games, just like you might go to a museum to see a piece by Giotto or Donatello.” ~ JasonGL
But for those of you who still believe that Monopoly is too long and you want something with a faster pace I heard that Acquire
is an interesting game to play.
“For those not familiar with the game, there are tiles that are placed on the game board. When two or more are joined, they form a hotel chain. Only 6 hotel chains can exist on the board at a time, so certain tiles can become unplayable for a period of time. When a tile is played that connects two hotels, they are merged with the longer chain taking over the smaller. If they are the same size, the person playing the merging tile determines which chain takes over.” ~ By Eric H. Robinson / Gamestore
You can also consider Cargo Noir
: but it deals with being a gangster and all that.
“Easy to learn and play, and different strategies to win make Cargo Noir a lot of fun for everybody. It also has some of the hands-down most vivid artwork of any "themed" game like this currently on the market, and I own a LOT of them. I like playing it with my kids because deciding how to acquire goods involves doing math on the fly to figure out if you should try to monopolize one type of resource, or take as many different types as you can, or some combination of the two that will maximize your score.” ~ By N. Christensen
I wrote a post a while back on how I use monopoly to teach my children about money, finances, and the skill to negotiate – Yes I know their only children. But the point is that children are not taught in school how to manage money much less how to think when it comes to business, managing art the art of deal making. While the school system is teaching them how to play nice, be fair and no one losses, the real world is ready and waiting to knock them on their kister. It has been reported that teens as well as young adults who graduate high school do not even know how to balance a check book. Now you might suggest that with the age of technology that doesn’t matter – but you would be considerably wrong.
As parents we all say we teach our children about money – but in truth, most of us do not. Balancing a check but is more than just balancing a bunch of numbers. Also Monopoly is also more than just a simple game to pass the time or an outdated game that should be forgotten.
Article I read: You Don’t Hate Monopoly, You Just Suck at It
By Jonathan Chait / the national interest
I agree with the article that the game is fun and that if played right it is not boring. I don’t agree with the assertion that it can be played quickly and people shouldn’t complain that it takes too long to play.
Personally I play with my children and sometimes my wife joins in and that gives us the right mix of three to four players with a diverse method in playing style ( I believe the game is even better with more players ). The fact that negotiating is an intricate part of the game, it is also what makes it fun and to be honest – it is what takes up much of the playing time. I believe that negotiating, learning how to manage (play) money is the intended purpose of the game. If you want to play a quick fun game, go play cards, the turnover rate is high. But if the only reason you hate Monopoly is because you don’t like games that take a long time to play, then you are also the type of person who has probably never finished a video game in your life. Video games take time, sometimes days and for some weeks to finish – if monopoly is too long then most real hardcore video games are not your thing as well.
Look, maybe it’s just me but I have sat for hours playing games, like checkers, chess, life, and many of the new games: time is not the issue. If I play one round for an hour or if I play three to four rounds for an hour – the time stays the same. It’s the quality of the players, the fun and interest the people who are involved in the game that truly matters.
Comment from article: “Monopoly was an exciting game for the 1930s, and there's nothing wrong with appreciating it as a classic example of early board games, just like you might go to a museum to see a piece by Giotto or Donatello.” ~ JasonGL
But for those of you who still believe that Monopoly is too long and you want something with a faster pace I heard that Acquire
is an interesting game to play. “For those not familiar with the game, there are tiles that are placed on the game board. When two or more are joined, they form a hotel chain. Only 6 hotel chains can exist on the board at a time, so certain tiles can become unplayable for a period of time. When a tile is played that connects two hotels, they are merged with the longer chain taking over the smaller. If they are the same size, the person playing the merging tile determines which chain takes over.” ~ By Eric H. Robinson / Gamestore
You can also consider Cargo Noir
: but it deals with being a gangster and all that.“Easy to learn and play, and different strategies to win make Cargo Noir a lot of fun for everybody. It also has some of the hands-down most vivid artwork of any "themed" game like this currently on the market, and I own a LOT of them. I like playing it with my kids because deciding how to acquire goods involves doing math on the fly to figure out if you should try to monopolize one type of resource, or take as many different types as you can, or some combination of the two that will maximize your score.” ~ By N. Christensen
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