Hasbro, the makers of Monopoly, seem to know many people don’t pay with cash much anymore. But they also know people still like to play Monopoly. That’s why, of the over 2,000 variations of Monopoly games available, three mimic day-to-day transactions. None require fake money, and they don’t take a lot of time to play. One of them doesn’t even require a game board. Here are three modern versions of Monopoly for modern lifestyles.
Some Monopoly games no longer require you to keep individual stacks of fake money laid out in front of you. And you no longer need to wait while someone calculates and then counts out the exact amount of money they have to pay you. New versions use debit cards to pay for properties and penalties and automatically calculate and keep track of your cash. Property values also go up and down, just like in real life.
You can also avoid dealing with fake money by playing a version that uses a voice-operated banking device. Press a button and say out loud what you want to do, like “buy Park Place,” and it will do it for you.
You also can play Monopoly with specialized playing cards instead of a board. Instead of rolling dice, players draw cards that tell everyone what to do. If you’ve ever wanted to take a Monopoly game on a trip, but couldn’t because it took up too much space, this is a slimmed-down version you can take from place to place.
