Friday Five: More Monopoly

Following on from my previous post, I may have indicated before that I love Monopoly. Indeed, my friend Our Gracious Hostess can attest to the fact that we spent (wasted?) hours of childhood poured over the board plotting minor intricacies in games that went on for weeks. So what's so great about it?

5 Things I Love about Monopoly:

1. The basic concept: it's really very simple. Sure, it teaches the harsh world of capitalist policies, but can also teach co-operation and partnerships - when the family played we used to 'gang up' on our father and let each other off paying rents. Fair? Probably not. Fun? Hell yes!
2. Own rules:  so many people do that putting fines into the middle and then collecting it if you land on free parking thing, that I used to think it was an actual rule. It isn't.
3. Different versions: we had the American version and my American friend had the British version. I also have got a French and New Zealand edition. You learn a lot about what areas were valued in the year the games were made. I believe there are also boards based on fictional worlds, such as The Muppets, Coronation Street and Batman, rather than actual cities. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about those, but they are probably fun for children and geeks.
4. Cheating: come on, everyone does it - Scary Sis was particularly adept at it. Whoever heard of an honest banker?
5. Endurance: yes, it goes on for hours (or possibly weeks) but you can take up where you left off, so long as you have got a room where you can shut it away from the cat.