Ahhh, Monopoly. The Hasbro gaming classic that comes in a million different versions, and takes approximately four days to finish any one game, if people don't walk away and quit in the middle of it. Due to its length and the inevitable feeling of despair that comes along with bankrupting yourself to pay the other players, I have truly never enjoyed playing a game of "let's see how long this takes before I rage quit", AKA Monopoly.
Is it because I'm a sore loser? It could be. Is it because I hate that all of the good properties get scooped up way too fast in the game, and then you're entirely out of luck? Yes. There are tons of different ways to play the game, with most families having devised their own house rules over the years. This adds yet another unnecessary layer to the game itself--some people give their mortgaged properties back to the bank, and then any of the remaining players are welcome to purchase them if they land on them. Other people hand the mortgaged properties over to the player that forced them to go bankrupt. Still others have the winning player have to pay off those mortgaged properties in order to make any use of them; it's nearly impossible to keep all of these little idiosyncracies straight from game to game.
Why, then, do I keep playing? I ask myself this question every single time that I get roped into playing another round of the game that never really comes to an end. Yet, I always start each game with a new sense of confidence and determination that this game will be different than the last, and that I will be able to finally make the deals that bankrupt my siblings or friends, rather than the other way around. There's something so appealing at the start of the game about the prospect of buying up every single property you land on, but that newfound hope becomes incredibly fleeting as I find myself owing other players more and more money.
Maybe it's my competitive nature, maybe it's because I love crafting a great deal that benefits me way more than it helps my opponent, or maybe it's just because there's something about this stupid game that always leaves me feeling a little bit closer to my siblings, despite their numerous attempts to rob me blind.
Who knows? If you need me, I can probably be found sitting around a table, bartering my way out of yet another jam directly because of the game of Monopoly.
