Monopoly: The Mega Edition

Monopoly: The Mega Edition is an update for Monopoly released by Winning Moves Games in 2006. The game was made by Winning Moves and licensed by Hasbro. Several new features are included. Players can get through the game faster, gain more money than before, and, of course, bankrupt opponents faster than before. The new features are detailed below.

Tokens

Monopoly: The Mega Edition comes with 11 tokens:

• Bag of Money
• Iron
• Horse & Rider
• Howitzer (Cannon)
• Scottie Dog
• Thimble
• Top Hat
• Shoe (Boot)
• Battleship
• Car
• Wheelbarrow

New Spaces/Properties

Main articles:

• Arctic Avenue
• Massachusetts Avenue
• Maryland Avenue
• New Jersey Avenue
• Michigan Avenue
• California Avenue
• South Carolina Avenue
• Florida Avenue
• Gas Company
• Auction (space)

• Birthday Gift (Mega Edition space)

Differences in gameplay

Setup is the same as that of regular Monopoly, except that there is a new card deck to go along with the Chance and Community Chest cards called Bus Tickets, and players now receive $/£2,500 at the start of the game (adding one $/£1,000 bill) as opposed to the base $/£1,500 in regular Monopoly.

On their turn, players roll all three dice (two regular dice plus the new Speed Die). Players move the total number of spaces as indicated by the three dice, or two dice if Mr. Monopoly or the Bus is rolled on the Speed Die. If doubles are rolled on the regular dice then the player may roll again as usual; if triples are rolled on the three dice then the player may move to any space on the board that they choose, but they do not roll again.

If Mr. Monopoly is rolled on the Speed Die, the player first moves the number of spaces indicated on the two regular dice and deals with the space they land on. If the player has not landed in Jail, they then move forward to the next unowned property, which they may then purchase or put up for auction. If there are no unowned properties, the player needs to move forward to the next property on which they would owe rent to another player. (If all other properties are mortgaged, the player does not move after making the initial move.)

A new alternative to rolling is using a Bus Ticket. If a player uses a Bus Ticket which they own, they may advance to any space on the side of the board they are currently on. Bus Tickets are obtained primarily by rolling the Bus on the Speed Die, but may also be earned by landing on the BUS TICKET or BIRTHDAY GIFT spaces. Some of the Bus Tickets cause all other Bus Tickets drawn but not played to "expire", and thus be discarded. (This includes other Bus Tickets owned by the player who drew the "expiration" Ticket.)

Each color-group now contains an additional property, as does the group of Utilities (with the Gas Company). If a player owns the majority of properties in a color-group (2 of 3 in Purples/Browns or Dark Blues; 3 of 4 in other color groups), they may begin to build houses and hotels there, with rent doubled on any undeveloped properties. If they own all properties in a color-group, they may upgrade their hotels to Skyscrapers, which increase rent considerably (by $/£500 on First and Second Street properties, and by $/£1000 on Third and Fourth Streets) and charge TRIPLE rent on any unimproved properties. In the case of the Utilities, owning all 3 allows the owner to charge 20 times the dice roll (white dice only) of the opponent landing there. (NOTE: if you draw the Chance card that sends you to the nearest utility, you only pay 10 times the new roll if the owner owns 1 or 2 utilities; you pay 20 times the new roll if the opponent owns all 3 utilities).

Players can also build a train depot on any railroads which they own (the player does not need to own all 4 railroads) at a cost of $/£100. This doubles the rent on that railroad, or quadruples it if an opponent is sent there by one of the "Go To Nearest Railroad" CHANCE cards (Twice the DOUBLED Depot rent).

New Dice

The Speed Die has been added to this game. New rules have been made regarding the Die.

• If you roll:
  • A 1, 2, or 3: add that to the normal dice. The Speed Die is not used in determining Doubles, but is used in determining Triples. If Triple 1's, 2's, or 3's are rolled, the player may move forward to ANY space on the board.
  • A Mr. Monopoly: Move according to the normal dice, and take that turn as normal. Before rolling again or passing the dice to the next player, move to the NEXT unowned property, which you may buy or auction. If there are no unowned properties, move to the nearest unmortgaged property owned by an opponent. In the event that all opponents' properties are mortgaged, do nothing.
  • A Bus: Take 1 Bus Ticket from the deck. If there are no more tickets left, or if you decide to, move to the nearest Chance or Community Chest space, whichever of the two is closer.

New Spaces

In addition to the above properties, 3 new spaces have been added, bringing the total new spaces to 52, with 13 spaces on each side. The new spaces are:

• Auction: If you land here, pick ONE UNOWNED property for the Banker to auction to the highest bidder. If all properties are owned, move to the property on which you would pay the HIGHEST rent to an opponent, the closer one if tied.
• Bus: Take ONE Bus Ticket. If no Tickets are left in the pile, do nothing.
• Birthday Gift: If you land here, pick ONE of the following: a free Bus Ticket, or $100. The choice is yours, unless there are no Bus Tickets to draw, in which case you automatically get the $100.

New Buildings

• Main Article: Houses

What is notable about Houses and Hotels is that they have been slightly redesigned. Roofs now featured detailed shingles and flat edges.

There are two new buildings: the Skyscraper and the Train Station. Train Stations can be built upon an unmortgaged railroad to double its stated rent. Skyscrapers can be built on a hotel when all lots of a color group are owned.

New Money

New $1000 bills are added to the bank.  And the amount of cash each player starts with has grown from $1500 to $2500 (with each player getting a new $1000 bill to start).

In later editions of the game (September 2008 or later, with the 3D version of Mr. Monpoly above the word "MONOPOLY" on the box as opposed to the classic flatter version coming out of the middle "O"), the colors of money have changed.  (Also the first color set of properties are now brown instead of the traditional purple, and all of the cards are the same size - as with most of the newer editions of Monopoly.)

In the original Mega Edition the money was as follows (for a total of $25,140):

• 40 x $1s - White
• 40 x $5s - Pink
• 40 x $10s - Yellow
• 50 x $20s - Pastel Green
• 30 x $50s - Light Blue
• 20 x $100s - Tan
• 20 x $500s - Goldenrod Orange
• 10 x $1000s - Grey

In later editions the money changed in both colors and amount provided (30 of each denomination other than $1000s [10 of those] for a total of $30,580)

• 30 x $1s - White
• 30 x $5s - Pink
• 30 x $10s - Light Blue
• 30 x $20s - Pale Green
• 30 x $50s - Light Purple
• 30 x $100s - Tan
• 30 x $500s - Goldenrod Orange
• 10 x $1000s - Yellow

Of course, just like with any Monopoly game, the Bank never actually runs out of money, even if all the bills are gone.

Bus Tickets

There are 16 Bus Tickets. To obtain one, roll a Bus on the Speed Die, land on the new Bus or Birthday Gift spaces, or collect one in a trade. These purple tickets can be used in place of dice rolls. When used, they are given to the Bank, NOT put on the bottom of the deck like the other cards. 3 Tickets are labeled, "ALL BUS TICKETS, EXCEPT THIS ONE, EXPIRE." When one of these are drawn, they are announced immediately and all players discard any Bus Tickets they currently hold. They may be used in place of a Doubles roll. These tickets may be used to travel forward to any space on your current side of the board. Corner spaces count as the first and last space of each side, however, this does not mean you can bypass Go To Jail if you are on the 3rd side of the board. If you are on New Jersey Avenue, for example, you can only use the ticket to move to Free Parking. Tickets are useful for avoiding high-rent color-groups, and, of course, getting an early bonus from Go. Bus Tickets may be offered in a trade, like Get Out Of Jail Free cards.

External links

Monopoly: The Mega Edition Rules