Game 28: Monopoly Deal

 I liked Monopoly the board game well enough as a child, but it wouldn't be my choice to play these days.  This card game based on Monopoly, however, I'll play this all day!  I am so impressed with how well-constructed and well-balanced this game is.  The goal is to complete three sets of properties; as soon as someone accomplishes that the game is over.  Along with property cards, there are action cards that cause properties to be swapped, other players to pay you rent, etc.  The look of the game takes me right back to childhood.  The only downside is that it doesn't involve cool "hoppers" like the board game.  It does play quickly, so you can play game after game, and they all play out quite differently depending on the deal.
 My hand (above) is full of property cards.  It worked well for me tonight, but I generally like to have some action cards in there - especially the "Deal Breaker"card (which lets me steal a completed set from someone else) and the "Just Say No" card (which keeps me safe from other players using actions against me!).  I do like having the "Property Wild Card;" that's always helpful!
 I got off to a bad start in the first game - having only low-value property.  I did make a set early on - the two brown - but David played the "Deal Breaker" card, and you can see his hand in the picture reaching over to take my set.
 Somehow this turned out to be my day.  David, Jacob and I played two rounds, and I won them both - first game above with the orange and blue properties and the utilities - second game below with the green and orange properties and the utilities.  Wahoo!
We taught this to our nieces last summer, and they just loved it.  And I loved how our youngest niece (7 years old then?) referred to the game as "Monop-yoly Deal."

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