Monopoly Deal Card Game: Is It As Fun As The Board Game?

Classic things, accurately for our own part, classic card games, have proved that they bring value and quality, I don’t think you’ll disagree! When talking about that, Monopoly isn’t excluded either. In fact, it is a great instance! Yes, there’s also a Monopoly board game, but, this time we won’t talk about that. One step at a time, you game lovers! 

This card game, although it has been in the market for many years, remains one of the games that bring fun & competition between all the players. It is quite easy to understand the instructions, but naturally, practice makes perfect. There are so many actions that can be played in this game, there are some amazing goals and this is one of the main reasons for its attractiveness! Ps. You’ll also collect money, let me tell you… 

• Important information regarding Monopoly;
• How does the box look?;
• What are the cards included in this game?;
• Instructions on how to play Monopoly;
• Sharing our game experience;
• Where can we buy a Monopoly card game & is there competition?;
• FAQ;
• To Sum It Up: Is the Monopoly card game worthwhile?

Important Information Regarding Monopoly?

Releasing year: 2001;
Manufacturer: Hasbro;
Place of origin: USA;
Box dimensions: 0.75 x 3.62 x 5.63 inches;
Recommended age: 8+;
Number of players: 2-5;
Cards: 110;
Game time: 15-45 minutes;
The point of the game: Collect 3 property sets to win;
Amazon ratings: 4.8 out of 5 stars, 26,817 ratings;

How Does A Monopoly Deal Card Game’s Box Look?

Just so you know, without continuing further, the box looks very luxurious and gives you a very fancy feeling. I know you’ll agree to that! 

Now look, wasn’t I right? The green frame looks great on the box, and the name as well, the font, the text definition, and all that make it even more well-designed. There are some card examples on the right corner, the place of origin on the other side, the game time, and other details. We absolutely adore that cute old man, he has a cane, but looks very strong though… 

Let’s take a look at the back of the box, shall we? 

You didn’t forget to take a deep breath before you saw the back, did you? You should know how much you’re about to read! Something very cool about this side of the box is that it’s both in English and French, so it’s easier for all people to understand. 

It shows some details of the gameplay, such as properties, deals, point of the game, and so on, there is also information about what it contains, meaning the number of cards, and we may also read lots of details about the manufacturer, copyright, there are also the number of players required and the recommended age once again. That’s pretty much all of it!

What Are The Cards Included In This Game?

Straight to our part, the Monopoly card game has a deck of 110 cards inside, which of course include lots of categories. Below are all of them:

• 4 rule cards, which obviously tell the rules for different situations and ways of gameplay;

• 36 action cards tell you what action you (or the other players) have to do, and they’re all different from each other. Going deeper, action cards are divided into:

• 2 Deal Breakers;
• 3 Debt Collectors;
• 4 Forced Deals;
• 2 Double The Rent;
• 3 Just Say No;
• 3 Sly Deal;
• 3 It’s My Birthday;
• 10 Pass Go;
• 3 Hotel;
• 3 House;

• 28 property cards, meaning that you’ll have a property in the game, which will help you play. These cards belong to 10 categories:

• Green;
• Red;
• Utility;
• Dark Blue;
• Light Blue;
• Yellow;
• Orange;
• Railroad;
• Purple;
• Brown;

• 11 property wildcards have a wider use than the regular property cards, and these are divided into 2 big groups: 2 cards with 10 colors, and the remaining 8 cards with 2 colors. Specifically, these are the cards: 

• 2 purple and orange;
• 2 read a yellow;
• 2 multicolor;
• 1 light blue and railroad;
• 1 light blue and brown;
• 1 railroad and green;
• 1 dark blue and green;
• 1 utility and railroad.

• 20 money cards, all about money. Money cards will be stored in the bank, you’ll see that later. Here’s what money cards exist in Monopoly:

• Six cards of 1 million;
• Five cards of 2 million;
• Three cards of 3 million;
• Three cards of 4 million;
• Two cards of 5 million;
• One card of 10 million;

• 13 rent cards, have to do with rents for specific properties. Rent cards are divided into:

• 3 ten color;
• 2 purple and orange;
• 2 green and dark blue;
• 2 brown and light blue;
• 2 railroad and utility;
• 2 red and yellow;

Instructions On How To Play Monopoly: Is It Complicated?

Finding out that this card game has various card categories, may sound pretty complicated, and a bit scary to be honest. Anyways, you won’t think of this when you fully read this part. We’re gonna go step by step and explain everything easily. Let’s begin this cool journey! 

• First of all, you should remove the rules card from the deck, and next shuffle the remaining cards, so no one gets the same cards in a row;
• After shuffling the deck, deal 5 cards to each player, and place the pile (the other cards left) facedown in the center of the table;
• No one can see each other cards, except cards in their hand;
• Anyone can start first, ex. the oldest player in the game, the one whose birthday is nearest, or any idea you have. The game continues clockwise;
• Each player in their turn has to draw 2 cards from the pile, which should be added to the cards in their hand;
• After drawing the cards, everyone can play up to 3 cards, but that is optional. So, in case you don’t want to play, you can just skip the playing part. But, if you have more than 7 cards, you should put the extras in the discard pile, meaning that if let’s say, you have 9 cards in your hand, you have to discard 2;
• You can create your bank, which is made of money cards and action cards (since the latter have a value written on them). 
• Once you place an action card in the bank, so, you want to use the money on them, you can’t play it later as an action, because basically, it is converted into money;
• If you don’t count the action cards as money in the bank, there’s another way to play them: place them in the discard pile, face-up, and do whatever the card says;
•  When playing property cards, you should know that you don’t have to pay or earn them in another way. You just place them in front of you and try to make sets of properties;
• Each property card tells you how many and what other types of properties you need to complete a full set, you can also use the same type of property twice;
• We also mentioned the property wildcards, you already know they have 22 colors. So, you have to choose which color you want to use at a time since the details of the property are different as well. It’s like two-property cards in one place, but you get to choose which one you need;
• Sometimes you gotta pay other players in the game, that’s how the game goes. When doing that, you can pay them only by using the money in your bank, and not cards in your hand. If you do not have money, you can give them properties, that have the worth of the money written in their corners, which will be added to that player’s sets;
• If you have to give someone, let’s say, $2M, but you only have a $3M money card, there is no chargeback. So, if you do not have any other option, you have to give them more money;
• There are also rent cards, which will be used to make any other player pay rent for a specific property. If it’s a 10-color rent card, it means that every color is available. On the other hand, if it’s a dual-color rent card, you should see which property color you have, and that is how much every other player should pay rent for the properties you choose, depending on the property color. 
• Another important thing you should know is that if a player runs out of cards in their hands, they should draw 5 cards from the pile instead of 2;
• If there are no cards left in the cards deck in the center of the table, you turn the discard pile face down, shuffle them, and start using the cards as normal;
• The player who completes 3 sets of properties successfully, wins the game.

Sharing Our Game Experience: Who Was The First Player To Complete 3 Sets Of Properties? 

You already know how I like to try new games with my family, close friends, and many other people I know. This time, even though I’ve played Monopoly Deal several times before, I decided to take the game to my workspace and tell my coworkers how fun it is. No, they weren’t that much of a card game people, but I knew they would love this one. 

There were 5 people in the office, and that was the maximum number of players allowed, so, we were fine! They wanted me to deal with the cards and start the game first since I knew how to play. Anyways, just as the rules say, first, I dealt 5 cards to each player and placed the remaining cards in the middle of the table. I started first by drawing 2 more cards from the deck. 

In my hand, now I had 8 cards, and decided to play 3 of them, 2 properties, which I placed in front of me, and 1 money card, which as we told you earlier, is counted as money in the bank. So, I started making my own bank. Yey!!! 

Next, we continued clockwise. My colleague drew 2 cards from the pile and decided to play only 2 since I suppose he had some action and rent cards he wanted to keep for the following rounds. He only played 2 money cards into his bank: 

Just imagine, it’s your first round, first time playing a card game, and you get a $5M card. And there are only 2 cards of $5M in the game. You lucky human! 

Anyways, we continued with the game, each of us took our time to make the right decisions, everyone started making their properties, their bank, and more details. When my turn came again, one of the cards I played was this action card: 

Since none of us had a full set till then, I had the chance to swap any property I wanted. Back then I had a property of 2 cards, like, in a row, and another property card who was staying alone. This is why this action card helped me a lot. My eye caught my best-colleague’s blue property card, which helped me complete my set. Now, this is how my properties looked: 

2 more to go to win the game!!! Did I? Be patient, and you’ll see that in a few minutes!!! Next, this is one other action card another colleague played:

Ah, lucky her!!! We all had to give her money cards or properties worth $2M… We all did… In fact, no, I didn’t give her $2M, I could use my special action card: 

The game went on and on, we played some more action cards, rent cards, money, wild properties, and many more. I don’t want to spoil the whole game and cards, that’s why, I’m showing you my last cards before the end of the game. I played a rent card: 

So, I could choose any color I wanted, and I chose light blue. All the other players had to pay me rent. I can’t stop laughing seeing how mad they were… Lol, we laughed a lot with our facial impressions later. 

Step by step, the game came to an end. We all were so close. We all had 2 full property sets, but I was one step ahead… I only needed another orange color property to win. And guess what, I did!!! This is the property wildcard that helped me win:

This is it. I used the orange side and won the game. Ah, how proud I was… The game became even more fun at the end of the game since it started being so competitive, and we all were this close to winning the game. We had lots of laughs, lots of proud moments, and lots of money… That’s a fact! 

Where Can We Buy A Monopoly Deal & Is There Competition? 

We discussed every little detail, we talked about the cards, instructions, our game experience, and much more information. But, where can we get Monopoly Deal Card Game? Since it has been released 2 decades ago, you can find it in many shops, but we usually trust two of them more: getting the game on Amazon and Walmart (for $19.99).

I know you’re curious about the other question… Yeah, this fabulous card game has competitors: 

1. Fluxx – $15.99

Fluxx is a card game that makes you want to reach your goals. It has 100 cards, which can be played by 2-6 players, starting from people who are 8 and up! There are goal cards, keepers, rules, and actions, of course! All people in the room try to complete the conditions in the goal cards, and once that goal is reached, the game ends and that player wins!

2. Bohnanza – $25.49

The name is always complicated for me to pronounce… But the gameplay is way easier. This card game has 154 cards inside the box, and the manufacturers designed it for people who are 13 years or older, for 2 to 7 players. Every player does his best to collect the most bean fields, which will be converted into gold. The player with the most gold wins the game! To bean or not to bean, that is the question…

3. Power Switch – $16.99

The Power Switch changes the power (energy) between all the players! It is a card game recommended to be played by 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up. Inside the box, we can find 57 cards, including color cards, shock play cards, and power switch cards. Every player, using their strategy and a bit of help from luck, tries to win the game and become the Power Player. Here’s a spoiler: Sometimes you have to scream ”I have the power!”… 

FAQ About Monopoly Deal Card Game

1. What’s the difference between this version and the blue one?

• All it changes is the box color, and some little graphics, they’re kinda refreshed in the blue pack. People say that the cards’ quality in the green pack is quite better.

2. Are there any extra packs, besides the main game?

• Yes, there’s the bilingual version in English and Chinese, the Monopoly Millionaire Deal (where you don’t compete to make 3 full sets, but you compete to be the first thas has $1,000,000), Monopoly Bid (which depending on our experts, it’s easier to play), and some more. 

3. Is there any way to play the Monopoly Deal with more than 5 people?

• You can do that by adding another deck to the game, shuffling all the cards together, and playing as usual.

4. If you do not have money and you want to pay with properties, does that property go to the opponent’s bank?

• The property goes to that player’s collection, it gets added to the sets or starts a new set. It can’t be added to the bank. 

5. If I want to pay with another card (besides money), such as property, who chooses the property? 

• Anytime you want to pay with a property (or another) card, it’s you who chooses the property, not the other player. It must have the value that is required.

6. But, what If I have no money, property card, or anything I could pay with?

• If you do not have any money left, you do not pay. If you do not have enough money to pay the other player, you give them as much as you have.

7. Can I give properties from full sets of properties?

• Yes, this is also official rules from the Manufacturer, Hasbro. If you have no money left and you need to pay, you may break the set. 

8. Is it possible to make a full set using only property wildcards? 

• No, you’re not allowed to do that. There should be at least one normal property card. 

9. What does the Monopoly Deal have to do with Monopoly Board Game? 

• You probably have found several differences during the article, but here’s a conclusion: they’re both made by the same manufacturer, Hasbro. The card game doesn’t have a board, obviously, and the gameplay is different. In the board game, you can buy different locations, buildings, locations, and more. The number of cards as well, changes from one another. 

To Sum It Up: Is The Monopoly Deal Worthwhile? 

A thousand times: yes! We love how it connects people and creates stronger bonds. Analyzing the game, I bet you saw that it is completely appropriate for all ages, and develops soft skills and strategy skills as well to all people, especially kids. 

The cards and the box’s quality are lovely and this is what makes them harder to be damaged. Another thing we love about Monopoly Deal is that even if you play it dozens of times, either with the same people, you’ll never play the same game twice. There will always be different actions, responses, different situations, and different fun.

What are you waiting for? Go have a blast by making a Monopoly deal!