Collecting the most money has always been the way to win in Monopoly, but a new version of the classic game changes how you get that money.
INSIDER reported this week that Hasbro is releasing a “Cheater’s Edition” of the beloved board game this fall, which encourages player to lie, cheat and steal their way to financial dominance.
The idea for the game originated after a Hasbro survey revealed that more than half of Monopoly players try to cheat during the game, said Jonathan Berkowitz, Hasbro senior vice president of gaming.
“We’ve finally decided to embrace our less-than-honest fans by encouraging them to partake in those iconic (yet sometimes unspoken) Monopoly moments that occur during family game nights,” Berkowitz told INSIDER.
And that sordid behavior becomes easier with no banker. That’s right, no one person is in charge of the bank. Instead, each player acts as banker during their turn.
The new edition includes a jail just as the original game did, but now players who go to jail must slap on a toy handcuff attached to the board.
Encouraging cheating is far removed from the game’s left-leaning origins. In 1903, Washington, D.C., stenographer Elizabeth Magie patented The Landlord’s Game, an early version of Monopoly, which the Parker Bros. later bought. That game’s intent was to teach players the dangers of income inequality and monopolistic wealth practices, reflecting Magie’s own progressive beliefs.
We thought the original game ended friendships, but now that we’re expected to cheat, our friendships don’t stand a chance.
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