MONOPOLY

real-estate board game for two to eight players, in which the player's goal is to remain financially solvent while forcing his opponents into bankruptcy by buying and developing pieces of property. Each side of the square board is divided into 10 small rectangles representing specific properties, railroads, utilities, a jail, and various other places and events. At the start of the game, each player is given a fixed amount of play money; the players then move around the board according to the throw of a pair of dice. If a player lands on an unowned property, he may buy it; if he lands on a property owned by another player, he must pay rent to that player. Certain nonproperty squares require the player landing on them to draw a card that may be favourable or unfavourable. If a player acquires a monopolythat is, all of a particular group of propertieshe may purchase improvements for those properties; improvements add substantially to a property's rental fee. A player continues to travel around the board until he is bankrupt, at which point he is eliminated from the game. The last player remaining on the board is the winner. Monopoly, which is the best-selling privately patented board game in history, originated in the United States. It has become popular in many other parts of the world. In the original North American sets, the properties were named for streets in Atlantic City, N.J. Sets marketed in other countries may be modified to represent a local city; for example, London streets are used in the British version. Monopoly games also have been licensed with other North American cities as the subject (e.g., Chicago), although prominent landmarks and other points of interest usually replace street names as properties.