Understanding Market Economics Through the Classic Monopoly Game
Understanding Market Economics Through the Classic Monopoly Game
For this game and its dynamics, my suggestion is to use Bitcoin’s satoshis, its smallest monetary fraction, which we’ll call sats. This way, we can also introduce participants to the crypto world and help them understand the freedom a decentralized currency provides.
*In this tutorial, we won’t use the game’s fictional money. Instead, we’ll use sats (the smallest fraction of a bitcoin) for educational purposes, to teach financial concepts and introduce the world of crypto.
*All players should have the suggested Wallet of Satoshi installed on their phones before starting the game and either have or receive the initial bank amount of 1,500 sats. This will allow them to make transactions during the game using the Lightning Network (which is cheaper and sometimes even free). The winner is the player who ends the game with the highest amount of sats.
The Game, Its Rules, and Dynamics
Monopoly is a classic board game where the goal is to be the last player not to go bankrupt, becoming the richest of all by buying, renting, and selling properties.
Game Setup and Start
Components: The game consists of a board, tokens, dice, Monopoly money with a total value of 0.00020580 sats, property deeds, houses, and hotels, as well as “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards.
Distribution: Each player receives an initial amount of money from the Bank, which is 0.00001500 sats, and a Banker is chosen to manage all the money, property deeds, houses, and hotels.
Start: All tokens are placed on the “GO” space. The player who rolls the highest number on the dice goes first, and the game proceeds clockwise.
A Player’s Turn
Rolling the Dice: The current player rolls both dice and moves their token the corresponding number of spaces.
Action on the Space: The action to be taken depends on the space where the token lands:
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Unowned Property: The player can buy it for the listed price. If they don’t want to, the Bank must auction it off to the highest bidder.
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Owned Property: The player must pay rent to the owner. The rent amount can increase if the owner has a color monopoly (all properties of the same color group) or has built houses/hotels.
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“Chance” or “Community Chest”: The player draws a card and follows the instruction on it (which could be to receive or pay money, go to jail, etc.).
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Income Tax/Luxury Tax: The player pays the indicated amount to the Bank.
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Go to Jail: The player must move their token directly to jail, without passing “GO” or collecting a salary.
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“GO” Space: Whenever a player lands on or passes this space, they receive a salary from the Bank, an amount of 0.00000200 sats.
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Rolling Doubles: If a player rolls the same number on both dice (a double), they take another turn after completing their action. If they roll three consecutive doubles, they go directly to jail.
Building, Trading, and Bankruptcy
Building: To build houses or hotels, a player needs to have a monopoly, meaning they own all the properties of the same color. Construction must be balanced, with the same number of houses on each property in the group.
Trading: Players can negotiate and trade properties, money, and cards with each other.
Mortgaging: If a player needs money, they can mortgage their properties with the Bank. Mortgaged properties cannot collect rent.
Bankruptcy: A player goes bankrupt when they cannot pay a debt (either to another player or the Bank) and must give up all their assets to settle that debt. The game ends when all but one player have gone bankrupt. The last player remaining is the winner.
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