How to Play Monopoly — Classic Rules
Monopoly is a game of buying property, charging rent, and driving everyone else into bankruptcy. Players move around a 40-space board, buying the squares they land on and building houses and hotels to raise the rent.
These are the classic rules — including the two most-forgotten official ones: properties you decline are auctioned, and houses must be built evenly.
Last reviewed 2026-07-27
What's in the box
- Game board with 40 spaces
- Player tokens, 2 dice, and 32 houses plus 12 hotels
- Title Deed cards for every property
- Chance and Community Chest cards
- Monopoly money
Setup
- Place every token on GO and pick a Banker to run the bank.
- Give each player $1,500: two $500, four $100, one $50, one $20, two $10, one $5, and five $1.
- Shuffle the Chance and Community Chest decks and place them on the board.
- Sort the Title Deeds, houses, and hotels by the bank. The youngest player usually goes first.
How to play — the rules
Moving and buying
On your turn, roll both dice and move that many spaces clockwise. If you land on an unowned property you may buy it from the bank at the printed price.
If you choose not to buy it, the property is immediately auctioned to the highest bidder among all players — including you. Auctions are an official rule that keeps the board from stalling.
Rent and monopolies
Landing on a property owned by another player means paying the rent on its Title Deed. You must ask for rent before the next player rolls, or it is forfeited.
Own every property in a color group (a “monopoly”) and the rent on those undeveloped lots doubles — and you may start building.
Houses and hotels — build evenly
- You can build only after you own a full color group and only on your turn.
- Houses must be built evenly: no property in a group can have more than one house more than another in that group.
- After four houses on every lot of a group, you may buy a hotel, returning the four houses to the bank.
- If the bank runs out of houses, players must wait — you cannot skip straight to hotels around a shortage.
Jail and doubles
- Roll doubles and you move, then roll again. Three doubles in one turn sends you straight to Jail.
- You also go to Jail via the “Go to Jail” space or card.
- Get out by paying $50, using a Get Out of Jail Free card, or rolling doubles on one of your next three turns (pay $50 if you fail).
- You still collect rent while in Jail.
A turn, step by step
- Roll both dice and move clockwise; collect $200 if you pass or land on GO.
- Resolve the space: buy, pay rent, draw a card, pay a tax, or go to Jail.
- Optionally build houses/hotels, mortgage properties, or make trades.
- If you rolled doubles (and are not in Jail), take another turn — but beware the third.
How to win
A player goes bankrupt when they owe more than they can raise by mortgaging and selling buildings. Their assets pass to the creditor (or the bank on a tax debt).
The last player left solvent wins. Many groups instead agree a time limit and count total net worth, which shortens the classic marathon considerably.
Strategy tips
- Prioritize the orange and red groups. They sit just past Jail and get landed on constantly — they are statistically the best money-makers.
- Get to three houses fast. The rent jump from two to three houses is the biggest in the game; hotels are often overkill.
- Keep a cash cushion. Being “house rich, cash poor” loses games when you land on a developed property.
- Trade aggressively to complete monopolies — an even swap that gives you a color group and denies one to a rival is almost always worth it.
- Use the auction rule: let opponents overpay, and snap up cheap properties they ignore.
Frequently asked questions
Do you collect money for landing on Free Parking?
No — that is a house rule, not an official one. In the real rules Free Parking does nothing; the “jackpot” variant just makes games run much longer.
What happens if you don’t want to buy a property?
It goes up for auction immediately, and any player (including the one who declined) can bid. The highest bidder buys it at the auction price, which can be less than face value.
How much money do you start with in Monopoly?
Each player starts with $1,500, dealt as two $500, four $100, one $50, one $20, two $10, one $5, and five $1 bills.
Can you build a hotel without four houses first?
No. You must place four houses on every property in the color group, then trade them back to the bank for a hotel. Building must also stay even across the group.
House-rule ideas
- Time-limited game: set a timer and declare the richest player the winner to avoid the multi-hour grind.
- Free Parking jackpot: pool taxes and fees in the middle and pay them to whoever lands on Free Parking (expect longer games).
- No auctions: skip the auction step for a slower, more forgiving game — the opposite of the official pace.
Buy Monopoly Classic
Monopoly Classic Board Game
The full-size board, tokens, houses, and hotels for the original experience.
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