Monopoly is a classic board game that, when mentioned, prompts a lot of groaning and “please nos.” Even though this is simply a simulation game with no effect on life after the board is shut, it still causes players to stress out in very real world ways. While recently playing this game with my family I took note of different interactions occurring as half of the players were rich and half of us were one bad roll away from bankruptcy.

My sister was the one family member who really did not want to play Monopoly. As a result, she purchased everything she landed on because she didn’t care what happened. No strategy, no logic, just throwing her money around. Well shocker, she won the entire game. It’s very interesting how in this society, people who just have some good luck, know the right people, or have a lot of power can become millionaires while people who work just as hard, if not harder, are struggling to make ends meet due to a variety of factors.

As the hours went on, the players struggling financially were getting more and more irritated as the rich complained about having to pay at all. Even fake money has a lot of emotion tied to it. In the beginning of the game, the rich players offered to pay fines that the poor landed on, and to waive fees on properties. The poor players declined due to pride and ego, but later in the game took as much money as possible. Desperate times call for desperate measures! People change their beliefs and morals when it comes to staying stable.

Playing Monopoly is an interesting learning experience and quite the social experiment. If valueless paper can cause this much stress- imagine dealing with the real thing, and the actual threats associated with bankruptcy.