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It wasn't until I received the latest version of Monopoly with the nifty electronic device that counted your money for you that I read the directions for this game. I have been playing it since I was 8 and just followed the rules that were told to me by aunts and uncles. They probably hadn't read the rules either, or at least it had been a while since they did! It came as quite a shock to me that a lot of the rules I played by weren't rules at all. They were house rules set up by the first person to teach me how to play the game. Even more shocking - most, if not all, of these house rules were widely accepted and known by all of my friends!

The most famous rule that doesn't appear in any rule book but is well-known by many Monopoly players is the Free Parking rule. There are different variations but the end result is always the same - anyone who lands here gets some money. One version is simply putting a $500 bill in the center of the board for anyone to collect should they find themselves resting on the Free Parking space. When someone takes it it is immediately replaced by another $500 bill from the bank.

The second version of that rule, the one I happen to like even better, is the ever-growing bank for the landing on Free Parking. Land between Board Walk and Park Place and have to pay taxes? Put it in the middle of the board. Pay $50 to get out of jail? Middle of the board. Community Chest or Chance card tells you to pay up? You know where that chunk of change goes. This can be quite the boon for someone who is barely treading financial water if they manage to hit the parking lot. It's just like winning the lottery!

Another rule we had was the landing on Go rule. Now normally when you pass over Go you collect your salary of $200 (or $2,000,000 if you are playing one of the newer versions) and go about your business of buying and building. But should you roll the number that will land you exactly on that Go space you are given a salary bonus - in short, you get twice your salary!

Because we were ruthless as children we often played hard and bought everything we could land on as soon as we got there. It's not a terrible strategy, actually, but if it looked like the game was going to end prematurely because someone owned the entire Board Walk side of the board we altered the rules. Borrowing money. Occasionally, just to keep the game going on long enough to get into the Guiness Book of World Records, we allowed money to pass between players. And if things were seriously dire for the other player they were offered a rent free pass around the entire board.

Most of our house rules are widely known among other Monopoly players and some of them we came up on our own as needed. The older ones were used so consistently that I didn't even know they weren't really rules. Whichever way you decide to play just make sure everyone knows the rules you play by and have fun!

Learn more about this author, Danielle Friedl.
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