Robber Baron Monopoly - Game Design

Redesign of the board game Monopoly. Created as part of a team while obtaining a Certificate in Game Design from the University of Washington.

Objective: Redesign the game without losing the intention of the original game.

Gaps Addressed: Theme, Interactivity and Pacing.

The theme in the original game is present, but not very strong. We embraced the Robber Baron era where the game is set. The game is all about making deals, back-stabbing your neighbor and coming out on top. Any and all deals are allowed and it is up to each player if they will uphold their end of the bargain. This gives each player more autonomy and more options when they land on a property and can't or doesn't want to pay the fee. It also increases the interactivity among the players, creating more fast paced trades, and making the game more interactive. Another element we introduced to increase interactivity was forced auctions. Once only one property in any color group was left for purchase it triggered an auction for that card. The auction style used is Vickrey. That means bids are sealed and the highest bidder pays the second highest bidder's price. We also introduced an inflation tracker that serves multiple purposes. First, it is a timeline for the duration of the game. Once the tracker reaches the end each player finished their turn and the game is then over. It also introduces new game mechanics that encourage interactivity and different strategies as the game keeps going.

We also moved the spots for offices (formerly houses) to the outside of the board. It not only increases visibility if the whole board, but decreases the likelihood of them getting knocked down by a die roll.

Some other changes we made were:
- removed $1 bills from the game to make math simpler and money dealing quicker
- simplified and balanced property values
- updated property cards to include all fee possibilities used throughout the game

Once the game ends the player with the most combined assets wins the game.

Tools used:

-Mr Monopoly: pen & paper, Adobe Illustrator
-Property cards: Adobe Illustrator
-Interactive Tutorial: Storyline 2

Click on the images on the left to see the board design and the image on the right to explore the game tutorial.