Many people avoid adding Monopoly to their game night lists because it feels like it takes an eternity to play. According to the rules, a standard game of Monopoly should last anywhere from twenty minutes to three hours. Games have been known to last for hours, though, with the longest game on record going for over seventy days. With families looking for things to keep them occupied during the holidays and periods of quarantine, a seventy day game of Monopoly might sound ideal, but no one really wants to play a single board game that long.
Over the years, numerous editions of Monopoly have found their way onto the market, featuring everything from movie and TV characters to cats and dogs. Some of those versions have even specialized in creating new rules and mechanics designed to shorten the amount of time it takes to complete the game.
Monopoly Speed
Touted as the fastest game of Monopoly possible, Hasbro released Monopoly Speed in 2019. According to the box, a game of Monopoly Speed can be won in ten minutes, which sounds completely impossible. Instead of players going one after the other, the game takes place in four timed rounds. Each player is given their own dice and token, and they all go at once, doing as much as they possibly can before the timer goes off and ends the round.
It takes a lot of cash to buy so much property, so Hasbro replaced the Free Parking spot on the opposite side of the board with a second Go space, so players can collect money each time they go halfway around the board. They also enhanced the game's Chance and Community Chest cards; Chance offered players more chances to bargain with another during the trading stage and Community Chest cards providing point bonuses that can be added to players' final scores.
At the end of the fourth round, purchases and trading end, points are tallied, and a winner is declared.
Monopoly: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition
Another relatively quick version of Monopoly is The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Edition, inspired by Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's book trilogy. With many of the standard properties replaced by familiar Middle-earth areas, players could move their tokens around the board to buy properties and build strongholds in standard fashion.
The game came with an added feature, however, that was designed to shorten the time it took to play. The One Ring to Rule Them All token starts on the board alongside player tokens and moved its way around each time a player rolled the Eye of Sauron on the dice. Players who landed on the same space as The One Ring could take the property for free unless it was already owned. In that case, they had to pay the owner double rent.
When the ring reached Mount Doom, which replaced the Boardwalk location on the board, the game was declared over and the winner was determined based on everyone's collection and monetary value.
Monopoly Hotels
Not a standard Monopoly game, the 2013 Monopoly Hotels game from Hasbro was designed for two players in a head-to-head battle to become the grandest hotel tycoon. Players draw cards to build floors in their hotel, collect rent, sabotage their fellow tycoon or protect themselves from their opponents. The types of rooms one builds increase value, as do celebrity stays.
The first player to five floors is declared the winner. With only five floors to build, this game was designed to be fast-paced and can be played quickly.
Monopoly Ultimate Banking Edition
Designed for 2-4 players, the Monopoly Ultimate Banking Edition is a fast-paced, electronic version of the game that uses scannable bank cards instead of money, freeing up the tedious task of keeping track of cash. Instead of players collecting houses to upgrade to hotels, there can only ever be one house on a property, and the rent rises every time someone lands on it.
Because of the pacing, the game is designed to either build wealth or bankrupt players much more quickly, meaning this can be played in an hour or less depending on choices and Event cards, which replace the standard Chance cards.
Monopoly Millionaire Edition
Adding a specific variant to the rules can easily shorten the amount of time it takes to complete a game of Monopoly. With the Millionaire Edition of the game, that's exactly what they did. Not only did they create a rule that gives players a goal to strive toward, but they also changed up the board a little in order to increase the game's pacing.
To finish the game and declare a winner, a player needs to be the first to reach a million dollars. The board is also smaller than the traditional Monopoly game, with only eight spaces per side. With railroads, utilities and tax spaces gone, players can move more quickly around the board, buying up properties and accumulating wealth in an effort to reach that million-dollar mark sooner.