Monopoly Deal Card Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Looking for a specific Monopoly Deal Quick rule?  | Setup | Playing the Game | Cards | Paying Another Player | Winning the Game | FAQ | Components |

Objective

The objective of Monopoly Deal is to be the first player to collect three different Property sets in different colors.

Setup

• Each player takes a Reference card. Any extra Reference cards are returned to the box.
• Shuffle the rest of the cards.
• Deal five cards to each player. You may look at your own cards, but you shouldn’t show them to the other players.
• Place the rest of the cards face down on the table to form a draw pile.
• The youngest player starts the game. Play moves to the left throughout the game.

How to Play Monopoly Deal

Drawing Cards

You will begin your turn by drawing cards. If you have cards in your hand, you will draw two cards. Should you have no cards in your hand, you will draw five cards.

Playing Cards

After drawing cards you will choose which cards you want to play. You can play up to three cards on your turn. You can play zero, one, two, or three cards on your turn.

There are three different ways that you can play cards. How you play a card depends on what type of card it is. Once you play a card, you cannot return it to your hand.

Bank

The first thing you can do with a card is play it to your Bank. All money cards are added to your bank. You can also choose to play an Action card for its value instead of using its special ability. This includes House and Hotel cards. If you use an Action card for its value, you no longer can use it for its action. All money you play to your bank is placed in a face up pile in front of you. You will use money to pay other players throughout the game.

Collection

Your second option for playing a card is to add it to your collection. You can only do this with Property cards. You will place any Property cards that you play face up in front of yourself. It is helpful to place Properties of the same color in a stack. There is no limit to the number of Property cards that you can play in front of yourself.

Action

Finally you can play an Action card for its action. You will play the card and read its action out loud. You will take the corresponding action and then discard the card. The one exception to this are House and Hotel cards which you will place on Property sets.

End of Turn

After you have finished playing cards, you have the opportunity to rearrange your collection if needed. You will then end your turn.

You should check to see how many cards you have in your hand. If you have more than seven cards, you will need to discard cards until you only have seven left. You will choose which cards you want to discard.

Cards of Monopoly Deal

There are a number of different types of cards in Monopoly Deal. How you use each type of card is detailed below.

Money

You will play Money cards to your Bank. Money cards are used to pay off debts that you owe to other players.

Property

You need to collect Property cards of the same color set in order to win the game.

When you play a Property card you will add it to the collection of other Property cards that you have played. The card says how many cards make up the set and how much you can charge other players when they owe you rent.

The value printed in the corners tells you how much the Property is worth if you give it to another player to settle your debts.

Wild Property

Wild Property cards mostly work the same as normal Property cards.

Most of the Wild Property cards feature two different colors on them. You can choose which of the colors that you want the card to represent. At any time on your turn you can flip the card to change it to other color printed on the card.

There are also some Wild Property cards that can be used for any color in a Property set. These Wild Property cards have no value so they cannot be used to pay off your debts.

Each Property set must have at least one non-Wild Property card in it.

Action

You can use Action cards in one of two ways.

First you can add them to your Bank. When you do this they will be worth the amount printed in the corners. Should you choose to do this, you can no longer use them for their special ability.

Otherwise you can play them for their action. Play the card and read out loud what it does. Take the corresponding action and then discard the card.

Deal Breaker

When you play a Deal Breaker card for its effect, you will choose another player. You will steal a complete Property set from the chosen player. If there is a House/Hotel card on the Property set, you will take those as well. You will place the Property set you took in front of yourself.

Debt Collector

The Debt Collector allows you to force another player to pay you five money.

Double the Rent

You will play a Double the Rent card along with a Rent card. Whoever owes you rent from the Rent card, has to pay you twice what they normally would owe.

Forced Deal

Choose another player and one of their Properties that you want. You will swap the Property you want with one of your Property cards. You will choose both cards that are part of the trade. The other player can’t block the trade (unless they play a Just Say No card). Property cards that are part of a complete set cannot be chosen though.

You cannot use the Forced Deal card to steal a House/Hotel from another player.

It’s Your Birthday

All of the players need to give you two money.

Just Say No

When another player plays an Action card against you, you can play the Just Say No card to cancel the card. The Action card played against you will have no effect on you.

The Just Say No card can be used to block a rent action card played against you. If other players also have to pay rent, the card only protects the player who plays the card. The other players still have to pay rent. If a player plays a rent and Double the Rent card against you, the Just Say No card blocks both cards.

You cannot use a Just Say No card to block an Action card that only impacts another player.

Pass Go

When you play a Pass GO card, you will draw two cards.

Sly Deal

Choose a Property card in front of another player. You will steal the chosen Property card and add it to the Property cards in front of yourself. You cannot chose a card that is part of a complete set.

The Sly Deal card cannot be used to steal a House/Hotel from another player.

Rent

When you play a Rent card you will force another player(s) to pay rent to you. The amount of rent the other players owe you depends on how many properties you have of the corresponding color in front of yourself.

Most of the Rent cards feature two different colors on them. You can choose which of the two colors that you want to charge rent on. You will count up how many cards you have of the color you chose, and then charge all of the other players the corresponding amount of rent.

There are a couple of Rent cards that feature all of the colors on them though. If you play one of these cards, you can choose whatever color of Properties that you want. You can only choose one player to pay you the rent though.

House and Hotel

House and Hotel cards are a special type of Action card. Instead of playing them for their effect and then discarding them, you will keep a House/Hotel card after you play it.

You will add House and Hotel cards to a Property set that you have completed. You cannot add Houses or Hotels to Railroads or Utilities.

When you complete a Property set, you can play a House card on it in order to increase its rent. Once you add a House to a Property set, you can then add a Hotel to the same Property. You may only add one House and one Hotel to the Property set.

Once you control multiple Property sets, you can move Houses and Hotels between them. In order to move a Hotel to a different Property set though, that Property set needs a House. You can only move Houses and Hotels on your own turn though.

If a Property set is broken up and it had a House/Hotel on it, you will move the House/Hotel to your Bank. If it is your turn though, you can choose to move them to a different Property set.

Collecting Rent

When collecting rent for a Property Set with a House on it, you will add three to the rent that you can charge. If you have both a House and Hotel on a Property Set, you can add seven to the rent (three for the House and four for the Hotel).

Note: Older versions of the game seem to only let you add a total of four to your rent if you have both a House and a Hotel on the property (basically the Hotel overrides the House). The newest version of the game shows a specific example saying that you add seven to the rent.

Paying Another Player

Throughout the game you will end up owing other players’ money. When you owe another player money you must give them some of the cards that you have played in front of yourself.

You can pay another player with the money in your Bank or with Properties that you have played in front of yourself. You may not use cards that are still in your hand. Money, Action and Property cards are worth the amount printed in the corners of the card. You can choose how you want to pay off the amount you owe to another player.

When you give cards to another player, they will add them to the cards played in front of them. They cannot add the cards to their hand.

If you cannot pay the player you owe the exact amount you owe them, you may have to overpay. You do not receive change for any amount you pay over what you owe.

Should you not have enough cards to pay off all that you owe, you will give the player all of the cards played in front of you. The rest you owe the other player is forgiven. You will stay in the game.

Winning Monopoly Deal

The game ends when a player has completed three different Property sets. Each set has to be a different color. The first player to complete three sets of Properties wins the game.

Monopoly Deal FAQ

If you have any questions about how to play the game, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Another player played a Forced Deal card. After the swap I have three Property sets. Do I win now, or do I have to wait for my next turn?

The rules for Monopoly Deal have been tweaked from time to time. What is emphasized in the rules for different versions changes.

In one older version of the game it specifically says that you can only win on your own turn. Therefore in the above situation I would say that you would have to wait for your own turn in order to win the game.

A Forced Deal card was played which left two players with three Property sets. Which player wins the game?

The answer to this question is similar to the previous question. Some versions of Monopoly Deal are more clear about this than others.

One version of the game specifically says that you can only win on your own turn. Other versions of the game don’t mention this at all. Following this rule from one version of the game, the current player with three Property wins the game.

A player has started a set with a Wild Property card in it. The player is forced to give away some of the Property cards from the set in order to pay another player. What do they do with the Wild card if they don’t give it to the player they owe money to?

Wild Property cards can always be moved onto a different Property set. If you have to give away the Property cards from a set that has a Wild Property card, you can move the wild card to another set. You can also use the Wild Property card to create a new color set.

Components

• 29 Action Cards
  • 2 – Deal Breaker
  • 3 – Debt Collector
  • 2 – Double the Rent
  • 3 – Forced Deal
  • 3 – It’s Your Birthday
  • 3 – Just Say No
  • 10 – Pass Go
  • 3 – Sly Deal
• 3 House Cards
• 2 Hotel Cards
• 20 Money Cards
  • 6 – M1
  • 5 – M2
  • 3 – M3
  • 3 – M4
  • 2 – M5
  • 1 – M10
• 28 Property Cards
  • 2 – Brown
  • 3 – Light Blue
  • 3 – Purple
  • 3 – Orange
  • 3 – Red
  • 3 – Yellow
  • 3 – Green
  • 2 – Blue
  • 4 – Railroads/Black
  • 2 – Utilities/Light Green
• 4 Quick Reference Cards
• 13 Rent Cards
  • 3 – Any Color
  • 2 – Black or Green
  • 2 – Blue or Green
  • 2 – Brown or Light Blue
  • 2 – Orange or Purple
  • 2 – Yellow or Red
• 11 Wild Property Cards
  • 2 – Wild Any Colors
  • 2 – Orange or Purple
  • 2 – Red or Yellow
  • 1 – Railroad/Black or Light Blue
  • 1 – Railroad/Black or Green
  • 1 – Railroad/Black or Utility/Light Green
  • 1 – Brown or Light Blue
  • 1 – Green or Blue
• Instructions

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Year: 2008 | Publisher: Hasbro, Parker Brothers | Designer: Katharine Chapman

Genres: Card, Family, Set Collection

Ages: 8+ | Number of Players: 2-5 | Length of Game: 15-20 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate-High

Where to Purchase: Amazon, eBay Any purchases made through these links (including other products) help keep Geeky Hobbies running. Thank you for your support.

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