Monopoly Secret Vault Board Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Objective for Monopoly Secret Vault

The objective of the game is to acquire properties and earn more money than the other players.

Setup

Choose one of the players to be the Banker. The Banker will be in charge the of following during the game:
- The Bank’s money
- Available Title Deed cards
- Unused Hotels
- Auctions
- Unused Keys
The Banker will give each player the following money:
- 5 – 10 money
- 5 – 20 money
- 3 – 50 money
- 7 – 100 money
- 2 – 500 money
- 1 – 1,000 money

Starting Money in Monopoly Secret Vault — Here is the money that each player gets to start the game.

Shuffle the Chance cards and place them on the corresponding space on the game board.

Setup the vault.
- Close the lid. Press the lock button three times.
- Place one Key, one Hotel, and four 100 money tokens into the vault.
- Place the vault in the center of the game board.

Vault Setup — To start the game one Key, one Hotel, and 400 money is added to the Vault.

Each player will choose a playing piece to use for the game. You will place your playing piece on the GO space to start the game.

Each player will roll both of the dice. Whoever rolls a higher total will start the game. Play will move clockwise.

Playing the Game

You will begin your turn by rolling both of the dice.

If you rolled a lock symbol, you will have an opportunity to try and open the vault. See the Vault section below.

Vault Symbol Dice Roll — This player has rolled the vault symbol on the left die. They will get a chance to open up the vault.

Next you will move your playing piece clockwise (left) around the gameboard based on the number you rolled. Treat the lock symbol as a one should you roll it.

Rolling a four on the dice — This player has rolled a four. They will move their playing piece four spaces clockwise around the gameboard.

Depending on what space you land on, you will take the corresponding action. See the Board Spaces section below for more details.

If you roll doubles, you will get to take another turn. If you roll doubles three times in a row, you will immediately move your pawn to the jail space. You will not get to complete your third turn.

Rolling Doubles — This player has rolled doubles. They will move ten spaces around the board and take the corresponding action(s). They will then get to take another turn.

After you have completed all of the actions, your turn will end. Pass the dice to the player on your left. They will take the next turn.

The Board Spaces of Monopoly Secret Vault

Unowned Properties

If you land on an unowned property you can choose one of two options.

First you have the choice to purchase the property. You will pay the bank the price listed on the space. Then take the corresponding Title Deed card from the Bank. You will add it to the other properties that you have already purchased.

If you don’t want to purchase the property, it will immediately go up for auction. Bidding for the auction begins at 10 money. Anyone can increase the current bid as there is no turn order. You must raise the bid by at least 10 though. The auction ends when none of the players want to raise the current bid. The player that bid the highest will pay the Bank the amount they bid. They will then take the corresponding Title Deed card from the Bank. If no one wants to bid on the property, the Title Deed stays with the Bank.

Four properties in the game (Vermont Ave, St. James Place, Ventnor Avenue, and Boardwalk) cannot be purchased in the game. The only way to acquire them is to use a key to unlock them. You can only get a key from opening the vault.

Owned Properties

When you land on a property that is owned by another player, you will owe them rent. If they don’t tell you that you owe rent before the next player rolls the dice though, you don’t have to pay.

To see how much rent is, look at the corresponding Title Deed card. Rent is determined by whether you own all of the properties of the corresponding color, and if you have any hotels on the property. You will look at the corresponding section on the card to find out how much rent is owned. The player landing on the property must pay the owner of the property the corresponding amount of money.

Owned Property Space — On a previous turn a player purchased Oriental Avenue. When this player landed on the property, they will owe rent to the person who purchased it. They will owe the player 70 as the player doesn’t also own the other two light blue properties.

GO

When you pass or land on GO, you will collect 400 money from the Bank. You will also take 100 money from the Bank, and place it inside the vault.

Chance

Take the top Chance card from the deck. Read the card to see what it does. If the card says that you can keep it, you don’t have to read it out loud until you are ready to play it. You can choose to keep one of these type of cards until a future turn when you want to play it.

Otherwise you will read out loud the card immediately, and take the corresponding action. After taking the action, return the card to the bottom of the deck.

Drawing a Monopoly Secret Vault Chance Card — The card on the left is a Chance card that has to be played right away. The card on the left can be kept until the player wants to play it.

Income and Luxury Tax

When you land on either of these spaces, you will add 400 of your money to the vault.

Guess for Free!

This space gives the player that lands on it one free guess at the vault’s secret code. See the Vault section below.

Pay to Guess!

You will pay 100 money to the Bank. You will then get to make one guess at the vault’s secret code. See the Vault section below.

Free Parking

When you land on Free Parking you get one free guess at trying to open up the vault. See the Vault section below.

Just Visiting

When you land on this space, you don’t take a specific action. Place your token on the Just Visiting section and end your turn.

Go to Jail

When you land on this space you will immediately move your pawn to the Jail space. You will not collect money for passing GO. Your current turn ends immediately. You may still collect rent, bid on auctions, and trade while you are in jail.

To get out of Jail you can choose one of three options.

Pay 100 to the vault at the start of your next turn. You will then roll and move like a normal turn.
Use a Get Out of Jail Free card at the start of your turn. You will place the card at the bottom of the deck. You will then take a normal turn.
Otherwise you can choose to roll the two dice. If you roll doubles, you get out of jail immediately. You will move with the number you rolled to get out of jail. If you roll the vault symbol, you do not get the opportunity to try and open the vault.
If you have tried to roll doubles three times and fail, you will pay 100 to the vault. Your last roll will then be used to move you around the board.

The three options to get out of jail — This player is currently in jail. In order to get out of jail they have three options. They can pay 100 to the vault. A Get Out of Jail Free card could be played. Finally they could roll doubles to get out of jail.

The Vault

Throughout the game you will have the opportunity to try and open the vault. The vault will randomly choose a secret number which will open it.

To try and open the vault you will choose a number between one and six. You will turn the yellow/gold ring so the number you choose is lined up with the red button. You will then press the red button.

Preparing to Open the Monopoly Secret Vault — This player has decided to pick the number five. They will turn the yellow/gold ring until the five is lined up with the red button.

If the vault doesn’t open up, you did not choose the right number. Players should keep track of what numbers the other players guess. The code only changes when the vault is opened. So if a number didn’t work to open the vault, the secret code must be a different number.

Failed to Open Vault — This player decided to pick the number three. When they pressed the red button, the vault did not open. Therefore three is not the secret code.

If the vault opens, the player that opened it gets to take everything inside.

Opening the Monopoly Secret Vault — This player guessed the number five and pressed the red button. The number was correct as the vault opened.

The rewards for opening the vault. — This player guessed the number five and pressed the red button. The number was correct as the vault opened.

You will then refill the vault. Take one Key, one Hotel, and four 100 bills and add them to the vault. You will close the lid until it locks. You will press the lock button three times. This will lock the lid and change the secret code number.

Keys

There are four Keys. These Keys are used to acquire one of the locked properties on the game board. You may only acquire them from opening the vault.

When you acquire a Key, choose one of the locked properties that haven’t already been claimed. Place the Key on the space corresponding to the property you chose. Then take the corresponding Title Deed card from the Bank.

Unlocking A Property in Monopoly Secret Vault — This player acquired a Key from the vault. They have chosen to use the Key in order to acquire Boardwalk.

Hotels

Hotels can only be acquired from the vault or through a trade with another player.

Once you have a Hotel, you can place it on any property of a color that you own all of the properties for.

Getting a Monopoly in Monopoly Secret Vault — This player owns all three pink properties. They have acquired the monopoly for the set.

You may place up to two Hotels on a property. You may never sell a Hotel back to the Bank.

Placing a Hotel — As this player owns all three pink properties, they are able to place Hotels on the properties. They have decided to place a Hotel on Virginia Avenue and States Avenue. If another player lands on Virginia Avenue they will owe 580. States Avenue will cost 520.

Trading With Other Players

At any time in the game you can choose to buy, sell or trade with the other properties. You may trade properties, cash, Hotels, and Get Out of Jail Free cards.

The two players in the trade determine what they think is a fair offer. If both players agree to it, the trade is made.

If you trade a property with Hotels on it, you will remove the Hotels from the property before you trade it. The player who previously owned the property will get to keep the Hotels. They can put them on another property if it matches the requirements for placing a Hotel.

Running Out of Money

If you owe money to the Bank or another player and don’t have enough money to pay them, you need to try and make enough cash to pay your debt.

Mortgaging

First you will mortgage any properties you have left that haven’t already been mortgaged. To mortgage a property you will flip the card facedown and receive the mortgage value of the card from the Bank. You may not collect rent on mortgaged properties. If you mortgage a property that is part of a complete color set though, you will still receive the higher rate from the other properties in the set.

To repay a mortgage in the future, you will pay the unmortgage cost to the Bank. You can then flip the card back to the face up side.

Mortgaging A Property — This player has decided to mortgage New York Avenue. They will receive 200 from the bank when they mortgage it. To unmortgage it, they will have to pay 240 to the bank.

Bankruptcy

If you are unable to pay off your whole debt, you will have to declare bankruptcy. You will be eliminated from the game. Your assets will then be given out based on who you owed money to.

If you owed money to another player, you will give them all of your mortgaged properties, any Chance cards you are holding, and any unused Hotels. The player who acquires the mortgaged properties can choose to immediately repay the mortgage to activate the properties.

If you owe money to the Bank, all of your possessions will go to the Bank. Chance cards are returned to the bottom of the deck, and Hotels are returned to the supply. All mortgages are canceled. All of your properties will then go up for auction. These auctions are held in the same way as a normal auction.

End of Monopoly Secret Vault

The game ends immediately once all of the properties are owned by a player. This includes the four locked properties.

To determine the winner, each player will count up their assets.

First each player will collect rent from each of their properties as if a player landed on it and had to pay rent. This includes the higher amount if you have the whole color set, or if you have one or two hotels on the property. The Bank will pay out this money.

The final properties a player has acquired in Monopoly Secret Vault — These are the properties that a player acquired during the game. They will receive money from the bank as follows: Pink Properties – 1,620 (220 + 520 (had one hotel on it) + 880 (had two hotels on it)), Yellow Properties – 530 (250 + 280), Green Property – 340, Red Property – 200, Light Blue Property – 80

You will combine the money you earned from the rent with the money you had on hand. The player that has the most cash wins the game.

Determining your final wealth in Monopoly Secret Vault — This player acquired a total wealth of 3,850 during the game.

Variant End Game

Instead of playing until all of the properties are collected, you can choose to play until one of the players has gone bankrupt.

Players will earn money like in the normal end game. The player that has the most money, wins the game.

Monopoly Secret Vault 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.

Components

Gameboard
Vault
6 Playing Pieces
22 Title Deed Cards
12 Chance Cards
24 Hotels
2 Dice
4 Cardboard Keys
308 Play Money
- 80-M10
- 70-M20
- 60-M50
- 50-M100
- 28-M500
- 20-M1,000
Instructions

Year: 2022 | Publisher: Hasbro | Designer: NA | Artist: NA

Genres: Economic, Family, Roll and Move

Ages: 8+ | Number of Players: 2-6 | Length of Game: 1-1.5 hours

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.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.