Monopoly “hidden rule” goes viral as players realize they’ve been playing wrong for years
MonopolyPeople are suddenly realizing they have been playing Monopoly wrong after a viral Reddit post showing the correct rules sent them into a frenzy.
Monopoly has been arguably the world’s most famous board game for generations, with the game being first introduced in 1904. The number one game has been widely enjoyed by families, despite being famously known to cause countless arguments.
As well as arguments, controversies of the game have revolved around many claiming it takes too long to play, with games commonly going on for hours into the night.
This is where the viral Reddit post comes in, whereby Reddit user Gumbledorus posted on the CasualUK subreddit, featuring a photo from the Monopoly rulebook which should dramatically reduce the playing time.
The rule posted relates to the buying of property as each player travels around the board and lands on various properties.
MonopolyIt states: “If you decide not to buy, the Banker must immediately auction the Property for sale to the highest bidder.”
Typically players of the game would simply skip to the next person’s turn if the player who landed on a particular property doesn’t want to buy it, with other players thinking they are not allowed to buy the property.
Players react to Monopoly’s “hidden rule”
Although it seems a small minority of players were aware of this rule, the majority of people can’t believe they did not know this rule existed after never using it.
After comments flooded in of people losing their minds, it has caused the Reddit post to go viral with many users highlighting that their games would now be dramatically faster.
Various users have highlighted that this rule would allow properties to be bought up faster by all players, increasing the chance that everyone will have to pay more rent, therefore leading to faster bankruptcies.
Board games have continued to be successful despite video games taking over for the past few decades, with the iconic game Call of Duty even releasing its official board game in 2024.