Looking for a fun, Monopoly-themed card game to play with the family? There are a couple of options, with Monopoly Bid being the most recent.
And it’s good fun, if you aren’t looking for anything too complex. In this review I’ll take you through what’s good about Monopoly Bid, what could be better, and whether it’s worth buying.
Want to know how the game works? Check out the Monopoly Bid Rules here.
Monopoly Bid Review
Summary
Monopoly Bid is a great card game if you want something you can pick up and play within minutes. It’s not got a huge amount of depth, and there’s a fair amount of luck involved, so it can get a bit repetitive after a few rounds. But as a way of introducing kids to Monopoly-themed games, or for a family get-together, it’s worth buying.
How does Monopoly Bid work?
Monopoly Bid is a game where your objective is to complete any three property sets. You do this by bidding on properties, using money cards that you’ve picked up during the game.
It’s a game of blind bidding. A property is revealed, and then everyone decides in secret how much they want to bid. Once all the bids are revealed at once, the person who has bid the most money wins the property.
There is more to it though, thanks to the addition of action cards. These cards let you:
- Play a Wild card onto any property set, acting as a property card for that set
- Draw extra cards, to either get more money to bid with or more action cards to use
- Steal a property from another player
- Block a player from playing another action card
A lot of the strategy involved is working out which property sets to go for, and how much money to bid. Your money cards tend to be limited – you only start with a hand of 5 cards, and they may be a mix of money and action cards.
So you need to be selective, and yet also try to trick your opponents into bidding more for properties that you don’t want. That way, when a property comes up for auction that you do want, you’ve got a higher chance of winning it.
But while there is a strategy in deciding how much to bid, a lot of the game is based on luck as well. If you don’t get any high-value money cards, you can struggle to win auctions against other players.
Plus, you might have some exciting action cards to play, but your opponents may have all the Nope cards which block you.
This isn’t a game where you’re going to be able to win every time – but that makes it good fun for everyone. However, your victories can feel a little more hollow since you know you’ve got lucky to get the cards you needed to bid at the right time.
Who is Monopoly Bid aimed at?
Monopoly Bid is a 2-5 player game aimed at those aged 7 or older, though you could probably play it with a clever six-year-old I’d say.
Whereas Monopoly Deal, the other major Monopoly card game, is a bit more tactical, Monopoly Bid is quite simple. So it’s a good choice for a game to play with younger kids, or with family members who don’t have a lot of patience to learn a long list of rules.
Because it’s simple, and because rounds tend to be quite fast, it’s more of a casual game to break out at a family dinner, rather than one to add to a regular board game night where you might want something with a bit more thought involved.
How long do Monopoly Bid games last?
Monopoly Bid games tend to last between 10 and 15 minutes, but they can be even faster if just played with two players. Because there are only a maximum of 28 turns in a game (the number of property cards in the deck), you can get through a full game quite quickly.
Most games won’t even use all 28 turns though, especially with fewer players where you can quite quickly build up a selection of property cards. As soon as you draw a few Wild cards, it doesn’t take you long to start completing sets.
Younger kids will enjoy this, because it doesn’t require a huge attention span to see the game through. They’re more likely to ask for repeat games, because it’s something fun they can understand – and they always feel like they’re close to winning, even when they lose.
For adults, repeated games can get a bit dull, because it is all very similar. The games don’t tend to feel very different each time you play, even though you might get a couple of different action cards than you did last time.
Generally, you’re always going to try to target the same property sets – those that only need two cards to complete them. So rounds get a bit samey.
How much does Monopoly Bid cost?
One of the best reasons to buy Monopoly Bid is the cost. While the actual cost will vary, you can usually find it for around $7, and it’ll often be reduced in sales too.
Even for a card game, that’s a pretty reasonable price – you’d pay more to rent a movie to keep the kids from getting bored, and this is something they can come back to again and again, even if you don’t get quite as excited as they do on repeat rounds.
Reasons to buy Monopoly Bid
- It’s really simple to understand and play
- Kids tend to enjoy the fast rounds
- It’s a great price for a game to play at home
- You can play it anywhere
Reasons to avoid Monopoly Bid
- There’s very little skill involved
- Games tend to get a bit repetitive
To conclude
I like the Monopoly Bid card game, but I definitely found myself less interested the more games that I played. I think I’d be happy putting it away and then coming back to it for a couple of casual games every month or two, but it’s not something I’d play regularly.
However, if I’m ever going to a family party and I know there’ll be kids there, it’s one of the first games I’d probably pack to take with me. It’s quick to explain, it’s colorful and fun, and it’s easy to carry around. Considering how little it costs, it’s worth picking up if you’re looking for something to kill an hour now and then.
Is Monopoly Bid fun? Yes, but in short bursts only. I agree with some other Monopoly Bid card game reviews, it’s just a little repetitive.
If you want to learn more about the game it’s worth reading the Monopoly Bid rules, which explains how the game works in even more detailed.
