If you want a version of Monopoly that you can carry around with you 24/7, then you might want to take a look at Monopoly for mobile.
I’ve spent quite a few hours playing it so that I can give you my honest review. Spoiler – it’s pretty darn good!
Want to check out the game and download it yourself? You can do so here.
Monopoly Mobile Game Review
Summary
The mobile version of Monopoly is great fun to play on your own or passing around your mobile between friends. But with video calling it’s an absolute blast and a great way to keep in touch with family over long distances. Plus, if you pick up the season pass you’ll get a ton of new themes to keep things interesting. It’s probably the best official digital version of Monopoly you can play.
Solo or with friends?
Straight out the bat, you get four main options for how you want to play Monopoly for mobile. You can play alone against AI players, or you can play multiplayer either with friends in the same room, with strangers online, or with friends online in a private room.
Games are all limited to a maximum of four players, whether you’re going up against AI or humans. With a solo game, you can decide whether the AI players are on Easy, Medium, or Hard difficulty by player. You can also mix and match, so play with some human and some AI players.
Multiplayer games with friends online are really easy to set up – all you need to do is register once you’ve downloaded the game, and then the host of the game just shares the room code with the other players when they try to join.
The best bit about this mode is the ability to video chat while you play. Now you can have a face-to-face catch-up while playing one of the world’s most popular games, all while lying in bed or sitting on the couch. And you can gloat with gusto when you win a game.
Set the rules
When you’re hosting a game, it’s your job to decide on which rules you play. You can choose the default Monopoly rules, or customize things a little. You can either do that by choosing a pre-set ‘Quick Mode’, or by picking which rules you want to add. These rules include:
- Free Parking Bonus – all penalty money goes to Free Parking, and you claim the pot when you land on the space
- Skip Spaces – skip over any Chance, Community Chest, or tax spaces, ruling those out of the game
- GO Bonus – double the amount you get for passing Go if you land directly on the space
- No Jail Rent – you can’t collect rent while in jail
- No Auctions – properties are either bought or left unsold
- Auction Only – properties can’t be bought without an auction
- Quick End – the game finishes when one player declares bankruptcy, with the winner being the player with the most money/property value
- Quick Hotels – build hotels after 3 houses instead of 4
- Quick Jail – players must leave jail after 1 turn instead of 3
- Starting Title Deeds – every player gets 3 random properties at the start of the game
‘Quick Mode’ enables the Skip Spaces, Quick End, Quick Hotels, and Quick Jail rules. Obviously, some of the rules can’t be used together in a custom game – you can’t have the Free Parking Bonus AND the Skip Spaces rule, and you can’t have No Auctions and Auctions Only.
Cross-platform
Mobile Monopoly is cross-platform, which means that if you’re playing the Android version but your friend has the iOS version, you CAN play against each other.
A lot of Monopoly video games are locked to their platform, so the fact that this version can be played on all different iOS and Android cell phones and tablet computers is a huge bonus.
Themes, boards, and tokens
When you buy the main Monopoly app, you’ll get the classic board for your country – so in the US you’ll get the standard US board.
You’ll also get the updated 8 standard playing tokens included – racecar, cat, T-rex, Scottie dog, duck, top hat, penguin, and battleship.
However, there are a huge amount of new tokens and other extras you can buy to make the game even more fun and keep things interesting for longer.
First up, the Explorers Pack lets you enjoy the standard Monopoly boards from a huge wealth of countries, letting you experience the UK board or the South African board, or maybe the French or German versions of the Swiss board? As of writing, there are 41 versions that the Explorer Pack unlocks.
Then there are themes – these are more unusual bundles that give you new boards and tokens to play with. Perhaps you’ll want to play the Victorian London theme, which includes the Clock Tower, Lion, Crown, and Royal Guard tokens? Or New York 2121, with its Cyberdog, Subway Train, Taxi, and Hover-bike tokens.
The latest theme is the Enchanted Forest, with its relaxing and magical setting of a miniature world amongst the trees and mushrooms, and the Fox, Wizard, Snail, and Frog tokens. It’s designed with mindfulness in mind (no pun intended) so you can really relax and help lower anxiety with a sedate Monopoly game.
I absolutely love the new Enchanted Forest board and find it so relaxing to hear the birds tweeting and see the butterflies flutter by as I play. If you only buy one theme, this is the one to go for.
Season pass
If you want to extend your gameplay, then the extra themes all cost, or you can buy the bundles or tokens on an individual basis. While each purchase on its own isn’t a huge sum, you’ll quickly spend a lot if you’re a collector who wants a lot of extra options.
That’s where the Season Pass comes in. For a one-off fee you’ll get access to all current expansions, including the Explorers Pack and all themes, and any future releases too – the Season Pass will never expire.
The Season Pass does cost more than the actual game, but it’s got a ton of content. So if you’re not happy with just the standard board and tokens, then it’s a great way to keep things interesting for a long while.
Is Monopoly fun on mobile?
The great thing about Monopoly on mobile is that it’s just a faithful version of the game designed specifically for your cell phone or tablet. This means that, as long as you enjoy playing Monopoly, you’ll think it’s fun.
It’s also got the Quick Mode options if you’re normally put off by games of Monopoly lasting too long, and you have the option to buy all the bonus themes, so there’s loads of fun to be had playing it. Especially if you’re pulling faces at your friends and family on a multiplayer video call game.
I also love that when you need to raise money, it does all the working out for you. So you don’t need to mess around with working out what to mortgage and which houses to sell, the game does all the math for you!
How fast is Monopoly on mobile?
The graphics on Monopoly for mobile are exactly what they need to be – they’re cute, colorful, and have a lot of detail, especially on the varied boards. The game’s never going to be one of the best-looking games in existence but that’s because it’s a board game brought to life, it’s not meant to be.
What this means is that it’ll run on most phones with no problem, including a lot of older smartphones. As long as you have at least Android 6.0 or better, or iOS 11.0 or later, you should be fine.
Then there’s the speed of the gameplay. One of my main criticisms of the Monopoly video games is that they feel a little sluggish – dice rolls have extensive animations that drag everything down, making turns last a lot longer than they need to.
That’s not the case with Monopoly mobile – loading times are quick, animations are sharp and responsive, and you can get through turns nice and fast. Perfect for quick games when you’ve got a small break in your schedule.
If you close the game, it saves your progress automatically, so you can pick it up whenever you have a spare five minutes waiting in line.
How much does Monopoly cost on mobile?
The costs may vary depending on when you buy, but generally, you’ll pay $3.99 for the Monopoly mobile app. Themes and the Explorer Pack will cost you between $4.99 and $6.99 or you can get the Season Pass which normally retails at $34.99 but is often discounted to $17.99
Reasons to buy Monopoly on your mobile
- Loads of multiplayer options including video chat which is great fun
- Really flexible rules options to keep things fresh
- Fast loading and fast gameplay mean no frustrating waits
- Tons of extra content available
Reasons to avoid Monopoly on your mobile
- Limited to just 4 players
- Potential to spend a lot on extra content – buy the season pass to save money!
To conclude
Beyond the option to play with up to 6 players, there’s really not a lot more that Marmalade Studios could do to make the perfect Monopoly phone game.
It’s got all the rules you’d want to play with (and a whole lot more that you might be interested in). It’s got loads of optional boards and tokens to enjoy. And the multiplayer options are great.
Add in the fact that the game’s just really polished and doesn’t lag when you’re trying to roll the dice, and that AI players don’t take forever to take their turns, and you’ll have a lot of fun with this version of Monopoly. And you’ll always have it to hand. Just be careful not to drain your phone battery if you’re out and about, as you will be tempted!
Check out some other ways you can play Monopoly online with friends too.
