Interested in playing Monopoly Plus against your friends, but you all have different consoles?
Up until a few years ago, the idea of ‘cross-platform’ gaming was seen as a bit of a pipe dream, but now we’re seeing more and more titles being produced so that the platform you play on doesn’t matter.
‘Cross-platform’ or ‘cross-play’ refers to whether a game can be played online against other people who are playing the same game but on a different console or PC, AKA another platform. If a game is cross-platform then Xbox gamers can take part in multiplayer games with PlayStation gamers, PC gamers, or Switch gamers.
Usually, the complexity of the game has an impact on whether it can be produced as a cross-platform title. The more complicated games are harder to make compatible on servers for lots of different platforms.
So, what about Monopoly Plus? Surely a board game isn’t too difficult to get working across different platforms?
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Is Monopoly cross platform?
The only Monopoly game you can play cross-platform is the mobile game, on Android and iOS. Everything else, unfortunately, is locked to a system.
Is Monopoly Plus cross platform?
Monopoly Plus is not cross-platform. It’s also not cross-generational, so PlayStation 5 gamers can’t play Monopoly Plus online with PlayStation 4 gamers, even though the game is the same.
Unfortunately, it seems like the game developers have no plans to make Monopoly Plus cross-platform, which means that you can only play online against people who have the same console as you.
It’s still much better now than it was even 10 years ago – it’s now so easy to connect with people around the world and play Monopoly online instead of relying on computer AI. But it would be nice if you didn’t have to coordinate your platform with your friends.
What doesn’t help is that the PC’s minimum requirements of the game, while not exactly super-expensive, will still rule out a lot of the average laptops that people use for their work or life admin. Because Monopoly Plus uses a lot of 3D animations, it does need a graphics card to run properly, even if it’s a really old one.
So, even though most people have a laptop or PC at home, you can’t all just agree to get Monopoly Plus on there anyway.
Suggested read: 7 Best Monopoly Games for PC
Can you play Monopoly cross-platform?
There is only one version of Monopoly that can be played cross-platform, although you don’t have complete freedom. That is the Monopoly mobile game.
Monopoly Mobile Game
The mobile game is your only option for cross-platform play. This works on any device running Android 6.0 or later, or iOS 11.0 or later, so you can play it on any phone or tablet running these operating systems, providing they’re recent enough to be able to run the game.
Check out my full review of this game here: Monopoly Mobile Game Review.
How To Play Monopoly on the TV with Friends
If you want to play Monopoly on the TV against your friends, and you don’t all have the same console, then your best option is to get an Android TV box (these are pretty cheap) and download the mobile game from the Google Play Store on there.
If you want to do this, try to get an Android box with Bluetooth and a games controller too – playing games with a TV remote is always tricky and never fun.
Another option would be to download the Monopoly mobile app to your phone and cast it to your TV. You’ll still control it from your phone, but you’ll get the big screen experience too.
Some modern TVs let you cast directly, or you may need another device such as a Chromecast.
Can you play Monopoly with different consoles?
Unfortunately, there are no ways of playing Monopoly online across different consoles. If your only option for playing Monopoly online is your Xbox and your friend only has a PlayStation, you’ll have to make the trip to their house to play together instead.
There aren’t any unofficial versions on the consoles’ app stores either – while some unofficial games exist for PC, they’ve not yet made their way to PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch.
And unfortunately, you can’t look at spin-off games like Monopoly Deal or Monopoly Madness as an alternative either – they’re equally console-locked, and can’t be played cross-platform.
It’s one of the most frustrating parts of the online Monopoly experience, and hopefully, Ubisoft will look to get it resolved in the future.
Until then, my best advice if you’re considering which console to buy is to always try to get the same one that your friends have, and if you already own your console then maybe it’s just time to organize a Monopoly night at someone’s house instead.
The Bottom Line
Unfortunately, playing Monopoly online cross-platform isn’t easy, although thanks to the mobile game it isn’t totally impossible either.
More and more games are being designed with cross-platform play in mind, so we can only hope that any future versions of the game have this feature added in.
Until then, give the mobile game a go, or see if you can convince your friends to all get the same version – the PC version is probably best for online Monopoly games since most people have a PC or laptop. And if that fails, and you live close enough to your friends, buy some snacks and break out the traditional board game instead.
