David, While I agree with you that Monopoly is not a very "FUN" game, saying that it is poorly designed because a large number of gaming snobs (yes, we are all snobs there) give it a low rating is not really fair nor is it necessarily accurate. There are a few things to consider -
In the world of game design, Monopoly is ancient. You can't really compare a game conceived over 70 years ago with games made in the last year, just like it isn't fair to compare the Model T to the latest BMW. Advancements in so many areas as well as increased knowledge and intelligence overall have changed how we all think about what makes board games fun. For ANYTHING to be able to survive 70 years on the market with little to no functional changes, it has to be pretty well. For every copy of those games sold in the top 10 (or 20, or even 50) games, how many copies of Monopoly are sold each year? I would say its at least 10 times (and that's being VERY conservative). That means that a very large number of people MUST think that the game IS fun. And since the main design concern with making a game is that it is fun for the players, I would hardly call it a failure in design. And the last point I'm going to make for now is the same point I make when people on Board Game Geek get into a fit like this about Monopoly (or its "wargame" counterpart - Risk) - how many of the great games available now would even exist if it weren't for these classic, yet very dated (in terms of mechanics) games? Almost every "well designed" game out there now owes itself to one of these "classic" games in one way or another. Even great games like Settlers of Catan (at one time was #1 on Board Game Geek, now all the way down to #45) and Puerto Rico (#2 on Board Game Geek) can trace some of its mechanics to Monopoly. The game was revolutionary for its time, and is still a very important game in the history of board games, no matter how much snobs no longer like it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=49093 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
