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Monopoly (download 119k) Author: Adam Stevens ![]() Description You remember Monopoly, right? That old Parker Brothers board game that everyone seems to have a copy of, yet no one really understands how to play. The game that gets dragged out of the closet on a Saturday night, fiddled with for an hour or so, then set aside when something more interesting comes on TV? The game whose sole purpose in life seems to have been to give kids fake money to play with? That's about how I remembered Monopoly too, until
I found this version by Adam Stevens. Suddenly, I was so enthralled with the game, I found myself
rushing out to the nearest department store to buy my own copy! Gone is the slow, almost languid pace of the
original, replaced by a fast-paced, tension-filled battle to the bitter end (and yes, you
will actually want to finish the game!). Like any great computerized board game,
this implementation eliminates all of the tedious, time-consuming bookkeeping, allowing
you to concentrate on strategy. And what strategy there is: Monopoly supports house and
hotel purchases, mortgages, auctions, property swapping, haggling, and even cheating, all of
the advanced features that make the game fun. But by far the best feature of the game are the computer opponents,
Bill, Fred, Bob, and Adam. Each one is controlled by a separate AI file, and they each have
their own personality. Fred and Adam are the straight men. They take the game seriously and they
know what they are doing. You can actually learn a good deal of strategy just by watching them.
Then there's devious, wisecracking Bill, who tries to cheat his way out of trouble with lines
like, "Gosh, is that a dodo I see over there?" Rounding out the group is the eternally hopeless
Bob, who prefaces almost every idiotic move he makes by saying, "I don't understand this game".
It's a riot watching these guys play; in fact, you could even setup a game with only AI players,
just to see them going at each other! If, like me, you have ever wondered why Monopoly
has stayed so popular for so long, give this game a try.
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