Intro
Monopoly is the Marmite of the gaming world. You either love it or hate it. But it’s hard to deny its ubiquitousness, from the tens of thousands of different versions and editions, to an episode of the Simpsons about it, to video games, mobile apps and even an online casino, Monopoly isn’t just the biggest selling game of all time but a veritable gaming empire.
But none of that is particularly important for this review and I’ll tell you why. Monopoly Knockout is a fun shuffleboard game that, as far as I’m concerned, has just had a light coat of Monopoly IP paint plastered on it. It would be just as fun without it so the Monopoly theme is completely superfluous to enjoyment of the game.
However, that might not be such a bad thing because while many people truly love Monopoly, there are vast swathes of gamers who can’t stand it and actually think that it puts potential new gamers off the hobby with it’s tedious length, massive luck element, tiny strategy component and lack of ways to turn the tide of an opponent’s strong start.
In fact, you could be reading this right now as someone who dislikes or is indifferent to regular Monopoly and wondering if you’d still like this game despite that. If you like dexterity games then you almost definitely will despite the branding as it’s a whole load of fun. Conversely, if you love Monopoly, it’s important to say you won’t necessarily get on with this if you aren’t someone who likes dexterity games so read on and find out if Monopoly Knockout is for you.
Game Setup
Monopoly Knockout‘s setup is very simple. Unfurl the giant shuffleboard (over 3 feet long!), put the In Jail card next to it and the Turn Reference Card on the table. Place 500 cash above Free Parking and the rest of the money becomes the bank.
Each player/team receives four wheeled tokens in the same colour and a turn marker. Shuffle the turn markers face down, flip them one by one, and place them on the Turn Reference Card’s spots to determine the turn order for the first round.
Gameplay
On your turn, slide one of your wheeled tokens down the long board. At the end of each round, collect or pay cash based on where your tokens landed. If you have a token on all properties of a particular set, you get a bonus which increases depending on the difficulty of the properties (i.e. the distance from the start line).
If you slide your token off the board, it is removed until the end of the round. If your token knocks another token off the board, the knocked out token is removed from the board for the round. This can be good tactically if your opponent has made a set and you want to stop them getting their set bonus.As well as properties, there are a number of special spaces you can land on/ be knocked onto. Free Parking: The player with the most tokens on Free Parking wins all money above Free Parking. In the event of a tie, split the cash between all players who tied.
Go to Jail: Move the piece to the In Jail card. The player may pay 100 cash at the end of the round to slide this token again. House: Collect double cash for one property you collected for.
Chance: Take a piece off at the end of the round and slide it again.
Railroad: Move any of your tokens to any unoccupied property. Hopefully this will allow you to complete a set for the set bonus.
Luxury Tax: Pay a fee to free parking for each property you own.
There are three rounds of play. The game ends once every player has played all three rounds, and the player (or team) with the most cash at the end wins.
So Who Is This Game For?
It is a great game for families, both my 10 year old daughters really like it. As an adult game, it works really fantastically as either a warm up game or as a palette cleanser between more serious strategic games. The lightning fast setup and playtime make it absolutely ideal for this sort of play.
So Who Is This Game Not For?
Very young kids, people who hate any kind of dexterity game in general or shuffleboard games specifically, people with very small tables, people with cats who like to jump on boards and knock over pieces as it’ll be hard to remember where all the tokens had landed.
Replayability
This isn’t the sort of game that needs a ton of variety and replayability. It’s short and fun and a great filler game during longer game days. You probably wouldn’t want to play it for hours on end but I don’t think it’s been designed for that. That said, every game is totally different and different opponents may use different strategies like trying for sets or yeeting your carefully slid tokens into oblivion, so it can be great to play with a lot of different players.
Final Thoughts From Me
If you like filler games that make you stretch your leg and walk around, then throw or slide things, Monopoly Knockout is perfect for you. It’s a great game for the kids too, and one they frequently ask for as a first game before we play something longer. It’s got decent well made components, especially the tokens and it’s very easy to get to the table.
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