A two-player game of Monopoly can end after just four rounds, nine dice rolls, and 21 seconds of play if one player buys Boardwalk and Park Place and the other can’t pay rent. This scenario statistically happens once in every 253,899,891,671,040 games. Professor Myers and his son plan to calculate the shortest possible time to win the strategy game Risk.
Monopoly always seems like a good idea until you’re knee-deep in properties, hotels, and fake money. For many, the problem with Monopoly is that the game can go on for hours. But take courage. In 2010, Daniel J. Myers, a sociology professor at Notre Dame University, told Robert Siegel’s NPR listeners that a two-player Monopoly game can end after just four rounds, nine dice rolls, and 21 seconds of play. Here’s how it might happen: A player darts around the board quickly, buying Boardwalk and Park Place and placing three houses on the Boardwalk. The other player gets a Chance card that sends him to the Boardwalk, but he can’t pay the rent. Game over.
Go straight to jail:
Professor Myers told NPR that he and his son were looking for ways to shorten the time it takes to play games when they came across this scenario. Statistically, that would happen once in every 253,899,891,671,040 games.
Gamely Games founder Hazel Reynolds calls playing Monopoly a “miserable experience,” adding, “It feels nostalgic to think about (playing Monopoly), until you start playing.”
Professor Myers and his son plan to calculate the shortest possible time to win the strategy game Risk
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