Beyond Boardwalk

This book does an excellent job of making the game fun again! It puts a lot more skill into the game (rather than the old "land on something and buy it" characteristic of the original version). When I first got this book (when I was in college), two of us in the dorm tried to get our friend to play with the new rules. He wanted to play the old way, but we convinced him to play the new way. He won the game! The next day, he wanted to play the old way, but we convinced him to play with the new rules again, and he won again! The next day, HE came over asking us to play with the new rules! The only "optional" rules we use are to put in only HALF of taxes, housing assessments, etc., into the kitty (rounded up - so Luxury tax would pay $40 to the kitty and $35 to the bank), to keep the amount of money in circulation to a minimum. Possibly, to decrease the "blind luck" aspects, the kitty could be limited to an amount like $200 or $500, and the fifth and sixth railroad rents could remain at $200 (or maybe $250). Otherwise, six railroads is almost a guaranteed victory! We also created a few extra "go" cards (like sending yourself to jail). The main goal of any tweaks, like the changes listed in the book, should be to keep the element of skill high and the element of luck not as important.