We played the new Monopoly expansions you never knew existed

It's the family game we all know and love, but for Monopoly's 90th anniversary, three official expansions have been released to spice up any games night.

The best part is the expansions bring house rules, faster gameplay and new twists to the traditional Monopoly.

We got conflict and chaos deep with the new expansions. Here is our honest review.

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Monopoly Free Parking Jackpot Expansion, now $14.95

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How to play

This expansion expands on everyone's favourite house rule. Free parking becomes a jackpot zone, and every time you have to pay Monopoly cash, it goes straight to the jackpot.

Players start off with two spin tokens, and all community chest and chance tiles are replaced with a free spin tile. Finally, when a player lands on your tile and has to pay for rent, you can choose to take a spin token instead, which can be used for the 'spin wheel'.

So what exactly is the 'spin wheel'? Well, it slides over the free parking slot, and you get to spin by spending spin tokens or landing on the free spin. Once you're there, you have a chance to spin for perks or cons.

The 'deal mobile' is also a new game piece that allows you to buy properties for free when you land on them. You don't have to pay for rent while you have the 'deal mobile'. This game piece is claimed when you land directly on 'Free Parking', or you use a bonus card.

You can gain these bonus cards for every spin on the wheel, and they play out very similarly to other action cards from the other expansions. They're just fun new action cards that allow you to move around, gain free houses or block other players' actions.

To win, you must be the richest player at the end of the game. The game ends when all properties are owned or when one player goes bankrupt.

Pros

The 'spin wheel' and 'deal mobile'. Together, they add excitement and a bit of thrill. Definitely worth a playthrough.

Cons

After playing the other expansions (more on that to come), this one felt the least compelling. Sure, it was fun, but some of the bonus action cards felt a little less novel and too similar to the other expansions.

Monopoly Go to Jail Expansion, now $14.95

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How to play

You set up the board and money as per normal, but you add a few more 'go to jail' tiles, a new extended jail and a 'super jail'.

To win, you must be the richest player at the end of the game. The game ends when all properties are owned, or when one player goes bankrupt, but there's always the option to keep playing like traditional Monopoly.

The biggest change is the new action cards. Regular 'corruption' cards are gained each time you pass jail, or for every turn you are stuck in jail. For example, one of the cards can be played to double the rent someone owes you.

'Super corruption' cards are gained for every turn you are stuck in super jail. These cards are even more powerful, with some even allowing you to buy another player's entire property set or swap your entire cash pile with another player's.

The game also features two new dice to play when you land on community chests and chance tiles (instead of the cards you normally receive in the traditional version of the board game), which also have positive and negative effects depending on the roll (i.e, go to jail, receive $100).

Pros

A great positive of this expansion is how it starts like a normal game of Monopoly, but it just keeps ramping up the more the game goes on.

If you're looking for an expansion that is unforgiving and will ruin friendships, then this is the one. The variability is fun, and it makes you actually want to go to jail.

The best part of this expansion is the absolute chaos and fearmongering it creates. But be warned, you have to be extra careful with whom you target with your corruption cards. Later in the game, the 'super corruption' cards become extremely threatening to your survival.

Cons

The biggest issue we found playing this expansion is the lack of detail in the rules. Yes, it explains the concept to the extent that's needed for you to play, but a lot of decisions about what card trumps what was made by ourselves. Moreover, some cards just became redundant later in the game.

And finally, if do want to play by the original rules to be last player standing, the game almost certainly never ends. Everyone just ended up being sent to super jail, and that caused the game to go in an endless loop that kept on creating a continuous stream of generational wealth transfers between the players. It was amusing, but we just gave up in the end.

Monopoly Buy Everything Expansion, now $14.99

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How to play

Winning is the same as the other expansions, but this time, all players start with a total of $2150 in Monopoly cash, and you can buy every single tile space. Yep, you can buy 'Go', 'Jail', 'Just Visiting', and 'Free Parking'. You can even buy the tax tiles, community chests and chance cards. But make sure to resolve the tiles first when you land on them before you purchase or pay rent.

The expansion also introduces a 'sale vault' that sits at the centre of the board, and after every turn, you can roll a 'buy die' that allows you to purchase new sale cards from the centre, discard other players' sale cards or shuffle the sale cards from the centre.

What can you buy from the sale vault? Well, you can buy action cards, but you can also buy other unique aspects of Monopoly. For example, you can buy the number seven, you can own all the houses, you can buy all the $50 notes, and you can even buy the bank. Yep, it's as stupid as it sounds.

You can also buy 'win conditions' from the sale vault. As in, you can buy a victory if you complete what's written on the card. The way someone won our game was through a 'Go' card that guarantees a win if they land directly on Go!

Pros

This expansion is a lot fairer than the Go to Jail Expansion because the 'buy die' balances out the unfair cards, as you can choose to discard other players' sale cards.

Moreover, who doesn't want to own jail? Who doesn't want to own the entire bank? The game also doesn't go on forever if you choose to play that way, and it keeps everyone on their toes as you have to anticipate how people are plotting to win.

Cons

I wish there were more cards to buy from the sale deck. You end up cycling through them quite quickly, and it becomes a little bit predictable as the game goes on.

Are they worth it?

After playing all three expansions, I'd say, yes, they're 100 per cent worth it. My personal favourite was the Buy Everything Expansion. Each expansion offers a unique twist on the traditional game of Monopoly, but they were all fun to play with a big enough crowd. They also introduce new ways to ruin friendships, so what's not to love?

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