Can Monopoly Game Playing Teach Us to Make Money in the Real World?

Monopoly is an American-originated property purchasing board game created in 1934 that has reached global popularity across generations.

For most people Monopoly was part of their childhood entertainment and was seen as nothing more than a popular family game. However, Philip Orbanes, a former executive with Monopoly makers Parker Brothers believes that the humble household board game holds many financial life lessons overlooked by players for decades.

Orbanes is a Monopoly champion and tournament judge who believes that Monopoly can provide the experience needed to ground decision making with regards to finance and investments.

Orbane is so passionate about his lessons to be learnt in the game that he has just published a book called Monopoly, Money and You. In the book he explains that Schools do not teach children about financial investments and that in life people have to learn about financial matters elsewhere, often resulting in financial mistakes.

For Orbane many the financial lessons are contained in the board game game-play dynamics. He points out that Monopoly players begin the game with cash and no other assets and that they will not win the game with cash alone. He says the game illustrates some of the investment misconceptions people believe.

“It’s just the same in real life – if you have money sitting in a bank at a low rate of interest, you really are not going to make much money,” he said.

He explains further that most players strive to buy the two dark blue expensive properties within the game, believing that they are the best to own because they are expensive and prestigious and will make a profit by owning them. This act alone will not win the game and the act itself will not make money in real-life.

Orbane believes that playing Monopoly correctly can teach an investor to consider location, return on investment, value for money and negotiating.

A key element within the game-play is that players have to win deals to get the properties they want from other players. According to Orbane this element in game-play helps people developed business negotiating skills.

“Good negotiation, he says, involves understanding the needs of the other person and not necessarily exploiting a situation to your own advantage.”

Orbane does not see Monopoly as simply a humble family board game but rather as a fundamental aspect to learning sound financial investment skills.