I bought this for my 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son. This is different than the Monopoly Junior I remember playing as a child. At some point they changed this game so it only includes single Monopoly dollars ($1). It is a great concept for small children. My son is learning to count things so he is able to help count out the single bills. My daughter is learning basic addition and subtraction, which makes this a little below her learning level, but we are still able to incorporate some math learning into the game for her. -Each player starts with Monopoly dollars (MD) based on the number of players; 2 players start with 20 MD, 3 players start with 18 MD, 4 players start with 16 MD. The game comes with 90 MD total. -If a space is available to purchase when you land on it, you must purchase it; if it is owned you pay rent. If two properties of the same color are owned by the same player, then you pay double the rent. -There are no houses or hotels. You simply mark a property you purchased with a token that is the same character as your game character. -When a player runs out of money (does not have enough money to buy a property, pay rent, pay a Chance card fee, or pay the get out of jail fee) the game is over; the person with the most money wins. -There are 16 properties; ranging in price of 1MD to 5MD as follows: 4 properties for 1MD, 4 for 2MD, 4 for 3MD, 2 for 4MD, and 2 for 5MD. -The 4 Chance spaces are the same concept as original Monopoly; with the Chance cards being very similar to the original game as well. Some require you to pay a fine, some require the other players to pay a fine. Some cards offer a player a property for free or requires you pay rent if the property is already owned. Other cards do not have any monetary transactions (get out of jail free, for example). -The 4 corners spaces are the same as original Monopoly (GO, Jail, Free Parking and Go to Jail). When you pass GO you receive 2MD. If you land on Jail (just visiting) there is no money exchanged. The Free Parking space does not have a "jackpot" or any other money associated with it. The Go To Jail space requires you pay 1MD on your next turn to get out of jail. -Advanced Option offers an alternate rule once the players have "mastered" the standard rules. This allows a player to use property they own to pay off debt for rent or a Chance card fine. If you owe a player, then the property becomes theirs; if you owe the bank, the property goes back on the market available for the next player that lands on it to buy it. The way the rules are setup, with the amount of MD each player starts with, the money does not last very long. This makes for a short game. I think we made it around the board almost twice the first time we played the game as a family of 4. This is good for young children that have a short attention span; like my 3yo. However, my 6yo was upset the game was already over. The second time we played the game, we played with 4 players and started each player with 20MD instead of 16MD. We were hoping it would help lengthen the game a bit, but it didn't make much of a difference. Since the game only comes with 90MD, you cannot really start with more than 20MD in order for the bank to still have funds. I think this game is a great starter game for children that struggle with Monopoly or have trouble sitting through a whole game. The standard rules require everyone to make the same choices. The game is won by luck of the roll instead of strategy, which makes the game equal to all age groups. If you are playing with younger children, I would say this is a great place to start and is worth purchasing. As your children grow, you can incorporate the "advanced rule" or slowly incorporate rules from the original game until your kids are ready to play the original. If your child already has a basic understanding of Monopoly, then I would recommend playing the original game with less complex rules and implementing rules as your child grows, instead of buying this version. This version does not allow for your child to learn the concept of strategy unless you alter the rules; which you could do with the original game that you probably already own. The "advanced rule" option doesn't add enough to the game to make this game a worthwhile purchase for older kids. Personally, if both of my children were over the age of 5, I would have been very disappointed with this game.
