Americopoly
Dave, Logan, Rachel, Katy and I just played Americopoly, the American History version of Monopoly.
I suggested we play it like true Americans, where money is no object and if you get into trouble the government will help you, so Dave helped solidify the concept by defining the parameters: as soon as you own eight properties, you are eligible for a bailout. In other words, if you go bankrupt, the bank will give you 3x the mortgage value of all of your properties with no penalty to you as long as you own at least eight. The second time you need a bailout—because hey, why not—you get 2x the value of your mortgage, again with no penalty.
Surprisingly, it added an interesting concept to the game, and worked just like our real economy—since you had to own eight properties to be eligible for the bailout, the bailout naturally went to the biggest, strongest players, pushing the little guys out of the game early on.
I’d recommend incorporating that new aspect to your game the next time you play.
