Over at Big Think, K. Mike Merrill suggests a few changes to bring the game of Monopoly into the modern era — and he’s not talking about Monopoly Here & Now Electronic Edition.[1]

Under his new rules, he would create a non-player character called ‘The Banker’ and describes them as such:

The role of the banker is special. The banker should have no piece on the Monopoly board, but this person is in charge of the bank’s money. The success of the banker is judged the same as any other player: Whoever accumulates the most wealth is the winner. Of course, as in life, the banker has some advantages (like control of all the money).

He’d also introduce modern-day banking concepts like convertible notes and Series A financing which goes like this:

Once a player controls all the properties of the same color the Series A Financing is triggered. The player now owns something of value so is in a better position to bargain with the banker. The higher the value of the properties the better deal a player should be able to get.

…

Anytime a player acquires all of the properties of one color they trigger the option for financing (railroads and utilities don’t count). Obviously the second time (Series B) and third time (Series C) a player will have more value and can bargain for better terms.

By taking financing a player is selling off some equity in order to quickly develop their property by skipping right to building hotels. That’s very expensive, but the banker is assuming a lot of the risk.

We don’t play Monopoly in my house since my son is too little but I think this might be the version I teach him.

via Kottke