Friends Board Games: licensed classic edition

Friends Monopoly: How to Play the TV Series Edition

By Updated

Friends Monopoly is a Hasbro and Winning Moves edition of the property trading game, swapping the usual streets for sitcom moments. It’s a fit for Monopoly fans who know the rules and Friends fans who want a board based on the show.

  • 2018
  • 2-6 players
  • Ages 8+
  • licensed classic edition
  • Hasbro (also listed under Winning Moves)

How you doin', landlord? The rules are classic Monopoly; the board is all Friends.

A classic British Monopoly board in mid-game, with the tokens, houses, dice, Chance and Community Chest cards, title deeds and paper money spread around it
Photo of the classic editionA classic Monopoly board in play (UK edition). The Friends edition plays by the same rules, with Friends tokens, cards and board references.Photo: James Petts from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ratings and Geek Level

Difficulty1.5 out of 5
Time to explain2 out of 5about 8 min
Player experience2 out of 5
Geek Level4 / 10Owns the soundtrack
How we rate

Geek Level 4 means you own the soundtrack. Knowing the six friends helps, but classic Monopoly rules do most of the work.

Friends Monopoly uses the classic rules, so the easiest way to learn is to follow a trip around the board. The steps below track a turn, and later sections cover the renamed spaces. For another kind of Friends night, Friends Clue is a deduction game for the same 2 to 6 players.

In a hurry? Race to Central Perk takes about 30 minutes.

Quick guide: one round of Friends Monopoly

A trip around the board covers nearly everything, since turns follow classic Monopoly rules.

For classic rules, Monopoly and Clue stick to the standard format.

  1. Step 1:

    Roll both dice and move your token clockwise.

  2. Step 2:

    Land on an unowned moment? Buy it for the listed price, or the Banker auctions it.

  3. Step 3:

    Land on another player’s moment, a transport space, or a Treeger’s utility? Pay rent.

  4. Step 4:

    Land on Apartment 19 or Apartment 20? Draw the top card and follow its instructions.

  5. Step 5:

    Own every moment in a colour group? Buy coffee mugs from the Bank and build evenly.

  6. Step 6:

    Trade four coffee mugs on one moment for a sofa.

  7. 7Step 7:

    Roll a double and you get another roll. Roll three doubles in one turn and you go to Jail.

  8. 8Step 8:

    Pass the dice to your left. The last player who isn’t bankrupt wins.

The rulebook says Friends Monopoly has the same goal and rules as classic Monopoly, and the property values match, too. The sections below explain a full turn and point out the renamed spaces. Prefer a quiz to property trading? Compare it with Friends Trivial Pursuit.

How to play Friends Monopoly: the full rules

Setup

  1. Pick a Banker. They manage the Bank and run auctions, keeping their own money and properties separate.

  2. Shuffle the Apartment 19 and Apartment 20 cards, then place each deck face down on its board space.

  3. Each player picks a token, places it on GO, and takes starting money from the Bank as shown in the rulebook.

  4. Everyone rolls both dice. The highest roller goes first.

Turn by turn

  • Roll and move

    Roll both dice and move your token clockwise by the total. Pass or land on GO, and collect $200 from the Bank.

  • Follow the instructions for your space

    Buy an unowned property or send it to auction, pay rent to its owner, draw an Apartment card, pay the Bank on a tax space, or go to Jail if you land on Go to Jail.

  • Rolling doubles

    Roll a double and take another turn after your move. Roll three doubles in a row on one turn, and you go straight to Jail.

  • Pass the dice

    Once your move and its action are complete, pass the dice to the player on your left.

End of the game and scoring

The game ends when everyone but one player has gone bankrupt. If you owe more than you can raise by selling buildings and mortgaging properties, you’re bankrupt. Debts to another player go to that player, along with your mortgaged properties and any Get Out of Jail Free cards. If you owe the Bank, your properties go to auction.

Key rules

  • Moments instead of streets

    Properties represent moments from the show. The rest works like classic Monopoly: buy them, collect rent, and build on complete colour groups.

  • Coffee mugs and sofas

    Coffee mugs stand in for houses, and sofas for hotels. You can have up to 4 mugs on a moment. Once you have 4, pay the listed price to trade them for one sofa.

  • Treeger’s utilities

    The utilities are Treeger’s Water Maintenance and Treeger’s Electricity Maintenance. Rent is 4 times your dice roll, or 10 times if the owner has both.

  • Transport spaces

    Transport spaces represent how the characters get around. Rent depends on how many the owner has: $25, $50, $100 or $200.

  • Tax spaces

    Two spaces send money to the Bank. The rulebook calls them Lose at American Football and Central Perk Tab. The four corner squares stay the same.

  • Jail

    To get out of Jail, pay $50, use a Get Out of Jail Free card, or try for a double over up to three turns. After your third failed roll, pay $50 and move.

  • Mortgages and auctions

    Mortgaged properties collect no rent. To pay off a mortgage, repay the loan value plus 10 percent. Auction bids can start at $1, and the last bidder has to buy.

  • Remember to ask for rent

    The owner must ask for rent before the next player rolls. If they forget, you don’t have to pay.

Tips for your first game

  • Collect complete colour groups. Rent doubles on an unimproved moment if its owner has the full group.
  • Build evenly: each moment in a group needs one coffee mug before any can get a second.
  • Pay taxes and fines to the Bank. The rulebook says not to stash them under Free Parking.
  • Paying off a mortgage costs 10 percent extra, so mortgage only when cash is tight.
  • Settle on house rules before you start. The rulebook says they usually make the game longer.

Gathering a big group? UNO Friends plays up to 10 players.

The board follows moments from all ten seasons, from the first episode to the finale. It doubles as a rough timeline of the show. For a look at other licensed games, the Friends board games page compares every edition we could confirm.

The game and the sitcom

Scene It? has been discontinued, so check for secondhand copies.

The game

  • Design and release

    Hasbro owns Monopoly, while the rulebook lists Winning Moves International as the manufacturer. A report from the time says it launched in the UK in 2018 and reached the US by 2019. The rulebook has a 2020 copyright line.

  • Editions and reprints

    Listings credit Hasbro, Winning Moves, Winning Moves Germany and Asmodee as publishers in different markets. Italian-language copies are also available. The core game stays the same.

The film or series it covers

All ten seasons of Friends, which aired on NBC from September 1994 to May 2004 and ran for 236 episodes.

The board follows the show from the first episode, when Monica takes in Rachel as a roommate, through the finale. Each token represents a main character: Rachel's handbag, Ross's dinosaur, Chandler's sweater vest, Phoebe's guitar, Joey's pizza and Monica's chef's hat.

Scenes and story beats in the game

  • 1

    The Giant Poking Device (season 3, episode 8)

  • 2

    The One with All the Thanksgivings (season 5, episode 8)

  • 3

    The Holiday Armadillo (season 7, episode 10)

  • 4

    Monica and Chandler's wedding (season 7, episodes 23 and 24)

  • 5

    Phoebe's wedding (season 10, episode 12)

What’s in the box

  • Gameboard featuring Friends moments
  • 6 custom character tokens
  • 28 Title Deed cards
  • 16 Apartment 19 cards
  • 16 Apartment 20 cards
  • 1 pack of Monopoly money
  • 32 coffee mugs
  • 12 sofas
  • 2 dice

Monopoly Friends edition: versions and releases

  • Monopoly: Friends The TV Series Edition 2018

    The first release, reported in the UK. Hasbro and Winning Moves are both named as publishers.

  • US release 2019

    A contemporary report says the edition was available in the US by 2019.

Friends Monopoly: your questions answered

How do you play the Friends Monopoly game?

Roll, move, buy moments and collect rent, just as in classic Monopoly. Build coffee mugs and sofas on complete colour groups, then be the last player left after everyone else goes bankrupt.

What are the Friends Monopoly tokens?

Rachel's handbag, Ross's dinosaur, Chandler's sweater vest, Phoebe's guitar, Joey's pizza and Monica's chef's hat.

Do coffee mugs and sofas replace houses and hotels?

Yes. The box includes 32 coffee mugs for houses and 12 sofas for hotels. You can put up to 4 mugs on a moment before trading them for one sofa.

What are Apartment 19 and Apartment 20?

They replace the Chance and Community Chest decks. Draw the top card when you land on the matching space, then put it on the bottom of its pile.

Is this the same as classic Monopoly?

The rules and property values stay the same, as do the four corner squares. The Friends edition changes the names, board spaces, transport and utility spaces, and cards.

How many players can play Friends Monopoly?

2 to 6 players, ages 8+. The sources we found don't list a play time.

In a hurry? Race to Central Perk takes about 30 minutes.

For classic rules, Monopoly and Clue stick to the standard format.

Sources

  1. My Modern Met: Friends Monopoly mymodernmet.com
  2. Hasbro instructions: Monopoly Friends instructions.hasbro.com