Friends Board Games: licensed classic edition
Friends Monopoly: How to Play the TV Series Edition
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.
Friends Monopoly uses the classic rules, so the easiest way to learn is to follow a turn around the board. The steps below cover the turn in order, with later sections explaining the edition’s renamed spaces. For another kind of Friends night, Friends Clue is a deduction game for the same 2 to 6 players.
The owner has to ask for rent before the next player rolls.
Quick guide: one round of Friends Monopoly
A trip around the board covers nearly everything, since turns follow classic Monopoly rules.
Free Parking pays nothing. Fees go to the Bank.
- Step 1:
Roll both dice and move your token clockwise.
- Step 2:
Land on an unowned moment? Buy it for the listed price, or the Banker auctions it.
- Step 3:
Land on another player’s moment, a transport space, or a Treeger’s utility? Pay rent.
- Step 4:
Land on Apartment 19 or Apartment 20? Draw the top card and follow its instructions.
- Step 5:
Own every moment in a color group, then buy coffee mugs from the Bank and build evenly.
- Step 6:
Trade four coffee mugs on one moment for a sofa.
- 7Step 7:
Roll a double and you get another roll. Roll three doubles in one turn and you go to Jail.
- 8Step 8:
Pass the dice to your left. The last player who isn’t bankrupt wins.
The rulebook says the goal and rules match classic Monopoly, and property values stay the same. Below, you’ll find the full turn and the spots where Friends changes names or spaces. Prefer a quiz to trading? Compare it with Friends Trivial Pursuit.
How to play Friends Monopoly: the full rules
Setup
Pick a Banker. They manage the Bank and run auctions, keeping their own money and properties separate.
Shuffle the Apartment 19 and Apartment 20 cards, then place each deck face down on its board space.
Each player picks a token, places it on GO, and takes starting money from the Bank as shown in the rulebook.
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 are moments from the show. The rest works like classic Monopoly: buy them, collect rent, and build on complete color 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. Trade all 4 for one sofa by paying the listed price; each moment can hold just 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 the roll 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
Land on Lose at American Football or Central Perk Tab, and pay the Bank the amount shown. Fees go to the Bank, not under Free Parking, where nothing happens.
Jail
Go to Jail sends your token straight to Jail, without collecting $200, and ends your turn. To get out, pay $50 at the start of your next turn, use a Get Out of Jail Free card, or try to roll a double on each of your next three turns. After a third failed roll, pay $50 and move.
Mortgages and auctions
Mortgaged properties collect no rent. To repay a loan, pay its value plus 10 percent. Auctions take cash only, can start at $1, and the final bidder has to buy.
Remember to ask for rent
The owner must ask for rent before the player to their left rolls. If they forget, you’re off the hook.
Tips for your first game
- Collect a full color group. Rent doubles on an unimproved moment if its owner has the entire group and none of it is mortgaged.
- 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 house rules before you start. The rulebook says they usually make the game last longer.
Build coffee mugs evenly across each color group.
The board runs from the first episode to the finale, giving it a rough timeline of the show alongside the usual trading game. Next, find out who makes it, when it appeared, and which moments get named on the board. The Friends board games page compares every licensed game edition we could confirm.
The game and the sitcom
Trade four mugs on a moment for one sofa.
The game
Design and release
Monopoly belongs to Hasbro. Winning Moves International manufactures this edition, licensed by Warner Bros. Entertainment. My Modern Met reported in October 2019 that it came out in 2018, first sold only in the UK, and had US availability by then. The rulebook has a 2020 copyright line.
The board
Each space recalls a location or moment from the show. Hasbro’s product page calls out two: a poking device and Monica and Chandler’s wedding.
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.
My Modern Met says the board starts with the first episode, where Monica takes in Rachel as a roommate, and ends with the finale. The six tokens represent main characters: 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 publisher names the Giant Poking Device from season 3, episode 8 as one of the moments on the board.
- 2
The other moment named by the publisher is Monica and Chandler’s wedding, from season 7, episodes 23 and 24.
- 3
The board starts with the first episode, where Monica takes in Rachel.
- 4
The board ends with the series finale in season 10.
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, sold in the UK. Its rulebook names Winning Moves International as the manufacturer.
US availability 2019
My Modern Met reported in October 2019 that the edition had been UK-only after its 2018 launch and could now be bought in the US.
Friends Monopoly: your questions answered
How do you play Friends Monopoly?
Roll, move, buy moments, and collect rent, just as in classic Monopoly. Build coffee mugs and sofas on complete color groups, and stay in the game until everyone else goes bankrupt.
Which tokens come with Friends Monopoly?
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 take the place of 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’re the renamed Chance and Community Chest decks. Draw the top card when you land on the matching space, follow its instructions, then return it face down to the bottom of the pile.
How does Friends Monopoly compare with 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.
Does landing on Free Parking pay you in Friends Monopoly?
No. The rulebook sends all tax and penalty fees to the Bank, not under Free Parking. Landing there does nothing.
How many players can join a game of Friends Monopoly?
Two to six players, ages 8 and up.
The owner has to ask for rent before the next player rolls.
Free Parking pays nothing. Fees go to the Bank.
Sources
- Hasbro instructions: Monopoly Friends The TV Series Edition instructions.hasbro.com
- My Modern Met: Friends Monopoly (31 October 2019) mymodernmet.com
- Simplemost: There’s a new Monopoly game based on Friends newschannel5.com
- Wikipedia: List of Friends episodes en.wikipedia.org