Just the right mix of simple rules, long term strategy and planning and luck of the card draw.
ETA: There is also little intentional screwing over other players as each players route goals are hidden and with the limited playing pieces it hurts you a lot to place trains to specifically block someones route without contributing to your own routes.
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
We’ll always have Candyland.
There should be some alternate rules referred to as “Occupy Monopoly”.
Pretend you’re Mark Zuckerberg and be evil about it. Seriously.
Came here to say exactly that!
cf: http://jezebel.com/5407685/gentlemen-of-bacongo-the-dandies-of-sub-saharan-africa/ and http://www.trolleybooks.com/bookSingle.php?bookId=118
Of course the traditional “hate everybody” boardgame is diplomacy…
Me make me friends hate me. You make you friends hate you?
Another technique to avoid playing Monopoly is to refuse to play until everyone agrees to what the nearest railroad is. If people say it is the one forward of you, point out that they would have said advance like they do with advance to go. If people say it is the one behind you, point out that everything else goes forward except for the card that explicitly states you should go back three spaces. Once everyone realizes the card is badly worded, point out all of the other deficiencies and suggest a better game.
That takes me back. Diplomacy is the only game I’ve ever played that ended with someone literally flipping the board and scattering the pieces.
Good times… 
No, because we have sent it into a bottomless pit of fire. Candyland is a terrible game, because it is not a game. There are no choices to be made, no strategy to help you. Once the cards are shuffled, the winner of the game is already determined. It’s actually worse than tic-tac-toe.
How is using cards any different from rolling dice?
One has pre-rolled the values into a stacked-based output; the other has just-in-time distribution. The end result is the same.
What is the difference between Candyland and a side-scrolling or rails-driven shooter? You advance forward, mercilessly. Perhaps you shoot and earn points. Perhaps you get a peanut-butter cookie. King Candy awaits in the distance, the mirthless shadow of his disapproval echoing silently from the carmel-topped hills.
Ah, the memories… It was 2002 and we were playing in our kitchen. Friend A threatens friend B with a broom, scaring roommate C’s new girlfriend who was unfamiliar with both the game and the players. Those were the days.
It’s pretty dull gameplay, it’s not the game I wanted to play with my kids, but if they wanted to play it I was not going to be the sneering-dick dad guy who told their kids they couldn’t play it for petty reasons that would make no sense whatsoever to any three year old. So we made up stories and joked around while we played it and it was fine. I played Pretty Pretty Princess too, and wore most of the jewelry, because sometimes it’s more important to play and bond with your kids than be right.
What I remember as a child is that playing Candyland with no goddam candy around was evil bullshit.
Cards are predetermined before the first move is made. The result is fixed throughout the game. The roll of a pair of dice is determined by the moment. If an opponent happens to tell a joke just before you roll, it can influence you actions more than enough to alter the result. A thousand other factors can also alter the results of each throw. Nothing will alter the cards, once they are shuffled. And, as I mentioned, there are no choices in Candyland.
Monopoly is a straightforward game of ‘fuck you’.
There are plenty of games where the ‘fuck you’ is sneaky. As mentioned above, Diplomacy is one. Risk is another. Ally with your weak side on your first turn, crush your enemies on all other fronts. Watch for the moment when you can see assured victory against your common enemies, then start putting just a unit or two at your back door. Your ally will notice, and your reply is only ‘alliances cannot last forever, and I’m only putting these there as a defensive measure’. Do this every turn. Before the common enemies lose, break the alliance, and rush your ‘ally’. The others should be too weak, and your new opponent will be unable to to recover from the blitz. Take your time picking off the competition until you are the final victor.
