Before I had this website, I wrote a detailed guide on How To Play Monopoly Deal over at Brighthub. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I decided to link to my Monopoly Deal Rules article instead. But, lest I get dinged by the search engines for such a short post and fall into Google oblivion, I will provide a synopsis of the rules for your reading pleasure.

A game designed for two to five players with one deck (or six or more with two decks), Monopoly Deal condenses the excitement of Monopoly into a 15 minute card game. Everything’s on the table in Monopoly Deal, literally. With a number of different ways to steal cards from your opponents, and zero ways to initiate a trade, your properties aren’t your own until the game’s over.

Begin by drawing five cards, and draw two cards every turn while playing up to three. The first player to get three complete color groups (including Rail Roads and Utilities) is the winner. It’s all the fun of the classic game, with theft and orneriness built in.

Don’t let the simplicity of the game fool you, though, there is plenty of strategy in Monopoly Deal.