Monopoly Rivals is the small, bright version of the familiar property game that fits neatly across a table for two players. The aim is simple and delicious in its clarity: be first to own all the property on the board or gently, inexorably bankrupt your opponent. The game keeps the same feeling of buying and bargaining but moves with the crisp pace of a duet rather than a family marathon.

Inside the box you will find a tiny gameboard, two tokens, a single die, a money pack made of bills, 16 red houses and 16 blue houses, and decks of Chance and Community Chest. Each player chooses a color, takes the matching token and houses, and receives a set of starting bills: four 50s and eight 100s. Shuffle the Chance and Community Chest decks and place them on their spots, put the money to the side, and place both tokens on Go. The player with the closest birthday goes first.

On your turn roll the die and move that many spaces. If you land on an unoccupied property you may place one house on it to claim it and you do not pay the bank for that claim. If you land on a property owned by your opponent you must pay the value shown on the board on that turn, or you may negotiate a deal with your opponent instead of paying immediately. If you land on a property that completes a full color set owned by your opponent, the rent is doubled. Land on Free Parking and you may simply breathe and do nothing. Land on Go to Jail and you move to Jail and miss one turn, remembering that only one player can be in Jail at a time.

If you land on a Chance or Community Chest space take a card and follow its directions. Some special cards, such as Just Say No, Skip the Rent, Double the Rent, or Triple the Rent, may be kept face up on the table to use later. Other cards must be played immediately and then returned to the bottom of the deck. These cards are small gusts of wind that can upend a tidy plan or crown a clever play.

If you land on a property you already own and you also own the full property set, draw a Chance or Community Chest card. If you land on a property you own but an adjacent property in that set is unoccupied, do not draw a card. Instead the unoccupied property must be auctioned and the player who bids highest wins and pays the bank.

If you cannot pay rent you have two options if you still own properties. You may sell a property back to the bank for its printed value, which makes the property unclaimed again, or you may offer to sell a property to your opponent for whatever price they will pay. In either case remove the house from the property, collect the money, and pay your rent. If you cannot pay and you do not own any properties you have lost and your opponent is the winner.

The game ends when one player no longer has any money or properties, or when the entire board is owned by a single player. The winner is the player left standing with coins and claim, or the one who has gathered every property into their neat, tiny empire.

Keep an eye on sets because owning a full color set changes rent and can quickly alter the ledger of the game. Use the special cards to time a rescue or a ruin, and do remember that you pay rent immediately when you land on an opponent’s property unless you make a deal right then. Auction rules can hand a property to the clever bidder, so do not let a good tile sit unclaimed. Finally, tend your offers and trades like small hearth bargains because one tidy trade can bloom into an unexpected victory.

Monopoly Rivals is a small game with bright edges, a tidy tussle that keeps the familiar pleasures of property and negotiation but moves like a short, satisfying poem. It is perfect for two players who want the arithmetic of risk without the marathon, and for evenings when you would rather have one decisive match than a long, slow inheritance. Set the tiny town, fold your hands, and let the coins make their soft, convincing music.

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