Monopoly Gamer: Mario Kart

Another Monopoly edition, another Monopoly: Gamer edition. Any good? Well, let's go over the rules and the content and see what's what. There's a chance this might actually be a good Mario board game! Also, there's a couple of extra characters available if you want more variety and be able to play more than 4 players. Keep an eye open at the end of this article. 

Components

• Game board
• 4 Character on Karts
• 4 Character Cards
• 4 Reminder Cards
• 8 Race Cards
• 16 Title Deed Cards
• 1 Numbered Die
• 1 Power-up Die
• 90 Coins
• Rulebook / rule sheet

The object of Mario Kart Monopoly

Race around the standard Monopoly-like track to collect money, buy properties, and win races. All these actions will get you points, the player with most points when the race card pile is depleted is the winner.

Setup

1. Separate the Coins by value, and place them within reach of all players.
2. Put the Racecards facedown in numerical order with Race 1 on top. Place the pile on the designated spot on the board.
3. Place the Title Deed Cards in a pile next to the board.
4. Each player chooses a character to race with. In the standard edition, you have Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad to chose between. There are others you can buy to expand the game, more on that later.
5. Each player takes a reminder card and 10 money. That's it! We are ready to go.

Gameplay / rules

The gameplay is very straight-forward;

• On your turn, you will roll the two dice, and decide which die to use first. Either you move first, or use the ability on the Power-Up die first.
• When you move, you will pick up all the coins on the spaces you pass, and all the coins on the space you land on.
• Depending on which space you land on, you will do different things.
• If you land or pass the GO space, you will trigger a race.
• After this, your turn ends and the next player to your left will have a go.

The Power-Up die.

Blue shell: Choose a player to drop 3 coins on his/her current space. When playing Peach, you may choose TWO other players do drop 3 coins.

Green shell: The player on the space closest, and in front of you to you drops 3 coin. If two players are in the same space, you choose who to hit.

Flash: Every other player drops 1 coin at their current space. If you have Toad, each player also has to give you one of their coins.

3 coins: Get 3 coins from the bank. If you're Mario, you can choose to add 3 to your movement die roll instead. 

Banana: Drop a banana token on your current space. The next player who passes this space must stop and resolve that space's action. If you are playing Luigi, you can put a banana on any of the property spaces you own.

There is a summary later on all the characters special abilities, plus the abilities of the expansion characters

Spaces

Thwomp

When you land here, drop 2 coins on the space.

Question mark

When you land here, roll the numbered die, and collect that many Coins from the Bank.

Tripple arrows

Roll your movement die again, and move that many spaces.

Star

Activate your character's special star ability.

• Mario: Collect 3 coins and roll your movement die again.
• Peach: Roll the Power-Up die again and complete the action.
• Toad: You may drop up 5 coins and move forward that many spaces. Resolve the rules on the space where you land.
• Luigi: You may move to the least expensive unowned property and buy it or put it out for auction.

Properties

Properties are set up on the board from least expensive to most expensive. When you land on a property and it is unowned, you may buy it for the price printed on the space, if you buy it, take the deed card. This deed card will earn you money when someone else lands on the card, and it's also worth points at the end of the game.

Don't want to buy it or can't afford it?

The property goes up for auction. Bidding starts with you and moves to the left. Bids start at 1 Coin and may be raised by as little as 1 Coin.
The highest bidder wins the auction, and payment goes to the Bank. If all players pass on bidding, the property remains unowned.

Owned properties

When you land on a property that someone else owns, pay them the rent shown on the property's Title Deed card.

If a player owns both properties in a color set, pay them double rent. If the owner doesn't ask you to pay rent before the next player rolls the dice, you don't have to pay, so pay attention! :)

Property Deals

At any time on your turn, you may offer to buy, sell, or trade Property with other players. You may not sell nor trade Race cards at any time. The points you earn from winning a race are yours until the end of the game!

Just visiting

You may pick up any coins dropped here, apart from that this space does nothing.

Go to Jail

Move your Character Token to the In Jail space immediately! Do not collect 2 Coins for passing GO, and do not collect any Coins you pass or land on. Do not initiate a race. Your turn is over.

While In Jail

You may not take part in Races while In Jail.

You may still collect rent, take part in auctions, and trade. Character Abilities still affect you. If you ever need to drop Coins while In Jail, drop them on the Just Visiting space.

How do I get out of Jail?

Either Pay 5 Coins to the Bank before you roll the dice for your turn. Then roll both dice, and take your turn as normal. Or
Roll the numbered die. If you get a 6, get out of Jail for free! Roll both dice, and take your turn as normal. If you fail to roll a 6, your turn ends. After your second attempt at rolling, you may exit Jail for free and roll both dice normally on your next turn.

When you leave Jail, you may pick up any Coins on Just Visiting.

GO

When you pass or land on GO, you will collect 2 coins from the bank, and also a RACE will happen. You will draw the top card of the race, and everyone who wants to participate in the race must pay its cost. The winner gets the card (worth the points printed on it), and also gets to resolve the action printed on the card for the winner. Some cards also have effects happening the players ending up on 2:nd and 3:rd place.
When the last race is finished, the game ends!

When the game has ended, players add up their points from their Properties, Races, and Coins. Every 5 coins if worth 10 points. So for example, if you have 23 coins, they are worth 40 points.
If there is a tie, the player with the most amount of property and racecards win!

Character Summary

Base game characters

• Luigi
  Super Star ability: You may move to the least expensive unowned property and buy it or put it out for auction.
  Power-Up (Banana): You may put a banana on any of the property spaces you own.
• Mario
  Super Star ability: Collect 3 coins and roll your movement die again.
  Power-Up (Coins): you can choose to add 3 to your movement die roll instead.
• Peach
  Super Star ability: Roll the Power-Up die again and complete the action.
  Power-Up (Spiny shell): you may choose TWO other players do drop 3 coins.
• Toad
  Super Star ability: Roll the Power-Up die again and complete the action.
  Power-Up (Lightning Bolt): each player also has to give you one of their coins

Expansion characters

Spoiler alert here guys.. :) Some of these are hard to come by, but the random packs are easy to come by and affordable.

• Bowser
  Super Star ability: Steal 4 Coins from any player.
  Power-Up (Spiny shell): The player with the most Coins drops 3. All other players except you drop 1.
• Donkey Kong
  Super Star ability: You may place a Banana on 2 of your Properties.
  Power-Up (Banana): You may remove any number of Bananas from the board. Collect 3 Coins from the Bank for each Banana you remove.
  Very cool character, and is also avaible on Amazon. Recomended!
• Metal Mario
  Super Star ability: All other players skip their next Power-Up Die roll.
  Power-Up (Lightning Bolt): After all other players drop 1 Coin, roll the numbered die, and move again. Follow the rules of that space.
  Metal Mario seems popular, often pricy, nevertheless avaible here.
• Rosalina
  Superstar ability: You may move to the next Super Star space. Pick up any coins you pas or land on.
  Power-Up (Coins): Take 1 Coin from each player.
• Shy Guy
  Super Star ability: Move up to 3 spaces forward or backward. Follow the rules of the space where you land.
  Power-Up (Green shell): The players in front of and behind you drop 3 Coins.
  Flexible character, and you gotta love Shy Guy. Avaible on Amazon.
• Yoshi
  Superstar ability: Collect all Coins on the board.
  Power-Up (Green shell): The player in front of you drops 3 coins. You may immediately pick them up without moving your token.

Or, you could pick up a pack of all the characters above, just make sure it's not overpriced when you buy it..Get it here.

Opinion

The good

• Fast-paced, easily doable in 30 minutes if everyone knows how to play.
• Good option if playing with kids, as there is a lot of randomnesses.
• The Mario Kart theme well implemented, shooting shells, etc. at each other is fun.
• Not very Monopoly-like.
• The rule sheet/rulebook is well laid out. 
• There are monopoly gamer Mario kart power packs to expand the game with more characters, if you wish.

The bad

• VERY random, not for gamers, better suited for families preferrable with kids.
• The quality of the cards are so-so.
• If you are a Monopoly fan, you will be disappointed as the properties part of the game is very light. Also, you can't buy hotels, etc.
• English rulebook pdf is hard to find.

Conclusion

An OK game for kids and families. Great if you also like Mario Kart. Actual gamers; stay away from this one, it's too random. 6/10. That said, this might be the best Mario board game out there, and one of the best Monopoly Gamer versions.

Do you have any questions about the rules or about the game in general? Ask em' below! By the way, you should also check out our Monopoly Fortnite review.