Monopoly Tycoon:
The All-in-One Strategy Guide
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By: The Ambassador
Email: ambassador@wideopenwest.com
Last Updated: 05/03/06
Version: 0.60
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Guide Information
Version History
The Guide
Starting off
The 12-9 Shadow
Long-run Strategies
Variations for Scenarios
Buildings Quotas
Character Profiles
Contact Info/Legal Stuff
Other Guides
My Big Question
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GUIDE INFORMATION:
This is not designed to be a long guide. I have played this
game several times through, as well as several open-ended
games. Throughout the game, especially on the 4th
mission on Hard, I have created an all-in-one strategy. This
is not for beginners. There are other guides for you and an
in-game tutorial. This is for those who have played around and
know the basics. If you use this strategy, you can literally
slice through Hard CPU like butter. I have done so. My reason
for writing is that I simply have not seen this strategy in
other guides, so I decided to share it.
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Version History:
0.60: Finished the core and started on the variations section.
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THE GUIDE:
I can sum up my strategy in two words: "Aggressive Monopoly."
Start off running. Grab a cheap monopoly and build on it. Go
nearly into debt the first day, but not all the way so you can
go into debt the second day. Then, either build up in a
middle-income area or go after your opponents. Continue to
lease blocks and buy all good ($100+ profits) opponent stores
at the now discounted rates. Continue until you drive them to
bankruptcy.
Starting Off:
First of all, choose a character that you like. Most of the
time, the characters act rather randomly (they do follow
slight patterns, see Character Profiles). I did find that my
strongest competitors were Racecar and Top Hat. With that
said, I like to go for Shoe or Battleship. Not only are they
my favorite characters, but they are the only two basically
guaranteed to build up in the cheap sections.
Now to the game. I generally start off on the docks (the three
brown at the bottom). My strategy is to start at low-income
districts, and these are the first triple. Also, the
Mediterranean/Baltic is normally built upon already.
First of all, put one of the places to auction, starting off
with the one with the most buildings on it already. If there
is not an apartment already, build one. Make it so it goes
into the middle (I build day businesses around it, not night
ones) and goes up the nine floors. It may cost upwards of
$5,000 but do it anyways. The first day is really for setting
up the second day. Having a strong population nearby is
essential in this game.
Then build alphabetically. I do NOT use polls, except in rare
occasions. The rule of thumb for day businesses is around 35-
45 for food and other cheap items, closer to 20-25 for
mediocre items such as furniture toys and electronics, and 10-
15 for expensive items such as jewelry and hardware. The main
exception to these rules is the Ice Cream Parlor, which can go
up as high as you want and still sell out (not above 70). For
more info on the actual buildings with my comments, see the
Buildings Quotas section.
Build up instead of out is the general strategy. Take the
smaller possible floor areas and make them several stories
high. This way, in 2000, you can have one of each business on
only three square.
By now, the first bidding should have started. When I ask you
to bid, the rule of thumb is to go as high up as it takes to
buy the property. This is how you can get monopolies. The
first two properties of an undeveloped triple normally run
less than a thousand with the final running less than two
thousand. These monopolies are a key part of my strategy. DO
NOT send a property you want up for bid unless you are willing
to go as far as it takes to buy it (so when the 24-hour
warning is on, it is not a good time to be bidding). If you
need to withdraw or if the CPU is started a bid you do not
want, Pass DO NOT Pull Out. I have found that the CPU will pay
an average of an extra $1000-$1500 if you only Pass. Getting
rid of their money is quite important.
Once the first bid is over, put the second on immediately.
Finish building up on your current block and then move on to
the one you bought. By now the day part is almost over, so
build night businesses until you reach $0 (this guide is
generally best for a starting of $10,000 but it does work with
other amounts). Once 6pm comes around, you will bring in
money, but you will be needing that for the second bidding
that will be starting shortly. Buy the property. Wait for 9-10
O'clock for the third one, so you will buy it after midnight.
This way you don't have to worry about the 24-hour warning.
Another note: Chance cards are up to you. I generally do not
use them unless I am within a few dollars of being in the
black and it is 11:58.
Once you buy it, build a hotel on the undeveloped (by you)
property. Also build on this property the rest of the day
shops that did not fit on your first one. Make sure that the
souvenir shop is right next to your hotel (easy double-
dipping). Don't worry about going into the red. I normally
make up all of the money I've lost, making over $5,000 daily
profit. Also, this is why we did not go into debt the first
day, so we could do it today.
The 12-9 Shadow:
In this, my guide is consistent with just about any other
guide out there. Use this time to go through your shops. If
they sold out quickly (check their graphs), increase the price
slightly. If a shop is not blinking, knock down the prices. If
one is in the red, drastically hit prices (maybe a third off).
This will keep you maximizing your money. Never waste a
moment. If you need a break, press "P" for pause. I will admit
that if I am drastically ahead at the endgame, I do put the
game on 4x to speed up my win.
Long-Term Strategies:
After the second day, the start is over with. The third day I
begin to expand. That is how fast this strategy is. My next
stop is generally the Oriental (White) group in the upper-
left. If there is a large buildup, I monopolize the properties
and buy out any that are making money. I tend to stay away
from the Railroads and Utilities for if I have the money to
buy them, I would rather buy a monopoly and buy out the
competition.
Never forget about your previous shopping centers. When new
items (not necessarily new shops) become available, add them
to your existing ones. Do not add many of the repeats. Places
like Supermarkets and Superstores do NOT do well in this game
(at least I have had awful luck with them). Besides, you
already have the items for sale.
Remember to build apartments/hotels in your shopping centers.
Not only do they bring in customers, but they are major money-
makers. Apartments can be built as big as you want, but hotels
should not be that much bigger than 40 for low-end and 50 for
high-end hotels. Otherwise, you will be selling above
equilibrium (you will have to drastically drop prices to stay
sold out).
In a long game, especially open-ended games, you can literally
drive CPU opponents out of the game. It takes a great deal of
micromanagement, so start your day businesses management
during the nighttime. What you do is create a nice nest egg,
say $25,000 and knock down your prices until you are barely
making any money at all. You will also have to build many more
shops (from the nest egg) as the demand will now be much
higher than what you can supply (DO NOT be building any more
apartments/hotels as that is counter-productive). This way,
everyone (who is smart ;) ) will be buying only from you and
your opponents will start loosing lots of money. To make
things even better, buy the utilities/railroads to make money
at the start. A continued low-spending will be hard to keep up
without a large backup of money or owning lots of properties,
but just think about how much your opponents are hurting. This
is how you can win open-ended games.
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VARIATIONS:
Note: All strategies are for Hard mode, as Hard mode strategies
will also work in easier modes.
Scenarios 1+2: Sales
If you need help with these, this guide is not for you.
Compete for Sales: 200 Sales
Use the general strategies just build fast. I have gotten the 200
sales by the time I built the News Stand. Only build day
businesses. You won't be waiting past 6 if you make the stores
extra big (add around 10 capacity to each).
$3000 Daily Profit:
This is hard but not impossible to do in one day. Go for day
2. Buy one of the Oriental (white) places. Start building an
entire day business shopping center in another. Once the
bidding is complete, build an apartment and the rest of the
day businesses on the new place. Once all of the day
businesses have been built, build the night businesses on the
owned space. You may go to the -$10,000 point, but the goal is
the second day. On the second day, micromanage while the
stores are open. If a store is quickly selling out, increase
the price. If goods aren't moving, decrease it a lot. This was
scary for me as I had less than $1500 profit at the end of the
day businesses, but the moment the night ones opened, I won
the game. I made over $1500 in less than 10 seconds. Also, it
may be possible to win on day 1 as I have gotten up to around
$2500 on it, but that is unconfirmed. Considering that the
Hard mode barely puts up a fight to this aggressive of a
strategy, another one may be to not go into debt on the first
day, get all leases (and maybe a railroad or two) on the
second day as well as the rest of the buildings and shoot for
the third day.
First to be Worth $20,000:
Go to the Docks. Leasing is up to you. The third day is what
you should shoot for. The second day might be possible, but
there is full competition (including the city) in this one.
*Not Complete*
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CONTACT & LEGAL
Other Guides:
Empires: Dawn of the Modern World
Mario Tennis: Power Tour
Galactic Civilizations
Cossacks 1
My Big Question:
Does anyone else have this problem? I like this game
(otherwise I would not be writing a guide for it), but I have
had it on two different computers. One is somewhat old in
graphics. The current one is almost state-of-the-art. Both
have had troubles with this game. I have to run on the
absolute lowest setting! My computer plays top-notch games
with relative ease, but this game has terrible performance. If
I have the graphics/sound any louder, the game will freeze my
entire computer. I even had my entire computer restart and
then say that there was a problem with nVIDIA. I have looked
online and I seem to be pretty alone in having problems with
the game. If you had the problem, fixed it, or just know what
to do, please let me know. Thanks.
My email address: ambassador@wideopenwest.com
Do NOT email me any type of vulgarities whatsoever. Keep the
emails clean. Thanks.
Walkthroughs 
