Hey Gamers and Game lovers,
Welcome to my blog, where I enjoy talking about the games I play, my experience while playing them, and anything game-related. Today, I wrap up the weekend of gaming with my usual Sunday Rento Tournament.
I am still a bit upset about how I was so close to winning today but missed my chance to beat the other players, leaving me in second place. Fun fact: the deal I made with the winner was what helped the other player win in the end. It was a fun round of play from all the players, and this time around, I had a good start, making it to the top of the list as the first player to make his move.
This time, the strategy was simple: make as many buildings as you can with the good places you have been given before any other player. With this strategy, I would stand a better chance of getting paid earlier compared to other players who have not started any form of building on their properties. So it was completely valid for me to join in the bidding for Vatican with as much money as I could afford. My budget was $1,000, but I got it for $950.
Additionally, I learned a vital lesson from today's tournament. You could be fortunate and blessed with a working plan, but if community chest and chance are not your good pals, be prepared to pay for some uncertain bills you did not expect. This was my case in this round, but as I moved further with the write-up, you will understand how and why Community Chest and chance played me dirty to finish in 2nd place.
The game kicked off at the expected time, and after the countdown, all players were paired to their boards. For me, I was fortunate to get Russia and Ukraine in a row from the random giving out of prebought lands from the default tournament game settings. I was up against three players, namely:
- НадіяТвердохліб,
- AraceliBaez,
- and Wilsonbrazil.
It is fair to say that they are decent players of the game of Monopoly, at least from what they played in the tournament. What I enjoyed about this tournament is how random the players are, and you can be playing anybody from anywhere in the world. As you can see, the usernames are all random, and there is one in a foreign language.
The early game was all about grabbing as much property as fast as possible. My first property to get was Vatican from the bidding war against other players, and it was after I rolled the dice and landed on the property. You only get to buy the property when you land on it after playing; if you don't buy it, it goes to auction. I was bidding against AraceliBaez and НадіяТвердохліб, and the price was climbing. Rent for the Vatican is only $22, but with houses and hotels, it goes up to $777! The bidding got up to $800, and I wasn't going to let that one get away until I got the place because Vatican is the only property you get to build immediately. Once you get it, you do not need more cards for other places since the Vatican is just a single place.
Instantly after getting the Vatican, I built a hotel costing me $500, but I knew that if anyone, I would get more, $777 was what I would get, that is 277 more than my cost of building. I working on expanding my hotel empire as the game moved on, so I made a trade that I felt would put me at the top and solidify my chance of winning the tournament. I traded China to НадіяТвердохліб, in exchange for Poland and Latvia, which gave me a huge advantage. After the trade, I got the chance to build 3 more hotels on Russia, Ukraine, and Poland, with one on each of them. I had a monopoly on a great section of the board, and I was feeling confident that this was going to be my break.
I spread my wings, and I was collecting rents for my places as my money kept growing whenever anybody landed in my place. I was in the lead even when the other player I had recently traded with was building a business, building a house gradually. He could not go outright for a hotel or multiple houses like me, because the cost of each house is $200 over in China and Qatar, whereas over there in my place, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and the Vatican, it only costs $100. This was something I considered as well when making the deal in the first place.
Things took a turn for me when other players were falling into Qatar and China more than they entered my place. Thereby losing more money to my second opposing tender and giving them more money to build more houses and collect better rents. The thing with Qatar and China is they come with higher rent that can make a player go bankrupt after a couple of round of entry.
The better half of the game turned into a series of unfortunate events for me. You know how it can get, everything's going your way, and all of a sudden, unlike how it used to be, you land on a Community Chest or Chance space, both taking more money from you. First, I was made to pay for repairs on every house I owned, and I had the largest number of houses, making me pay $526 in repairs.
And that is how the series of money began to leave my possession. I even made a deal with Wilsonbrazil, the player with the purple play icon. I offered them my hotel in the Vatican in exchange for Lithuania. This will allow me to have six hotels in a single land, increasing my earning ability. Although this lane, where the hotels are, is the second-earning lane. The rent would not burn a hole in your pocket if you have cash, but if you are low on cash, the rent can lead you to bankruptcy.
I finally landed in China and lost $2000 immediately on rent to the other player, НадіяТвердохліб. Then, a few turns later, I landed on another one, and it happened again. This time it was all thanks to chance. The card that was awarded by chance had the instruction, Go to China, on the spot. НадіяТвердохліб became $4000 rich, and I was left with a low amount. I could have battled the money in the game by consistently playing for rounds and rounds with the hope of making it back since I had 6 hotels to their 2 hotels, but the timing in the game ran out, and whoever collects the most rent wins the game. Due to the chance to go to China and my too-long entrance into China, НадіяТвердохліб got the win, and I came in at 2nd place.
I got a couple of coins in second place, and it was exciting to play today. I felt the rush while playing against these players. Until next Sunday.
I am southgamer. Try gaming and thank me later.