1906 Commercial Edition

1906 Commercial Edition

Published by the Economic Game Company of New York in 1906, this edition introduced the rules that most subsequent versions of The Landlord’s Game would follow: Title Deed cards purchased by auction, houses that multiply rent, Chance cards with quotations from political philosophers, a Speculation space, and railroad monopoly pricing. It is also the edition that first included the Single Tax variant rules (see the Single Tax variant).

Setup

• Starting cash: $600 per player (2 players), $500 per player (3 players), $400 per player (4 players).
• Shuffle the green Title Deed cards and deal 24 cards one at a time to the left. Each player may purchase any or all cards dealt to them at the original sale price, paid to the Public Treasury. Unpurchased cards are returned to the pack.
• All undealt money and implements are placed in the centre MISCELLANEOUS space.
• All checkers start on MOTHER EARTH.
• First player is determined by highest dice throw.

Rules

Movement: On each turn, throw the dice and move forward that many spaces. Follow the rule for the space landed on.

MOTHER EARTH: Receive $100 wages from MISCELLANEOUS each time this space is reached or passed.

Lot spaces: If owned by another player, pay land rent to that player. If unowned, the player may purchase at the original sale price (paid to Public Treasury), or by auction: highest bidder takes the deed; the first player to land has the right of first refusal at the highest bid. If no player purchases, the landing player pays land rent to the Public Treasury.

Absolute Necessities (Food, Fuel, Shelter, Clothing): Pay $10 to the Public Treasury.

D.F. Hogg’s Game Preserves / Lord Blueblood’s Estate (No Trespassing): Player immediately goes to JAIL.

JAIL: Player remains until their next turn. To exit: pay a $50 fine to the Public Treasury, or throw a double (serves time, no fine). Maximum 3 turns in jail if the player has sufficient property.

Franchise spaces (Soakum Lighting System / Slambang Trolley): Pay $5 to the owner. If unowned, auction as per lot spaces. Municipal Cinch: a player owning both franchise spaces raises the rate for both to $25.

Railroad spaces: Pay $5 fare. Railroad monopoly pricing applies based on how many railroads one player owns: 2 owned = $10 fare, 3 = $20, 4 = $50. Trust: if two players together own all four railroads, they may pool them and charge $40.

CENTRAL PARK: Free. No payment required.

Chance: Draw a red card, follow its instructions, and return the card to the pack.

Speculation: The player may refuse to move and stay in place. If they choose to play: pay $10 ante to the Broker (the holder of the Speculation card) or to MISCELLANEOUS; then throw again. Payouts: double = win $100, 11 = $90, 10 = $80, 9 = $70, 8 = $60, 7 = $50, 6 = $40, 5 = $30. Pay 10% of winnings to the Broker. If the throw is 3 or 4: the Broker goes to Jail and the Speculation card is returned.

Poor House: A player with no money and no mortgageable property goes here. Throws to move out on the next turn.

Houses

Players may erect up to 3 houses per lot. House rent of $10 per house is paid by any player stopping on that lot, in addition to land rent.

Land rent table (base / 1 house / 2 houses / 3 houses):

Tax escalation: When 10 houses are on the board, taxes on Absolute Necessities double to $20. When 25 or more houses are on the board, taxes rise to $40.

Section doubling: When all lots in any board section (between two railroad spaces) each have at least 1 house, land rent in that section doubles. When all lots in the section have 2 houses, it doubles again. At 3 houses each, it doubles again.

Winning

The game ends by agreement or when play cannot continue. The player with the most total wealth wins.

Scoring: every Title Deed card counts 100; every house counts 100; add cash on hand.

Attribution

1906 Commercial Edition. Rules from the Economic Game Company edition, New York, 1906. Designed by Elizabeth J. Magie. Public domain. Source: landlordsgame.info/rules/lg-1906_rulebook.html (transcription via hoelzl/L3 public repository).