Improving the Monopoly Game

2/15/16

The Monopoly game, currently at select stores, is one where you get 4 stamps per $10 you spend on your grocery bill. You get a game board (paper), and you are supposed to affix the stamps to it. If you get the required stamps for a given prize, you win that prize! The prizes range from a $5 gift card to $1,000,000 cash. Sure, I'll play.

I enjoy this Monopoly game, but I found that the board has some design problems. First, the stamps do not stay on the board no matter how well I wet them. I picked up my board the other day only to have several stamps fall to the ground. Second, the board itself has prizes on both sides. This is somewhat annoying, as a side of the board is always exposed, which can cause the first issue.

I decided to make a spreadsheet for this game to improve my experience. I typed out all the prizes, their required stamps, and put them in alphabetical order. This way I could see everything on one page, as well as have them better organized. Here is what the spreadsheet looks like. Note, the stamps I entered in are an example only.

I also made it so I enter a 1 if I have the stamp, and leave it blank otherwise. For every prize, the spreadsheet shows the % progress made. Using a simple IF statement, when I get the required amount of stamps for that prize, the spreadsheet tells me to claim that prize.

I also have an overall % progress. This is calculated as total stamps I have / total stamps. More specifically, this is total number of stamps I have / (5*6+4*20+2*8), because there are 6 prizes that require 5 stamps, 20 prizes that require 4 stamps, and two prizes that require 8 stamps.

Feel free to download the Monopoly2016 spreadsheet here.

Please let me know if you found this spreadsheet useful.