Ground for Repentance

Don't this just beat all? Wish I had been the banker on this one 'cause counting out the players' monopoly money was almost the highlight of the game. Around the board to collect your miserable wages. But first an exciting trip into one of the 5 & Dimes for, well, why not a toaster? Can you beat the thrill of paying $20 at the 5 & Dime instead of $35 at the Dime & 5? I know I had to put back a couple of bourbon & branch waters just to steady my bargain huntin' hand after that one. At least there's a plastic toaster to fondle. No? Maybe a colorful toaster chit? 'Fraid not. Nothing but a checkmark on a checklist. Almost as exciting as hanging around the starting block and deducting a random amount from your wad each turn. Even the exotic fish checkoff couldn't assuage my total gloom. The one glimmer of excitement is the possible denial of credit by the erzatz credit card machine. Did it deny? Maybe once after we smacked it around.

Dr. Kirby, perceiving the possibly fatal ennui setting in went for broke and maxed his plastique at which point we all realized we had better wind things up before we were ourselves wound up and handed the victory to the Dr. in recognition of his selfless sacrifice.

"Should circulation as a means of payment increase at a higher rate than it decreases as a means of purchase, the aggregate circulation would increase, although the money serving as a means of purchase would decrease considerably in quantity. And this actually occurs in certain periods of crisis, namely, when credit collapses completely and when not only commodities and securities are unsaleable but bills of exchange are undiscountable and nothing counts any more but money payment, or, as the merchant puts it, cash." - Marx, Capital 3, 28

And even that is more excitement than "Bargain Hunter"

Needing a splash of cold water to all our faces at that point we unwrap the 8 color magnificence of "Quest". A spinner of substance. Very welcome after last month's "Pirates o the Carib". And quickly concluded.

And then a truly splendid piece of work, previewed here in a video flyby last month, "Hotels". Basic Monopoly concept but, unlike Monopoly, a fast mover. Hotels went up like there was some kind of Commercial Real Estate bubble going on. Speculator's got fat and got screwed. Complexes went belly up and pools were drained by the mosquito control board faster than one could buy Water Works.

Good thing too since time was growing short due to the time waste of "Bargain Hunters". This was why god made the Game Kings.

Dr. Kirby looks glumly out on the Fujiyama Towers. Thinking, no doubt, of gambling losses past.

And Dennis wonders what sort of fate the dice have in store for his empire.

But the money rolls in and out. The Frog has parlayed his connections into some truly juicy land grabs and slap dash construction. Here he can be seen in Scrooge McDuck mode adding up his fabulous riches as though the entire CRE sector weren't already careening toward the precipice.

Yes, an enthusiastic endorsement for "Hotels". Saleable, no. Playable, yes. If only we had had the time after sinking an hour into the wasteland of "Bargain Hunter".

"A bad bargain is always a ground for repentance." Pliny the Elder