Monopoly

Net Worth=$28,539
Parameters=8 Player Game (7 computer)
Piece=Thimble
Name=Bean

Monopoly helped prove the hypotheses that the main character's name has a significant effect on the outcome of the game. With names like "Derpy" and "SlapRod" there was no success to be had. Ten or fifteen tries with names like that yielded early bankruptcy. After some deep soul searching, the name Bean came to my mind. Why?

Orson Scott Card wrote a series of books based on extraordinary children being excellent tacticians and making their own luck. The book "Shadow of the Hegemon" is what I am currently reading and Bean is the main protagonist. The game of Monopoly requires excellent tactics and strokes of luck.

An eight player game requires a different strategy than with only a few players. After some trial and error looking to get the green and the red monopolies and going bankrupt over and over again, the answer was waiting in transportation. Cut off the enemies' supply lines and they won't be able to succeed. Acquiring the first two railroads was the first step in the plan. Buying the next railroad for an extreme price of $750 seemed like an exorbitant price, but the resulting cash flow proved the contrary. Having Kentucky Avenue provided the leverage needed to acquire the last railroad. With seven other players dividing all of the important properties, and many rounds of idle play, Bean amassed a small fortune. Preying upon weaker players and not making pivotal trades was the strategy that led to the defeat of Carmen, Ollie, the resilient Erwin, and the rest of the predictable computer players.

Monopoly...some of you may ask. Really? The answer to that is of course that I wanted to get an easy win and also I can't get my wife to play the game with me and I felt like playing. I wanted an easy victory because I just spent 130 hours on Final Fantasy X-2. With that said, I am irritated beyond belief that after getting 100% completion, I did not get the perfect ending. That is what I've been up to since Halloween. I also got a PS3 for Christmas and put off playing it until I beat Final Fantasy. I am looking forward to playing Metal Gear, NCAA Football, and Final Fantasy 13. Once I get wrapped up in FF13 it is unlikely that the NES will receive the attention it deserves. I will probably put that off until the summer.

Sophia is now running around the house, climbing up on the Love Sack and grabbing at my controllers. I can just tell she is itching to beat Zelda and whip up on some Sesame Street ABC123. Which allele do we need to isolate to measure the amount of video game prowess that is hereditary?

Until next time...I don't think it will be as long of a wait.