Card game
Monopoly Bid
Monopoly as a quick card game of secret bids and stolen sets
- Set-up
- About 2 min
- Reading
- Little
The quick verdict
Full verdict ↓Great for Families with children of 7 and up who find Monopoly Deal's many action cards confusing
Think twice if You want real strategy: the draw and the Steal! and Wild! cards decide a lot
How we rate it
Learning curve. One rule (bid in secret, highest bid wins) and four action cards. Reviewers find it simpler than Monopoly Deal, which puts it with UNO at 1 on our scale.
Luck & skill. How much money you draw and when the Steal! and Wild! cards turn up decide a lot. Choosing how much to bid, and when to let a property go, is the skill.
Interaction. Everyone bids in every auction, and Steal! and Nope! cards are aimed straight at other players.
Set-up. Shuffle the property cards into one pile and the money and action cards into another, then deal five cards to each player.
Reading. Only the action cards carry words, one or two English words and a short instruction each.
Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.
Is Monopoly Bid right for you?
Great if
- Families with children of 7 and up who find Monopoly Deal's many action cards confusing
- A ten-to-twenty-minute filler at a get-together, with everyone shouting '1, 2, 3, Bid!' together
- Train journeys and holidays, since it is a single small deck
- Groups of up to five, one more than many Monopoly spin-offs allow
Skip it if
- You want real strategy: the draw and the Steal! and Wild! cards decide a lot
- You already own Monopoly Deal and enjoy it, because Bid covers similar ground more simply
- You want the street names and artwork of the board game: the property cards are plain colours
How Monopoly Bid plays
Monopoly Bid keeps Monopoly's colour sets and money but drops the board, dice, rent and houses. Shuffle the 28 property cards into a face-down pile. Shuffle the money and action cards together and deal five to each player; anyone who gets no money cards swaps their hand for five new ones. The youngest player hosts the first auction.
- Time to teach: about 5 minutes.
- Reading and language: Money and property cards have no words to read, just numbers and colours. The action cards carry one English word or two (Wild!, Draw 2!, Steal!, Nope!) and a short line of instructions. We found no Hindi edition, but there are Hindi how-to-play videos.
How to Play Monopoly Bid in 3 Minutes (Monopoly Card Game - Hasbro) · Tabletop Duo
Choose a video · Watch right here
If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.
A turn, step by step
- 1Draw
Every player draws one card at the start of the round.
- 2Act
The host may play any number of action cards; anyone can cancel one with a Nope!
- 3Bid
The host flips a property and everyone secretly bids money cards. On '1, 2, 3, Bid!' the highest bid wins the property.
- 4Win
The first player to complete three property sets wins.
The full explanation: how a game of Monopoly Bid goes
Each round starts with every player drawing one card. The host may then play as many action cards as they like, and any player can answer with a Nope! at any time. Next the host flips the top property card and everyone, host included, secretly picks how many money cards to bid, or chooses not to bid. On '1, 2, 3, Bid!' all bids go face up. The highest bidder discards their money and takes the property; everyone else takes their money back. Tied players can raise their bids, and if they are still tied nobody gets the property. Then the player on the host's left hosts the next auction.
There are four kinds of action card. Wild! counts as any one property, Steal! takes a single property from another player (but never from a completed set), Draw 2! gives you two extra cards, and Nope! cancels any action card, even another Nope!. There is no limit on cards in your hand, and players may trade properties with each other at any time.
The number in the corner of each property card tells you how many cards complete that colour, from two to four. The first player to finish three complete sets wins straight away. Because a lone property or a Wild! on the table can be stolen, it pays to bid hard for the card that finishes a set.
Compared with Monopoly Deal, there is no rent to charge, no bank and only four kinds of action card, and every property is won in an auction rather than played from your hand. That makes Bid quicker to teach, while Deal offers more tactics.
What's in the box
- 28Property cards
ten colour groups; the corner number shows how many cards complete the set (2 to 4) - 50Money cards
values 1 to 5, each value in its own colour - 32Action cards
Wild!, Draw 2!, Steal! and Nope! - 1Game guide
folded English rules sheet
Box: 0.17 kg. Handy to know for gifting and travel.
Hasbro's product page gives the total, 110 cards and a game guide, and Hasbro's guide gives the split into 28 property, 50 money and 32 action cards. The money colours and the ten colour groups come from published reviews; we found no count for each kind of action card. The English pack is the only one sold in India that we could find.
Where to buy
How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.
What reviewers and players say
Reviewers agree that Monopoly Bid is quick, portable and easy to learn, and they enjoy the secret auctions, which make you weigh a bargain against losing a property you need. The main complaints are luck and the strong action cards: one reviewer found Steal! and Wild! can make an auction pointless, and another calls it repetitive and lighter on skill than Monopoly Deal. Players on Reddit like it as a lighter cousin of Monopoly Deal but wish the plain property cards had street names, and several threads ask how Nope! works against a Wild!. An Indian gaming site rated it 9 out of 10 as a compact party game.
What people love
- Secret auctions make you weigh grabbing a bargain against losing a property you need
- Quick to learn and to play, usually 10 to 20 minutes
- A small deck that is easy to carry anywhere
- Everyone is involved in every round because everyone bids
Common complaints
- Steal! and Wild! cards are very strong and can make an auction pointless
- Luck matters more than skill, and some reviewers find it repetitive
- Plain property cards with no street names or artwork
Based on 5 reviews and discussions
- Review Monopoly Bid Card Game Review and Rules (Eric Mortensen, January 2022) · Geeky Hobbies
- Review Monopoly Bid Review (Jenni Fielding, May 2023) · Monopolyland
- Review Monopoly BID! Review (Uphar Dutta, September 2022) · Gameffine
- Players Had anyone played Monopoly Bid? (thread, December 2022) · Reddit r/monopolydeal
- Players Monopoly Bid Nope card and Wild card Loophole Dilemma (thread, May 2021) · Reddit r/monopoly
Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Why consider it | This game Monopoly as a quick card game of secret bids and stolen sets | A different fit Another 20-minute Monopoly spin-off, with a small board and card flips | A different fit The better-known Monopoly card game, with rent and more tactics | A different fit The full board game, with dice, rent and trading |
| Players | 2–5 | 2–4 | 2–5 | 2–6 |
| Best with | 3-5 | 3-4 | 3-5 | 3-4 |
| Play time | 10–20 min | 20–30 min | 15–30 min | 1–6 hrs |
| Age | 7+ | 8+ | 8+ | 8+ |
| Rules | Easy | Easy | Easy | Easy |
| Indian edition | Imported | Available | Available | Imported |
| On this page | Explore Monopoly Chance | Explore Monopoly Deal | Explore Monopoly |
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Questions people ask about Monopoly Bid
How many players can play Monopoly Bid?
Hasbro's game guide says 2 to 5 players, although some listings, including the one we link, say 'for 4 players' in the title. It plays faster with two, and with four or five there is more competition in every auction.
What is the difference between Monopoly Bid and Monopoly Deal?
Both are Hasbro card games where you race to finish three property sets. In Monopoly Deal you charge rent, keep a bank and play many kinds of action card. In Monopoly Bid every property is won in a secret auction and there are only four action cards, so it is simpler for younger children, while Deal has more tactics.
Can you steal a completed set in Monopoly Bid?
No. Hasbro's rules say a Steal! card can take any single property, including a Wild!, but not one that is part of a complete set. That is why players try to finish a set quickly, and why a lone Wild! on the table is at risk.
What happens if two players bid the same amount in Monopoly Bid?
The tied players may add more money cards until one bid is higher. If they are still tied, nobody wins: everyone takes their money back and the property goes to the bottom of the pile.
Is Monopoly Bid available in Hindi?
We found no Hindi edition; the pack sold in India is in English. The cards use very few words, mostly the four action names, and there are Hindi how-to-play videos on YouTube.
Game facts
- Publisher
- Hasbro (Hasbro Gaming)
- In India
- Hasbro India Toys Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai), named as importer on Indian listings
- First published
- 2020
- Players
- 2–5
- Barcode
- 630509985890
- Language
- Little reading – Money and property cards have no words to read, just numbers and colours. The action cards carry one English word or two (Wild!, Draw 2!, Steal!, Nope!) and a short line of instructions. We found no Hindi edition, but there are Hindi how-to-play videos.
- Box size and weight
- 0.17 kg
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.
Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.
- Hasbro - Monopoly Bid (F1699) instructions page (US)
- Hasbro - Monopoly Bid (F1699) instructions page (Australia), with contents
- Hasbro - Monopoly Bid F1699 game guide (PDF)
- Hasbro Consumer Care - Monopoly Bid Game
- Geeky Hobbies - Monopoly Bid Card Game Review and Rules
- Game Rules - Monopoly Bid rules
- Monopolyland - Monopoly Bid Review
- Gameffine - Monopoly BID! Review
- Zatu Games blog - Monopoly Bid Review
- Crossword - Monopoly Bid card game
- Hamleys India - Monopoly Bid Game
- Reddit r/monopolydeal - Had anyone played Monopoly Bid?