Tim Darling's "Surefire Strategy" for winning at Monopoly sounds plausible — a great way to suck all the fun out of the game, leaving behind nothing but the relentless pursuit of victory.
* Always buy Railroads; never buy Utilities *
* At the beginning of the game, focus on acquiring a complete C-G (Color Group) in Sides 1+2, even if it means trading away properties on Sides 2+3. After acquiring one of these C-Gs, build 3 houses as quickly as possible: no more houses, no less!
* Once your first C-G starts to generate some cash, focus on completing a C-G and building 3 houses in Sides 3+4.
o Note: 3 houses is the "sweet spot" in the game as shown in Table 1 below. That's where you're making the best use of your money.
* Single properties are the least good investment if you don't build on them.
* The only exception to the above rules are when you need to acquire stray properties to prevent your opponents from completing their C-Gs to accomplish the above strategy.
(via Negatendo)
Update: Or you could always try Seth Godin's variant ruleset for Monopoly!
