Worst. Blog. Ever. (You could say we have a Monopoly on suckiness.)

So bad, I doubt anyone's even reading anymore. But if anything can bring the readers back, it is that most classic of commercial board games: Monopoly.

Of course, among nerdy boardgamers like, um, us, Monopoly doesn't get a whole lot of respect--in fact, in general, nerdy people tend to be snobby about popular classics.

I, however, believe that Monopoly is a good little game. It has trading, auctions (on the off chance you're playing it properly), and in general more strategy than a lot of mainstream games, and more than it gets credit for.

Still, I have to admit that it is pretty random, and that can be annoying to us nerdgeeks. But must this lead us to shun this classic game forever? No, it must not.

With that in mind, I have a challenge for the members of the club: I want you to come up with a variant of Monopoly that would endear it more to the gamegeek crowd, i.e. us. I propose that we then try out the best of them (which may very well be more than one). Sadly, the pride of having your idea played is the only prize I can offer, but I think it's a good one.

Variants can stick relatively close to the official rules, or they can differ wildly, as you prefer. I have only three restrictions:

- Your idea must maintain the property buying, trading, house/hotel building, and rent paying aspects of the original game.
- Your idea should be playable with a standard copy of Monopoly (and if it must require anything extra, it should be readily acquirable around the house).
- If you include the Free Parking rule, I'll punch you.

That's all for now. Go.