Set collection · Reviewed 2026-10-18
Monopoly Deal card game: players, deck & rules
Build three complete property colours while banking money and using action cards.
Version used: Hasbro E3113, ©2017, without house-rule changes
- Players
- 2 to 5
- Deck
- Monopoly Deal dedicated 110-card pack
- Learning
- Easy
Be first to collect three complete property sets of different colours.
Need a term explained? Suit, rank, trick, trump and meld.
Prepare the deck and starting hand
- Remove reference cards, shuffle, deal five each and leave a draw pile. Youngest player starts; turns move left.
Draw, play up to three, then tidy
- Draw two; if your hand was empty at turn start, draw five instead.
- Play zero to three cards: bank money or actions, lay properties, or use actions as printed. Used actions go to discard except attached houses/hotels. End with at most seven hand cards, discarding extras.
Keep bank and property separate
A banked action permanently becomes money. Properties cannot go in the bank. Move wild-property colours only during your own turn. Each eligible set allows one house and then one hotel; neither goes on utilities or railroads.
Pay debts and check for victory
Pay from your bank or properties, choosing what to give; never pay from your hand. There is no change. If short, give all available assets with no carried debt. Transferred properties join the recipient’s property area. Three complete different-colour sets wins immediately; no round-score total is needed.
Worked example
You begin with five cards, draw two, bank a 3M money card, lay a red property and play Pass Go to draw two more. That uses all three plays and leaves six cards in hand. If you later owe 2M with only 3M banked, paying that 3M does not return 1M change.
Read an action before banking it
An action’s printed value and its effect are alternative uses. Place bank cards in a separate area so nobody later tries to activate a card already used as money. The reference cards can stay beside the draw pile; the dedicated pack is required.
Rule sources and version notes
Rules checked on 2026-10-18. The named version above is the one taught here. Examples and learning suggestions are written for this guide.