Capitol Hill Monopoly

By Keith Roberts.  Email “me at”


The origin of the Capitol Hill variation came from an attempt to add house rules that would make it more difficult for a player to establish a monopoly. It would also provide players who have emerged out of the early phases of the game at an asset disadvantage to level the playing field through simulated “government support.” These rules were originally intended to add to the game optional rules that would simulate anti-trust, labor, and welfare governmental regulations, but other rules have been used.

Rule additions or modifications appear in the form of bills, and the collection of bills from which a player can sponsor are located on the “docket.” The docket is agreed upon by players prior to the start of the game. The particular set of bills on the docket can vary with individual house rules, but usually at a minimum, they contain rules that simulate anti-trust, labor, and welfare regulations.

A sample docket could contain any or all of the following bills:

Bill No. Title Impact of the Bill
HB 1 Asset Tax Players, upon passing “GO” pay 2% of assets, less a deductible. The deductible is contingent upon the number of players. For 2 players it is $1,900; for 3 players it is $1,425; for 4 players it is $1,150; for 5 players it is $950; and for 6 players it is $825.
HB 2 Amnesty Day Each player receives one free rent landing at the expense of the property owner.
HB 3 Mortgage Integrity Act A mortgage call is initiated after each third consecutive roll of doubles.
HB 4 Fair Labor Act (1) For each player, the income amount received for passing “GO” is increased from $200 to $300; and (2) houses and hotels cost double to build.
HB 5 Rental Income Tax 10% of all rent collected is redistributed to non-improved property owners.
HB 6 “And is More” Act Amends the square “$200 or 10% of assets” to “$200 and10% of assets”.
HB 7 Int’l Refugee, Migrant, and Displaced Workers Protection Act Decreases the supply of houses and hotels by 50%.

General Play

Standard Monopoly rules apply except when a player lands on either Free Parking or Go. When a player lands on either Free Parking or Go, the player, in lieu of collecting any funds to which he or she would otherwise be entitled, the player may instead opt to “go to Capitol Hill” to “lobby” for additions or modifications of certain rules of the game.

If the player chooses to go to Capitol Hill, he or she selects a bill to sponsor. After reading the bill aloud, the sponsor asks if anyone would like to join the caucus to support the bill.

The sponsor and the other caucus members then pay a fee to the bank to attempt to pass their legislation. If the caucus members represent a majority of the players then each player pays $200. Otherwise, each caucus member pays $500.

Passing Legislation

The sponsor rolls both dice. If this roll results in a “majority vote” the legislation passes. The required roll to establish a majority vote depends upon the number of players in the caucus:

# Players In Caucus Majority Vote Roll Requirement
1 7+
2 6+
3 5+
4 4+
5 3+
6 2+

After Passing the Bill

After passing a bill, all non-caucus member players must pay to the Sponsor $100. Bills go into effect immediately after they are passed.

Repeal of Bill

Once enacted, any law can be repealed through the same enactment process.