Don't Go to Jail


Don't Go to Jail is a 1991 Parker Brothers dice game for two or more players inspired by Monopoly.

Gameplay

The game is played by rolling ten dice and attempting to roll matches to score points.
Seven of the dice have various colors, utilities, or railroad icons on them. The remaining three dice are blank on four sides, with the other two sides showing "Go," "to", or "jail".
The player scores points for the round if the dice rolled create a monopoly set of colors, utilities, or railroads. The number of dice that need to score points depends on the property. If a die shows the "Go To Jail" icon, that die is placed aside. The player can continue re-rolling unmatched dice until they decide to end their turn and claim their points, or until all three "Go To Jail" dice land face up. One stipulation in the rules is that once a die has been set aside, it cannot be re-rolled during that turn. The dice also feature wilds that may substitute for any symbol on the seven property dice. Two "Wild"s are available to use so it is possible to score a monopoly using only the wilds. The wild die can be moved, but only if the symbol it substitutes for happens to be rolled later that round, in which case the wild must then be immediately placed elsewhere.
The game is won when a player earns enough points from matches. The number of points required to win is determined by the players at the start of the match in the original game. These rules also suggest that if a player surpasses the predetermined number of points, the win is not automatic. The player must then wait for all players to have an equal number of turns and should anyone top the feat, they then become the winner.

Publication history

After success publishing Advance to Boardwalk, Parker Brothers published Free Parking and Don't Go to Jail.

''Monopoly Diced''

An updated version, called Monopoly DICED!, is also available. The newer game alters the original game play as follows:
  • The game is played for "dollars" instead of points.
  • It changes the "Go," "to" & "jail" into the "Policeman" from the "Go To Jail" corner of the board game.
  • One of the blank sides on one of the "Policeman" dice is replaced with a green-arrow "GO" logo that automatically earns the player $200.
  • It adds an eleventh "House/Hotel" die that can earn a player Houses, earn Hotels and a "Get Out Of Jail Free" side that negates a previously rolled "Policeman"..
  • The Wild sides are replaced by "Chance" sides that act as Wilds, but CANNOT be moved after being placed.
  • The base winning amount is set at $15,000 with no "catch-up" opportunity; the first player to reach the set goal wins.

Game notes

  • As with the pre-September 2008 non-U.S. versions of the original Monopoly, Monopoly Express/''Monopoly Diced has the lowest color group dice faces colored brown. This applies to the new releases of the U.S. edition of the game as well, thus making it the first U.S.-based Monopoly'' game to use brown for its lowest-valued properties.