Leave it to the Brits to come up with something so funny and true that it ends up being a little terrifying. Austerity is an update of Monopoly, but instead of robber barons and railroads, there are global financiers and the Shard. It is a fitting parody of the classic Parker Bros board game that is best known as a means of killing time.
All images via usvsth3m.com
Austerity is Monopoly but updated for the late-model capitalism, with rules duly bent to favor those of privileged descent. Players are divided into two categories, BOSS and PLEB. The boss is the person at the table who was born into the family with the most money, starting the game with coffers worth 5,000 dollars (we’re playing with USD, not GBP), while the PLEBS are given 57 dollars to start.
The boss.
One of the most exciting updates to the game is a separate “slow lane” for PLEBs. They have to traverse three times as many spaces before they make it around the board. Of course, when they land on the BOSS’s properties, they must pay up. Cards have separate directions for each class, too.
Of course, the game becomes a comedy of errors, as PLEBS die hungry in gutters as the BOSS assumes ownership of the Shard. It is Austerity, the 2015 Monopoly. While both were meant to be critiques of capitalism, Austerity gets it right for today’s obscenely unequal society. The only thing about Austerity not to like is that its message lands so close to home. So print yours out at the link below and get started!
