Board games are usually about the long haul. You sit down, you trade some properties, you lose a friend or two over a high-rent hotel stay on Boardwalk, and four hours later, someone finally goes bankrupt. But let’s be real. Nobody has four hours anymore. That is exactly why Hasbro introduced the speed dice for monopoly back in the mid-2000s. It was a desperate, yet surprisingly clever, attempt to keep the game relevant in an age of short attention spans.
If you’ve opened a standard "Mega Edition" or even a modern classic set lately, you probably saw that weird third die. It’s red. It has a bus on it. It has a guy with a mustache—Mr. Monopoly himself—grinning back at you.
It changes everything.
Honestly, it’s a polarizing piece of plastic. Some purists think it ruins the tactical pacing of the game. They want the grind. They want the slow burn of watching an opponent slowly bleed cash every time they pass "Go." Others? They just want to finish a game before the pizza gets cold.
How the Speed Dice for Monopoly Actually Works
You don't just roll it whenever you feel like it. You wait until you’ve passed "Go" for the first time. That’s a crucial rule most people forget. Once everyone has made a full lap, the red die enters the chat. You roll all three dice together. The two white ones give you your base movement, and the red one adds the "speed."
If you roll a 1, 2, or 3 on the red die, you just add that number to your total. Simple math. You move further, you bypass properties faster, and the game accelerates. But the symbols are where the chaos lives.
The Bus symbol gives you a choice. You can move the amount shown on one of the white dice, or the sum of both. It’s tactical. If you’re staring down a row of hotels owned by your sister, you use the Bus to hop over them. It’s basically a "get out of jail free" card for movement.
Then there’s Mr. Monopoly. This is the heavy hitter.
If you roll the mustache man, you first move the total of the two white dice. You do whatever that space requires—pay rent, buy it, whatever. Then, you immediately "teleport" to the next unowned property on the board. You get to buy it instantly. If everything is already owned? You jump to the next property where you’d owe rent. It forces money to change hands. It forces the game toward its inevitable conclusion.
The Math Behind the 45-Minute Game
Does it actually work? Yes.
Standard Monopoly can take three hours. Using the speed dice for monopoly usually cuts that down to about 45 to 60 minutes. The reason isn't just faster movement; it’s the increased velocity of property acquisition. In the early game, rolling Mr. Monopoly is a godsend. You’re snatching up real estate twice as fast. You’re completing sets (monopolies) by turn five or six.
Once those sets are complete, the game turns lethal.
Because the speed die forces you to move to the next "rent-collecting" space, you can’t just hide in the safe zones of the board. You are being pushed, quite literally, into the line of fire. It removes the "stalling" phase of the late game where players just circle the board hoping for a lucky break.
Phil Orbanes, a renowned Monopoly expert and former VP at Parker Brothers, has often noted that the game's original design was meant to show the "evils" of monopolies. The faster that happens, the faster the lesson is learned. Or, in our case, the faster someone gets to flip the table in a rage.
Common Misconceptions and Rule Disputes
People argue over this die more than they argue over the "Free Parking" money rule (which, by the way, isn't an official rule).
One big point of contention: What happens if you roll triples? If you hit three of a kind on all three dice (including the red one), you can move anywhere you want on the board. Anywhere. It’s the ultimate power move.
Another weird one? Rolling Mr. Monopoly when you're in Jail.
Basically, the red die doesn't count while you're behind bars. You’re trying to roll doubles on the white dice to get out. The red die is just a spectator until you’re back on the streets. I’ve seen entire family reunions descend into shouting matches because someone tried to use a red "3" to pay their way out of the clink. Don't be that person.
Why Some Players Refuse to Use It
There is a segment of the hobbyist community that views the speed dice for monopoly as a "cheat mode." They argue that it removes the risk-reward calculation of the game. In classic rules, you know exactly what the probability of landing on a specific square is. The bell curve of two six-sided dice is a beautiful thing. Seven is the most likely outcome. You can plan for it.
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The moment you add a third die with special symbols, that probability map gets set on fire.
- It makes "luck" a much larger factor than "management."
- It devalues certain properties that are usually high-traffic "traps."
- It rewards players who roll often rather than players who trade smart.
But let’s be honest. Monopoly was never a balanced competitive esport. It’s a game of luck and negotiation. If you want a deep strategy experience, you’re probably playing Settlers of Catan or Terraforming Mars. Monopoly is for the vibes, the nostalgia, and the drama. The speed die just gets you to the drama faster.
Actionable Strategy for Your Next Game
If you're going to use the speed die, you need to change how you play. You cannot use the same 1930s strategy your grandpa taught you.
Prioritize the Orange and Red properties. Because the speed die increases your average move distance, players are jumping further across the board. The Oranges (St. James Place, etc.) remain the best ROI in the game because they are exactly one "average" roll away from the Jail space, where people spend a lot of time. With the speed die, the "hot zone" expands. You want to own the second half of the board.
Don't hoard your cash. In a speed game, inflation happens fast. You need to get houses on your properties the second you have a set. Because Mr. Monopoly (the symbol) will "drag" players to your rent-heavy spots, you want those spots to be as expensive as possible as early as possible.
Watch the Bus choice. If you roll the Bus, look at the board state. Sometimes taking the "shorter" move is better if it lands you on an unowned property, even if the "total" move would have taken you past "Go." Acquisition is everything in the first 15 minutes of a speed die game.
Forget the "stay in jail" strategy. In the late-game of classic Monopoly, players often stay in jail to avoid landing on hotels. With the speed die, the game moves too fast for that. You’ll miss out on the rapid-fire property buys that Mr. Monopoly rolls provide. Pay the $50, get out, and start rolling that red die.
The next time you pull the box off the shelf, don't ignore that red cube. It’s not a gimmick. It’s a tool for survival. Use it to bypass the boring parts and get straight to the bankruptcy.