If I were to ask you to close your eyes and imagine a board game I’m willing to bet $200 and a trip around Go that Monopoly is the game that will come to mind. The game is filled with iconic images that are firmly ensconced in popular culture: from Boardwalk Ave. to the Get Out of Jail Free cards to the pewter Scottie Dog.
Now, being well-known and beloved are two very different things. Monopoly is instantly recognizable, but if a person tells you they truly love the game I guarantee they are lying.
I can’t even begin to tell you how many family gatherings were completely ruined by busting out the ol Monopoly board. Even the most simple part of the game—choosing the game pieces—would start a fight because nobody wants to be an idiotic old-timey iron when there’s a racecar to be had. And this would only be a harbinger of things to come.
You’ll fight about the amount of money the banker gives you. You’ll fight about the rules involving Free Parking. You’ll fight about the game never ending. The only thing we can guarantee about a game of Monopoly is that there will be fighting. You’re more likely to own Boardwalk, Park Place all the utilities and all the railroads than the odds you’ll have a good time.
Yet, despite all of this, people seem to love Monopoly, so much so that they get tattoos dedicated to the game. The official theory here at Inked Magazine is that people just like the idea of the Monopoly man out there, making deals and getting that paper. They don’t actually give any shits about Hasbro’s violence-inducing board game. That theory doesn’t explain every tattoo, but it certainly explains the tattoo of Rich Uncle Pennybags brandishing an Uzi you’ll see below.
So whether you love Monopoly or you love to hate it, you’ll enjoy this collection of Monopoly tattoos.