Frequently asked questions
Updated
Short answers for a private Rentopia table. The long version of the rules is How to play. Every rent is on the board sheet, every card is on the card list, and the default checklist is the rules quick reference. What changed, and when, is on Updates. Privacy questions belong on the Privacy Policy and at hello@rentopia.app.
How many people can play?
A private room holds 2 to 8 players. The host can lower the cap before the match starts. Two people is a real game: you still roll, buy, build, and trade. Six or eight makes the early streets go faster and makes a finished district more valuable, because someone is more likely to land on it.
Do I need an account?
No. Type a display name and play. There is no signup, no password, and no email address required to sit down. The name is what the other people in the room see on your piece and in the log. Pick one you are comfortable showing them.
How do friends join?
The host creates a room and shares either the invite link or the short room code. A friend who opens the link lands on that room and types a display name. A friend who only has the code types it on the home page. The room stays private until someone shares it. The host starts the match when everyone is in.
What is a turn?
Roll two dice and move that many spaces clockwise. If the dice match, you roll again after you finish the space you landed on. Three doubles in a row send you to Lockup, and you do not collect salary on the way. After the landing is resolved you may build, trade, or mortgage, then end the turn. The usual turn timer is 90 seconds. The host can turn it off or pick another length.
What do I collect at START?
Passing START pays your salary. Landing on START pays it too. The usual salary is $200, and everyone starts with $1,500. The host can change both numbers before the match. You do not collect salary when a card or the Busted space sends you to Lockup, even if the path would have crossed START.
How does rent work?
Landing on a street someone else owns means you pay them rent. The printed rent is the empty-street rent. Own every street in that district, with no buildings yet, and the rent is doubled. Each house, and then a hotel, uses the higher rent printed for that level. A mortgaged street charges nothing. Stations charge $25, $50, $100, or $200 as the owner holds one, two, three, or all four. City Power and Reservoir Co. charge four times the dice if the owner has one of them, and ten times the dice if the owner has both.
What is Lockup, and how do I leave?
Lockup is the corner where you wait after you are sent there. Three doubles in a row, the Busted space, and a few Fortune and Town Fund cards all send you. Passing by Lockup when you are not locked up does nothing. Leave by rolling doubles on your turn, paying the fine (usually $50), or playing an exit card you were holding from Fortune or Town Fund. The host can change the fine.
What are Fortune and Town Fund?
They are the two card decks. Some spaces tell you to draw one. The card is the instruction: move to a named street or station, step back, pay the bank, collect from the bank, pay or collect from the other players, or hold an exit from Lockup. Follow the card, then carry on. Exit cards stay in your hand until you play them, and then they go back into the deck.
When can I build?
You can build on your turn, including before you roll, once you own every street in a district and none of those streets is mortgaged. With the even-build rule on, which is the default, you spread houses evenly: you cannot put a third house on one street of the district while another street in it still has only one. A hotel replaces four houses on that street. Houses and hotels come from a shared bank supply, usually 32 houses and 12 hotels. Selling a building returns half of what that level cost.
What if I cannot pay?
Sell buildings, mortgage a street or station, or make a trade until you can cover the bill. Mortgaging pays you half the printed price, rounded down. Buying it back costs that amount plus 10 percent. If you still cannot pay, you go bankrupt and leave the match. Your remaining streets are settled with the creditor or returned toward the bank, and the last player who still has money wins.
Can the host change the rules?
Yes, before the match starts. The host can change timers, starting cash, the START salary, whether unbought streets go to auction, even building, mortgages, the Lockup fine, a Town Square jackpot, and a few other house rules. Once the host starts the game, those choices stay for that match. Read the table with the group before anyone rolls.
Does Rentopia show ads on the board?
No. The home screen, the room lobby, loading, and the match itself do not load Google's ad script and do not request ad units. Reading pages, including the guide, the board sheet, the card list, the rules reference, and the strategy pages, include the AdSense loader so the site can be reviewed. They do not place ad units, pop-ups, or between-game ads. You can review or turn off personalized ads at https://adssettings.google.com.
Where is every rent?
On the board and rents page. It lists the forty spaces in order and, for each street, the price, the empty rent, the doubled rent for a finished district with no houses, and the rent for one through four houses and a hotel. The rules quick reference only summarizes the empty rent and the hotel. A host can change salary, cash, the Lockup fine, auctions, and even building. A host cannot change those printed prices.
Where are the cards written out?
On the Fortune and Town Fund cards page. It prints every card in both decks. The deck is shuffled in a match, so the list is the set of cards, not the order you will draw them. One Fortune card and one Town Fund card are exits from Lockup. You hold an exit and it goes back into its deck when you play it.
Where is the change log?
On the updates page. Each entry is a change a player can see, with the date it shipped. It is not a list of every internal commit. House rules a host already started stay as they were when that match began.
Which page should I read?
If you have not played, start with How to play. If you are in a match and you need a number, use the board sheet. If someone argues about a card, use the card list. Strategy, building, trading, and cash are advice for after you know the buttons. The guides page puts those choices in one place.
How long is a room kept?
A lobby where only the host is waiting is deleted after about 30 minutes. A lobby other people have joined is deleted after 6 hours. A finished match is deleted 24 hours after it ends. Refreshing the same browser tab rejoins your seat, because the tab keeps a guest id on this device. Clearing that storage, or using a different browser, means that seat is gone.
Who do I contact?
Email hello@rentopia.app. Rentopia is operated from Canada. Write if you have a privacy question, a question about advertising, or a problem with a room. There is no account to look up, so include the room code if the question is about a match.
Personalized ads, on the articles that load Google's script, can be reviewed or turned off at adssettings.google.com. The home screen and the match do not load that script.