Gameplay

Initially, the game looks like Monopoly

Monopoly (game)

Marvin Gardens, the leading yellow property on the board shown, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. The misspelling was said to be introduced by Charles Todd and passed on when his home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and thence to Parker...

. There is a board, with spaces around the edges. Some of these spaces can be controlled. Each time you land on a space controlled by an opponent, you pay them money.

The inside of the board is an abstracted map of the USA. There are no fixed "color groups;" rather, your controlled outer spaces ("Markets") are the major cities

Metropolis

A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...

 of the USA, and you need to use the inner map to connect these markets.

Connected markets act like multiple colors in a color group. However, the expansion in the middle map is far more strategic

Strategy

Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...

 than random.

Where Monopoly is a game about trading

Trade

Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...

 property

Property

Property is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...

, Fast Food Franchise is a game of controlling the inner map.