Monopoly

History
There is some ambiguity about the invention of Monopoly. Although there is no doubt that Charles B. Darrow introduced the game that is played today, he may have plagiarized the idea from Lizzie J. Magie, who invented The Landlord’s Game.

The Landlord’s Game was made in 1904 as a propaganda item to promote the single-tax theory, which held that only one land should be taxed. The strategy of the game was basically the same as Monopoly. Game play involved purchasing property and utilities and even had a “Go to Jail” space. Darrow took Magie’s game and made it a more polished and exciting game to play. He changed the property to lucrative and inviting Atlantic City, a sort of Shangri-La during the Great Depression.

Charles Darrow was out of work during the Stock Market crash and did his best to support his family by doing odd jobs. Among other things, he walked dogs and made jigsaw puzzles to earn money. Darrow played and enjoyed The Landlord’s Game and another game similar to Monopoly called Finance. Legend has it that one night Charles sat down at the kitchen table, and, depressed and bored, let his thoughts wander back to the Atlantic City trip that he had taken with his wife. From memory, he began to draw the streets and sights of Atlantic City. Soon, he had a game. He and his wife played it with their friends, who requested their own copies of the game.

Darrow copyrighted the rules and the game board in 1933. He brought his game to Parker Brothers but they didn’t like it and told him that it had 52 errors, one for every week of the year. In 1924, Lizzie Magie had also taken her game to Parker Brothers, but they had turned her away as well.

For a while Darrow sold the game by himself, filling orders for many accounts, including FAO Schwarz. Eventually, Parker Brothers did buy the game and Darrow became a millionaire at the age of 46.

Today
Monopoly is the all-time best-selling copyrighted game in the world. About 480 million people have played Monopoly worldwide. It is currently printed in 26 languages including Croation, Russian, Indian and Icelandic. Each year, a World Championship tournament is held. Die-hard competitors have played extensive games underwater, in a moving elevator, in a tree house and high up in the German Alps.

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