Monopoly is a game that we all know and love. It’s been around for almost 100 years, and it has just as many variations. But did you know that it started out as something much more serious? The original version was called The Landlord’s Game and was designed by Elizabeth Magie as a way to teach people about the negative effects of capitalism. She never got credit for her creation, and after some tweaks to make it more family-friendly in 1935 (when Parker Brothers bought the rights), Monopoly became one of the best-selling games in history! There are so many fun facts about this classic board game that I could write another article just on them!
Monopoly started as a criticism of capitalism
Monopoly was invented in 1903 by Elizabeth Magie, a Quaker and feminist. She created the game as a way to teach her students about the evils of capitalism. She based it on one of her favorite books, Progress and Poverty by Henry George, which describes how monopolies hurt society. It is really interesting to think that a game which now brings out greed and capitalistic traits in people was invented to fight just that! Nevertheless, it is still a great game to play and a lot of fun!
It was a hit with Depression-era America
It was a hit with Depression-era America because it was a game that you could play with your family. It was easy to learn, didn’t require any special equipment and could be played by just two people or an entire family.
Players roll the dice and move their token around the board building houses, hotels and buying properties from each other. The goal is to get as much money as possible before someone else bankrupts you by taking all of your cash.
The first version had many different rules and pieces
The game that we know now as Monopoly didn’t look exactly the same when the game was first invented. The original rules were very different from what we know today.
Monopoly has been updated and changed many times over its long history, with different pieces and properties being added or removed, as well as changes made to gameplay itself. These changes reflect social values at the time they were implemented (for example: during World War II when metal was scarce, paper money was used instead).
It has been banned in Cuba and the Soviet Union, among others
It’s been banned by various countries since the 1930s. For example, it was banned in Cuba, China and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Monopoly is tricky!
Monopoly is a game of chance and strategy. It’s the luck of the draw, but also your ability to make the best use of what you have. Sometimes you might end up in jail for a few rounds and sometimes you might land on all the right places – nevertheless, if you play your cards right, you might be the winner!
Monopoly is a game where you can be dealt a bad hand, but still come out on top. It’s all about making the most out of what you have!
Conclusion
And so we come to the end of our whirlwind tour of Monopoly. We’ve explored how it came to be, who made it happen and why people loved it so much. I believe that such a classic game will never stop being so popular, even in the future when it will probably be played only digitally. Hopefully you have enjoyed learning more about this classic game—and maybe picked up some new tricks along the way!