Monopoly (game)

Monopoly

The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game
The Monopoly logo (2008–present)
Designer(s)	Elizabeth Magie Charles Darrow
Publisher(s)	Hasbro Parker Brothers Waddingtons
Publication date	February 6, 1935; 81 years ago (1935-02-06)
Players	Some versions 2–6 Other versions 2–8
Setup time	5–10 minutes
Playing time	60–240 minutes (1–4 hours) [average]
Random chance	High (dice rolling, card drawing)
Skill(s) required	Negotiation Resource management Strategy

Monopoly is a board game that originated in the United States in 1903 as a way to demonstrate that an economy which rewards wealth creation is better than one in which monopolists work under few constraints and to promote the economic theories of Henry George and in particular his ideas about taxation. The current version was first published by Parker Brothers in 1935. Subtitled "The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game", the game is named after the economic concept of monopoly—the domination of a market by a single entity. It is now owned and produced by the American game and toy company Hasbro. Players move around the game-board buying, trading, or selling properties, developing their properties with houses and hotels, and collecting rent from their opponents, with the goal being to drive them all into bankruptcy, leaving one monopolist in control of the economy. Since the board game was first commercially sold in the 1930s, it has become a part of popular world culture, having been locally licensed in more than 103 countries and printed in more than thirty-seven languages.

The history of Monopoly can be traced back to 1903, when American anti-monopolist Elizabeth (Lizzie) J. Magie Phillips created a game through which she hoped to be able to explain the single tax theory of Henry George. It was intended as an educational tool to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies. Magie took out a patent in 1904. Her game, The Landlord's Game, was self-published, beginning in 1906. A series of variant board games based on her concept was developed from 1906 through the 1930s that involved the buying and selling of land and the development of that land. Cardboard houses were added and rents were increased as they were added. Magie again patented the game in 1923.

According to an advertisement placed in The Christian Science Monitor, Charles Todd of Philadelphia recalled the day in 1932 when his childhood friend, Esther Jones, later married to Charles Darrow, came to their house with her husband for dinner. After the meal, the Darrows played The Landlord's Game several times with them, a game that was entirely new to the Darrows, and before he left, Darrow asked for a written set of the rules. After Darrow brought his own Monopoly game out, the Todds never spoke to the Darrows again. But see below (under Board > U.S. versions) for a version in which the Todds shared their own Monopoly-like game with the Darrows.