Mastodawn

bara mudita May 9, 2023

👀 #TIL Monopoly wasn't invented by the Parker Brothers, nor the man they gave it credit for. In 1904, Monopoly was originally called The Landlord's Game, and was invented by a radical woman. Elizabeth Magie's original game had not one, but two sets of rules to choose from.
One was called "Prosperity", where every player won money anytime another gained a property. And the game was won by everyone playing only when the person with the least doubled their resources. A game of collaboration and social good.
The second set of rules was called "Monopoly", where players succeeded by taking properties and rent from those with less luck rolling the dice. The winner was the person who used their power to eliminate everyone else.
Magie's mission was to teach us how different we feel when playing Prosperity vs Monopoly, hoping that it would one day change national policies.
When the Parker Bros adopted the game, they erased the "Prosperity" rules and celebrated "Monopoly".
#ElizabethMagie #Monopoly #Landlord
HT Tumblr.com/soberscientistlife

Hulk Smash COVID May 9, 2023

@Heliograph Holy freaking crap! I was just talking to my son about monopoly yesterday and how it never has a happy ending and even the winner both feels bad and is hated. Even if he tries to be generous and donate to losing players people spite him in the game. They should make a different version. And yet here is one! Prosperity! Why would they take that part out?!?! I want to play that version!

Shauna GM May 9, 2023

@Heliograph Oh man would I love to play the original version

duke itch / juke itch May 25, 2023

@shauna @Heliograph to be fair the prosperity rules aren‘t too much fun as a game, but it‘s a great concept and you can try for yourself as there is a facsimile version of the original game. Can‘t find the link right now but I have it here (ordered from the US) and it‘s a beauty

Shauna GM May 25, 2023

@dukeitch @Heliograph It's hard to get game dynamics right. Up Against The Wall, Motherfucker is a game with a fabulous title and an interesting history, but unfortunately I found it fairly boring to play (except for the moments you get to shout "Up against the wall, motherfuckers!")

https://crimethinc.com/2019/03/14/up-against-the-wall-motherfucker-the-game-revisiting-a-simulation-of-the-1968-occupation-of-columbia-university

To be fair I believe it was created by the students themselves, who wouldn't have much game design experience

Up against the Wall, Motherfucker—The Game?

A simulation game from the 1960s depicting the occupation of Columbia University at the high point of the anti-war and Black liberation movements.

CrimethInc.

duke itch / juke itch May 25, 2023

@shauna @Heliograph oh wow i have to
Check that out!

Claudius Link Feb 11, 2025

@dukeitch @shauna @Heliograph
I just received Bloc by Bloc: Uprising
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/356768/bloc-by-bloc-uprising
Maybe it's interesting too 😁 (and just too current)

Description:
In Bloc by Bloc: Uprising, each player controls a faction of revolutionaries—Workers, Students, Neighbors, or Prisoners—fighting against the police in the streets of a city that changes with each game. Build barricades, clash with police, occupy districts, loot shopping centers, build mutual aid networks, and liberate the city before time runs out and the military arrives!

Bloc by Bloc: Uprising

Take back the streets of your city in the ultimate edition of the insurrection game.

BoardGameGeek

Shauna GM Feb 11, 2025

@realn2s @dukeitch @Heliograph

"When playing semi-cooperatively, each faction has a secret Agenda card that determines how it wins the game. Factions with Social Agendas can still win together cooperatively. But a faction with a Vanguardist or Sectarian Agenda can only win alone and must work covertly to undermine the other factions."

Ooh that sounds so good - semi-cooperative is my favorite game dynamic (like Betrayal on the House at Haunted Hill - but politics!)

Peter Drake HAS MOVED May 9, 2023

@Heliograph I was surprised to see this photo; I wasn't aware that Parker Brothers had published it.

According to Wikipedia, "The company only printed a very small run of the game to secure the copyright. Surviving copies of The Landlord's Game by Parker Brothers are considered by many the rarest of all 20th century board games."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord%27s_Game

The Landlord's Game - Wikipedia

swish May 9, 2023

@Heliograph that's so cool, and sad that this isn't the game we play today. I wonder if there's some way to get a hold of the original/a remake?

Kees N ✅🔻May 9, 2023

@Heliograph
See also "Monopoly is Anti-Landlord Propaganda" by Tom Nicholas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7nFA19Gzrw
#monopoly #landlord

Monopoly is Anti-Landlord Propaganda

YouTube

RobCornelius May 9, 2023

Fun fact: There is nothing in the current rules preventing players cooperating with one another. Sharing properties and letting one another off mortgages etc.

Its a really fun way to annoy people who say they know how to win by being hyper-capitalist. You can win in short order and they are furious.

Holir_May 9, 2023

@robcornelius @Heliograph Can you tell more about this?

RobCornelius May 9, 2023

@Holir_ @Heliograph Basically two or more players agree not to charge the others when they land on a property, pool cash, what ever you like basically.

The rules don't forbid things explicitly its more like "if you are going to do xyz then you have to do it like this". You can literally make up rules to allow you to cooperate.

My brother says he is a "capitalist". He really hated it when myself and a friend played him at monopoly. He thought he knew how to play the game. It ended with him frantically reading the rules then storming off in a massive sulk. It was a fun Xmas

0xC0DEC0DE07EA May 9, 2023

@robcornelius @Holir_ @Heliograph someone also suggested leaving properties with four houses to starve other players of upgrade opportunities as part of that strategy.

Inspektor SKAdget May 15, 2023

@robcornelius @Holir_ @Heliograph
Only recently saw a meme were one person said something along the lines of "If no-one buys any property in Monopoly, all players are gaining money and nobody loses in the end"

Ostrich Jun 5, 2023

@robcornelius @Heliograph This is called a cartel and is in fact still hyper-capitalist

RobCornelius Jun 5, 2023

@ostrich @Heliograph

I would consider it a free association of like minded people who recognise that pooling resources and working together towards a common goal benefits everyone. Then again I am an anarchist.

Anyway its just a game.

Ostrich Jun 5, 2023

@robcornelius @Heliograph Benefits everyone in the association and hurts everyone not in it.
So a Cartel.

RobCornelius Jun 5, 2023

@ostrich @Heliograph People outside of the group are free to join should they change their mind about how to play the game.

Its not a game of "us vs. them" Its a game of cooperation. If people choose not to cooperate with their fellow players there are consequences to them but not their fellow players.

Ostrich Jun 5, 2023

@robcornelius @Heliograph Making it voluntary collusion doesn't make it any less collusion.

RobCornelius Jun 5, 2023

@ostrich @Heliograph

that is the point. Playing collectively beats being some Ayn Rand worshipping uber-capitalist in a **game** that was originally devised to show how useless capitalism is as a system for running an economy.

Ostrich Jun 5, 2023

@robcornelius @Heliograph No dude, the game was built with cartelization in mind. You are playing by the game's rules because the game is literally built in an era dominated by trusts and cartels, they anticipated cartelization as a legitimate strategy. It's a capitalist play.

RobCornelius Jun 5, 2023

@ostrich @Heliograph

You can call that a cartel or collective ownership. Within the limited parameters of the game itself the difference is semantic. Its just a game after all.

In an ideal game all the properties on the board would be collectivized by force if necessary before the game properly starts and no one pays rent to anyone. 😜

Ostrich Jun 5, 2023

@robcornelius @Heliograph You are entirely missing the point and it's an important point that you should get.

The Monopoly rules to the Landlord's game were to illustrate the eventual end stage of the prevailing system of that era. The reason cartelization works is systemic. In the real world, the cartels employed Pinkertons to murder anyone who even hinted at resistance.

Failure to resist or outwit the game is not a failure of intelligence or will, it is the core design of the system.

RobCornelius Jun 5, 2023

@ostrich @Heliograph

As far as I am aware the ideal end state of a game of monopoly is that no one can afford to move their piece at all. Sky high rents left, right and centre, people mortgaging properties just to pay rent etc etc. "Lessons to be learned for the real world" and all that but its a **game**

My ideal version the end state is to make my brother go off in a sulk so we don't have to keep playing bloody monopoly every xmas.

My brothers ideal end state is him owning everything and bankrupting everyone.

The strategy I have outlined of cooperating with friends and family members to gang up on my brother so we reach our ideal end state of the game is very effective at reaching our desired end state as quickly as possible.

If you are on the outside of our group looking in you might call it a cartel. If you are on the inside of the group looking out you might call it a socialist collective. That's what we called it in order to reach our preferred end goal even more quickly, don't knock it when it works perfectly

With limited options compared to the real world when playing the game and to describe what is going on it just boils down to semantics and a persons point of view.

Yes real world landlords are parasites, monopolies, cartels, capitalism etc etc etc are all terrible ways to organise society and economies. We were playing a **game** so played the game for fun not for profit. We played the game remarkably well I think.

RobCornelius Jun 5, 2023

@ostrich @Heliograph

"Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of motives, will somehow work together for the benefit of all."

—John Maynard Keynes

Shield Maiden May 9, 2023

@Heliograph Surely that now reveals a gap in the market and could this original version now take off?

JimMonsoon May 9, 2023

@Heliograph #Georgism ftw

Patrick Johanneson 🚀 🇨🇦May 9, 2023

@Heliograph I learned about this via a CBC show called Under the Influence (they syndicate in podcast form; it's very good), and it really showed me why I hated playing Monopoly as a kid (and still do, honestly).

Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly | Live Radio | CBC Listen

Under the Influence gives listeners a rare backstage pass into the hallways, boardrooms and recording studios of the ad industry. Join host and adman Terry O’Reilly for fascinating (and humorous) stories that connect the dots between pop culture, marketing and human nature.

CBC Listen

Kevin Russell May 9, 2023

Monopoly doesnt need to be explained, no matter how you play, or who you are, someone will own all of it, then the game is over, and you do something else.

Monopoly is almost over. I am ready do something else.

Earl May 9, 2023

@Heliograph Wow - I had no idea. I wonder if it’s possible that someone would make and sell the original?

🚲May 9, 2023

@Heliograph @lifewithtrees Magie also had a couple other successful games published in her day, of which there is shockingly little information available online. The designer of the most popular modern boardgame had other successful games and I can’t find a decent transcription of the rules online??

Another fun bit of board gaming history: the suffragettes sold several suffragette themed board games to fund their activities.

Jo 🏳️‍⚧️May 9, 2023

@Heliograph Interesting that it has the name of the designer on the box, much as modern boardgames do

strwbrryJen May 9, 2023

@Heliograph does anyone what the rules to play the prosperity were? ive always been curious about that

rainbow_infinity

@strwbrryJen @Heliograph You can find a full set of rules here: https://landlordsgame.info/games/lgp-1932/lgp-1932_rules.pdf

Kat May 9, 2023

@Heliograph There were so many great political and economical ideas around the 1900s... and so many were lost to capitalism and greed.

Also, I would love to play "Prosperity". Are there any resources available? More photos of the board and rules, even to try to re-create it?

loistf May 9, 2023

@Heliograph I learned about this story in 99pi
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-landlords-game/

The Landlord’s Game - 99% Invisible

From rock-paper-scissors, to tennis, to Mario Kart, every game is a designed system and all games are grounded in the same design principles. One popular game in particular has a mixed reputation with game players and designers alike: Monopoly. Participants circle the board, buy property, build houses, collect money, draw cards and pay money when

99% Invisible

lebout2canap ⏚May 9, 2023

@Heliograph @grumpygamer I've seen this story many times, I've even read a full article on the subject, but this is the first time I've heard of this second set of rules. Thank you so much for sharing.

Leia May 9, 2023

@Heliograph Are these the originals? I particularly enjoyed several of the rules ": Schelle Hotel- The space represents the distlnction made between classes, only moneyed guests being accepted" and "Caught robbing a hen-roost-go to jail; Caught robbing the public-take $200 from the board. The players will now call you Senator"
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1509312A/en

US1509312A - Game board - Google Patents

🌻 Welcome Back 🌻May 13, 2023

@leiawelsh @Heliograph Next turn...your power is out...go directly to Cancun.

Claudius Link Feb 11, 2025

@leiawelsh @Heliograph
There seems to be a website with the rules
https://landlordsgame.info/games/lg-1906/lg-1906_egc-rules.html

Game Rules - The Landlord's Game - Economic Game Company

HISTORY OF THE LANDLORD'S GAME TO MONOPOLY - Includes Rules & Images.

Vivian "Bigou"May 9, 2023

@Heliograph Good to see people darring to make that bit of #boardgame #history known.

By the way, I believe the game called #Anti-monopoly is now the nearest thing we can find to the original Landlord's Game, but has some variances in it's rules.

#Anti-monopoly #boardgames_history #Landlords_Game

JamesTDG May 9, 2023

@Heliograph I wonder if we'll ever get the prosperity rules distributed again...

Regenbogenlotta May 9, 2023

@Heliograph
I didn't know that, but now I know why I've never enjoyed Monopoly.

Achass May 9, 2023

@Heliograph has this gem been re-edited somehow ?

Jules 🍺May 9, 2023

@Heliograph I wouldn't mind playing prosperity, like cooperative board games

Lionel Mandrake

@Heliograph @marthawells Limited runs of The Landlord’s Game® are produced and sold by a company based in Portland, Oregon. https://landlords-game.com

The Landlord's Game ®

The Landlord's Game is the game that monopoly and related games originated from. Today's variations lost the half of the rules - the part where the monopolists get taken out by the other players!

The Landlords Game

Peter Brown Feb 12, 2025

@mandrakeOPE @Heliograph @marthawells excellent news! Well worth a go.

Ruthanna Emrys May 9, 2023

@Heliograph This is awesome - I'd heard about her original goal with the Monopoly rules, but TIL about the Prosperity rules!

@Heliograph wow. I didn’t know this. What an incredible bit of history.

Syscom May 9, 2023

@Heliograph mindblowingly interesting, thx for sharing

Craig Mcgee May 9, 2023

@craignicol @Heliograph wow you should find an article about this to put alongside the info

Ric May 9, 2023

@Heliograph I knew this, but I'd never actually seen the original before. That's a WAY cooler looking board!

J. Lawrence Davis May 9, 2023

@Heliograph @chrisroberson And now more of today's problems make sense. I'll have to play Prosperity, and I'll do it with a Monopoly board to anger them!

Miriam's on Medical Leave May 9, 2023

@Heliograph Oh wow, I've never seen the board, that is FABULOUS!

Küpa 🇻🇪 🇵🇸May 10, 2023

@Heliograph @tscriado

Jeltron May 10, 2023

@Heliograph Explains why its not fun for any normal human beings

Anne_de_Montague May 10, 2023

@Heliograph ans now there is "the anto-monopoly" wich is a lot more cynical, one player starts the game with a lot more assets, more money, a few houses, the other players start with a small capital. Like real life.

Andreas H. Opsvik

@Heliograph I thought about this recently while watching the episode of "Succession" wherein the – super rich, almost parodically privileged, and also constantly scheming – characters play a game of Monopoly.

ⅅasⓦarⓚeinℍuhn May 10, 2023

@Heliograph 🤯