๐Ÿ‘€ #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

@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 canโ€™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.