Monopoly (game)

Monopoly
The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game
London version of Monopoly
DesignersCharles Darrow Based on The Landlord's Game By Lizzie Magie[1][2]
Publishers
Publication1935 (1935)
GenresBoard game
PlayersMinimum of 2, maximum of however many tokens are provided in the box (in modern copies, this is usually 8)
Setup time2–5 minutes
Playing time60–375 minutes
ChanceMedium (dice rolling, card drawing)
Age range8+
Skills

Monopoly is a multiplayer economics-themed board game. In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents and aim to drive them into bankruptcy. Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards and tax squares. Players receive a salary every time they pass "Go" and can end up in jail, from which they cannot move until they have met one of three conditions. House rules, hundreds of different editions, many spin-offs, and related media exist.

Monopoly has become a part of international popular culture, having been licensed locally in more than 113 countries and printed in more than 46 languages. As of 2015, it was estimated that the game had sold 275 million copies worldwide.[4] The original game was based on the locations in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with the exception of Marven Gardens, which is in adjacent Ventnor City, New Jersey.

Monopoly is derived from The Landlord's Game, created in 1903 in the United States by left-wing feminist Lizzie Magie, as a way to demonstrate that an economy rewarding individuals is better than one where monopolies hold all the wealth.[1][5] It also served to promote the economic theories of Henry George—in particular, his ideas about taxation.[6] The Landlord's Game originally had two sets of rules, one with tax and another on which the current rules are mainly based. When Parker Brothers first published Monopoly in 1935, the game did not include the anti-capitalistic taxation rule[which?], resulting in a more aggressive game. Parker Brothers was eventually absorbed into Hasbro in 1991. The game is named after the economic concept of a monopoly—the domination of a market by a single entity.

  1. ^ a b Pilon, Mary (February 13, 2015). "Monopoly's Inventor: The Progressive Who Didn't Pass 'Go'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  2. ^ Burton H. Wolfe (1976). "The Monopolization of Monopoly: Louis & Fred Thun". The San Francisco Bay Guardian. Archived from the original on November 30, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  3. ^ Monopoly at winningmoves.com
  4. ^ Leopold, Todd (March 19, 2015). "Monopoly: At 80, it just keeps 'Go'-ing". CNN. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  5. ^ "Monopoly's Forgotten Left-Wing Origins". TIME. February 28, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  6. ^ Wagner, Erica (June 24, 2015). "Do not pass go: the tangled roots of Monopoly". New Statesman. Retrieved July 31, 2022.

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