a board game with pieces and fake money called the landlord's game is set out on a table
Photo credit: Courtesy of The Strong, Rochester, New York
Monopoly was originally developed as a much different game.
Racking up real estate. Quadrupling rental fees. Stacking up cash. And forcing your opponents into bankruptcy. That's what playing Monopoly is all about. But it wasn't meant to be like that.
The board game's mostly forgotten inventor had the opposite in mind when she patented the original version, called the Landlord's Game, in 1904.
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Magie of Virginia was an artist, writer, performer, and vocal opponent of the oil, steel, and railroad monopolies in the United States at the time. Magie designed the Landlord's Game to demonstrate the dangers of a few individuals in these industries hoarding wealth at the expense of the multitudes.
Magie's square game board had nine spaces per side, with corners labeled "Go to Jail" and "Public Park." Players moved around the board, purchasing properties, and collecting and paying rent. Sound familiar?
The Landlord's Game was first sold by a New York publisher, but despite its patent protections, people soon started making and sharing their own homemade versions, sometimes adding local places to the boards. Knockoffs of Magie's game multiplied and spread through various social circles.
According to historians, a man named Charles Darrow sold one of these knockoff versions to Parker Brothers, a big-time game manufacturer, in 1935. Darrow called his version Monopoly. Oddly enough, Magie also sold the rights to the Landlord's Game to Parker Brothers the same year for 500 U.S. dollars, which is equal to about $10,000 today.
That was nothing compared to Darrow's windfall—Monopoly became an instant hit, selling more than 2 million copies in the first two years. Parker Brothers paid Darrow royalties on each sale, and he became a multimillionaire.
Meanwhile, the connection to Magie and her original game was all but forgotten. Instead of teaching players about the pitfalls of greed as Magie had hoped, the game she invented was taken for a spin, becoming a race to get filthy rich while driving everyone else around the table into poverty.
The original inventor of one of the world's most popular games listed her occupation as "maker of games" in the 1940 census. Her listed income: "Zero."
QUESTION 1
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Which of these sentences is most important to include in a summary of this article?
Magie was paid only 500 U.S. dollars for the rights to her invented game.
Magie created a game to show the dangers of a few people hoarding wealth.
Magie designed a square game board that had nine spaces per side.
Magie was listed as a "maker of games" in the 1940 census.
1 answer
The most important sentence to include in a summary of the article is:
Magie created a game to show the dangers of a few people hoarding wealth.
This sentence captures the primary purpose of the original game, "The Landlord's Game," and highlights the contrast between Magie's intentions and how the game ultimately evolved into Monopoly.
