Gregory's Server๐ #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
 122 comments
 And excellent video about why we don't play her game anymore. I stopped playing Monopoly decades ago too - I agree - it is a nasty game! @Heliograph @LaPenguin there is also a game called Anti-Monopoly and a later version called Anti-Monopoly II. The lawsuit between Parker Brothers and Anspach (an economics professor who created Anti-Monopoly) is a quite a story! @bmp oh wow thanks :O Ralph #Anspach even has his own wiki page on #AntiMonopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Anspach @LaPenguin  @bmp Is Anti-Monopoly basically the Landlord's Game with Prosperity rules? There also World Control / Vรคrldskontroll, originally Vรคrldsmonopol but I guess Parker put a stop to that, where you play on a (non-Mercator of course) world map, first with Monopoly-inspired rules, but then there's a second phase where you institute world equity measures to protect countries against multinational corporations.  To be more realistic, players should be divided into a few playing by the monopoly rules and the rest playing by the prosperity rules. @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! @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." @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? @Heliograph  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.  @robcornelius @Holir_ @Heliograph someone also suggested leaving properties with four houses to starve other players of upgrade opportunities as part of that strategy. @robcornelius @Holir_ @Heliograph @Heliograph Surely that now reveals a gap in the market and could this original version now take off?  Since it's patented, that would be difficult. However there are the original rules, the PROSPERTY section refers to the respective paragraphs of the former section. https://landlordsgame.info/games/lgp-1932/lgp-1932_rules.pdf Another page:  @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).  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. @Heliograph Wow - I had no idea. I wonder if itโs possible that someone would make and sell the original?  @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 canโt 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. @Heliograph Interesting that it has the name of the designer on the box, much as modern boardgames do  @Heliograph does anyone what the rules to play the prosperity were? ive always been curious about that @strwbrryJen@mastodon.social @Heliograph@mastodon.au You can find a full set of rules here: https://landlordsgame.info/games/lgp-1932/lgp-1932_rules.pdf @Heliograph@mastodon.au There were so many great political and economical ideas around the 1900s... and so many were lost to capitalism and greed. @Heliograph @grumpygamer @Heliograph I learned about this story in 99pi  @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. @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" @Heliograph You can find the original rules online, and I think you could still play both ways, but that board is much cooler... @Heliograph@mastodon.au Good to see people darring to make that bit of #boardgame #history known. @Heliograph I never knew about Prosperity before! I wonder if anyone still has an original rule booklet for that version and if they could share it publicly? Is 1904 long enough ago for it to be out of copyright? Would Elizabeth Magie have minded even if it isn't?! There are the rules, the PROSPERITY section refers to the respective paragraphs of the former section. https://landlordsgame.info/games/lgp-1932/lgp-1932_rules.pdf Another page:  @Heliograph @marthawells Limited runs of The Landlordโs Gameยฎ are produced and sold by a company based in Portland, Oregon. https://landlords-game.com @Heliograph This is awesome - I'd heard about her original goal with the Monopoly rules, but TIL about the Prosperity rules! @Heliograph Thanks for posting this! I had no idea. We play the dinosaur version a lot in my house. My kids always team up and share their resources. We do a lot of loan forgiveness so the game lasts longer (a game lasts for days!). And my kids call going bankrupt โgetting bankrobbedโ which seems apt. @craignicol @Heliograph wow you should find an article about this to put alongside the info @Heliograph I knew this and I refuse to play that evil game now. "Cards Against Humanity" is way more fun anyhow  @Heliograph I knew this, but I'd never actually seen the original before. That's a WAY cooler looking board! @Heliograph Brilliant ! @Tarbh @Heliograph Yeah, Magie didnโt so much invent Monopoly as invent a game that was then evolved into Monopoly by many people. It was a folk game, like Poker or Chess or Dominos. No inventor. Loads of firms made versions for their home towns. Charles Darrow was taught the games by his neighbours whoโd bought their game in Atlantic City. He copied that, including a spelling mistake, and sold it to Parker Brothers. @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! @skyfire101 if you scroll down in this thread there's a number of links people have given to similar games, from what I remember one was even that rule set from #Prosperity - which btw is only one 's' away from #property I just realise :O @Heliograph This was fascinating to read! What an amazing idea, and how sad that the very thing it was basically educating against contorted it into an overt, aggressive ad for greed and theft. The original Prosperity game deserves way more attention than Monopoly. @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.  There are the rules, the PROSPERITY section refers to the respective paragraphs of the former section. https://landlordsgame.info/games/lgp-1932/lgp-1932_rules.pdf Another page: @Heliograph I thought about this recently while watching the episode of "Succession" wherein the โ super rich, almost parodically privileged, and also constantly scheming โ characters play a game of Monopoly. @Heliograph also check CommonsPoly! No one wins unless everybody wins! This is a 'hack' of the hacked Monopoly to bring back the collaborative aspect of the game. hashtags: #CommonsPoly #BoardGames @Heliograph Thanks for the explanation! I knew it was meant as a way to criticize capitalism and that the "It's not fun to play if only one has all the money/properties etc" aspect was actually not a bug but a feature, but I learned a lot there. Thanks for sharing! As I do whenever this tidbit flows through the timeline, I gotsta plug #Throughline from #NPR's show about this topic: https://mastodon.social/@jaze/110140642020708134 @Heliograph There's a very good podcast by the economist @TimHarford on the history surrounding the game and the theft of it here: https://chtbl.com/track/39E17/podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/c0ae8c6e-22f0-4e9b-ac1c-ae390037ac53/a5ed5d47-9a5f-4687-a59d-ae39003998cb/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=7f5a4714-6b10-4ccf-a424-ae390037ac70  @Heliograph Also a funny story: When Parker Bros. went after Anti-Monopoly and almost ended up losing their own copyright because of "The Landlords Game".  @Heliograph Also, even in standard monopoly rules, there's a basic income for everyone and everyone starts with the same amount of wealth.  @Heliograph There is a really good podcast episode about it by the ever brilliant Tim Harford. https://timharford.com/2021/05/cautionary-tales-do-not-pass-go/ @Heliograph @icd there's a very good SYSK episode about it: https://pca.st/episode/f7ddab14-be13-4302-ad49-9693d8a979e1 There are the rules, the PROSPERITY section refers to the respective paragraphs of the former section. https://landlordsgame.info/games/lgp-1932/lgp-1932_rules.pdf Another page: @hearsepileup @Heliograph yeah, it's kind of wild isn't it. I've been on the lookout for a copy for a while, but they ain't cheap or plentiful. If I remember right, Magie was pretty heavily influenced by Henry George, and so a lot of his ideas filter into this: rentierism as the biggest issue under capitalism - IMHO kind of hogwash but I'll happily talk Progress and Poverty over a pint, my opinion might be coloured by having bought a copy which is newspaper format. Good inspiration the above? @hearsepileup @Heliograph that's a very late version btw: https://landlordsgame.info/games/lg-1939/lg-1939.html Funnily enough the most non-monopoly version in existence, the first: https://landlordsgame.info/rules/lg-1904p_board.html  @Heliograph She was also a Georgist, and was specifically hoping to encourage land value taxes with the pair of games. @Heliograph here's a copy of the rules: https://landlordsgame.info/games/lgp-1932/lgp-1932_rules.html  @Heliograph this may be a later version of the board, from what I see at https://landlords-game.com/?page_id=5. @Heliograph learning this a long time ago opened my eyes to why every game of monopoly devolves into a violent mess.
@Heliograph Sorry, any idea from what year is the edition on the picture? which is the source? @Heliograph GTFO! How are we just hearing about this nowโand who is reviving the original one: Monopoly, the Better Version?! For all German speakers: there's an Episode of @GeschichteFM on this topic... Check Out Geschichten aus der Geschichte Geschichte.social @Heliograph It should be noted that Magie specifically created the game to advocate for Georgism. @Heliograph exciting! I only found the plan for the game board: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord's_Game Now the rules for the two game modes would still be interesting ...  A not-so-well-known fact, thanks for publicising. The Women's History website has a lengthy entry on Elizabeth Magie and her "Landlord" game with the Prosperity and Monopoly rule sets. Magie, in 1903, "actually designed the game as a protest against the big monopolists of her timeโpeople like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller." https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/monopolys-lost-female-inventor  @albertcardona @Heliograph I think it's also helpful to remember the context of the time - board games were thought of in USA/UK as being basically for children, and were often expected to have an educational side (e.g. snakes and ladders boards showing virtuous and non-virtuous behaviour). As distinct from card or dice games, which were for grown-ups to lose fortunes on. ๐โ  @Heliograph @Sheril Maybe one for the women in history?  @Heliograph @pascaline Sheโs already there - Elizabeth Magie was among the first posts @Sheril @Heliograph Oh, I didn't follow you yet back then! Great โค @pascaline @Heliograph Thanks for thinking of me. Sharing these stories is so important. @Sheril @pascaline @Heliograph This PBS documentary about Monopoly's origins and Elizabeth Magie was very good. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/ruthless-monopolys-secret-history/ @Heliograph @Heliograph PBS had a great segment on this about a month or two ago it's just all so ironic, on multiple levels @Heliograph Thanks for this post. Iโm stunned by the possibilities that have been lost because the Prosperity rules were omitted. Yesterday I read a piece about the โPie Fallacyโ, the idea ingrained in our thinking that there is only so much wealth in the world, so if I get more then everyone else gets less. If, over the last century, millions of kids had a chance to play the Prosperity rules, we would be in a very different place today. The โwhat ifsโ are mind boggling. @Heliograph I can't believe this being true and we all only played monopoly all the time, when there would've been a prosperity version. |
@Heliograph I never knew this. Amazing!