History

The instantly recognizable, now deeply ingrained in pop culture board game is Monopoly, which includes its square board with its brightly colored properties, railroads and utilities. Play money, miniature tokens for things like cars, hats and dogs, chance cards and community badges, and classic dice are all part of the game’s design. Monopoly's origins date from the early 1900s with the creation of the game in 1903 by Elizabeth J. Magie, created originally to demonstrate the impact of monopoly and land ownership. The game was soon picked up by Parker Brothers, creating a purse on which Monopoly was to become a household name in the United States and ultimately on the planet. In the first place, this was a game that was designed to educate people about the inherent dangers of capitalism without any leash, but the game quickly morphed into a fun, family game about competing financially.

Game Designer

Elizabeth J. Magie

Elizabeth J. Magie Phillips (May 9, 1866– March 2, 1948) was an American game designer, writer, feminist, and Georgist. She invented The Landlord's Game, the precursor to Monopoly, to illustrate teachings of the progressive era economist Henry George.

Rationale

Monopoly has multiple possible learning opportunities while being fun at the same time. We have all had some sort of background in playing the game and wondered how a child, who has no prior experience, would react while playing the game. We also looked for which new skills they would learn and which ones would stick with them.

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