Monopoly

Probably the most recognized board game around the world is the game of Monopoly. In this game, players vie for wealth by buying, selling, and renting properties; the key to success in the game, in addition to a bit of luck, is for player to acquire monopolies on clusters of properties in order to force opponents to pay exorbitant rents and fees. Although the game is now published in countless languages and versions, with foreign locations and place names appropriate to the target language adorning its board, the beginnings of the game were considerably more humble.

The game was invented in 1933 by Charles Darrow, during the height of the Great Depression. Darrow, who lived in Germantown,Pennsylvania, was himself unemployed during those difficult financial times. He set the original game not as might be expected in his hometown of Germantown, but in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the site of numerous pre-Depression vacations, where he walked along the Boardwalk and visited Park Place. Darrow made the first games by hand and sold them locally until Parker Brothers purchased the rights to Monopoly in 1935 and took the first steps toward the mass production of today.