Magie created The Landlord's Game and applied for a patent in 1903. The intent of the game was to demonstrate the evils of concentrated landownership. Her hope was that players would reject the game’s winner-take-all strategy, which results in only one player owning all of the game’s land while everyone else is driven into bankruptcy. The game was played by like-minded socialists, eventually making its way in 1910 to Scott Nearing, a professor at The Wharton School and Swarthmore College. The Landlord’s Game became popular with his students, who shared it among their friends. The game eventually made its way to Harvard and then the Midwest, where it eventually “returned” to the Philadelphia area during the early 1930’s.įor those who want to learn more, the 2011 documentary, Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story, which is currently available on Prime, which includes an in-depth description of the game’s circuitous path to Mr.
