Monopoly, the ultimate board game, turns 75

BERLIN - Think of real estate speculation and dubious lending policies and the current financial crisis comes to mind.

But low-down real estate deals and unstable speculation have always belonged to Monopoly. For 75 years it’s been an amusing board game luring people who take pleasure in playing a game in which they can drive their friends into financial ruin.

The game arrived on the market in the US just a few years after the world economic depression of the 1930s and it spread around the world. Today it is available in 111 countries and 43 languages. There is, however, no clear date to celebrate the anniversary of the game. The patent application was filed in August of 1935, but the patent wasn’t issued until Dec 31.

To set a new record in Monopoly today, a passionate player has to think of creative places to play the game and risk more than play money. For example, one group played a 99-hour Monopoly game in a bathtub and another played a 200-hour game on a balance beam.

In Germany, where Monopoly is one of the best-known board games, the game’s publisher recently celebrated the anniversary by letting people use Monopoly money to buy the newest version of the game, which has a round game board. The special sale lasted a symbolic 75 minutes on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz.

There are two countries in the world in which selling and playing the game are officially forbidden. North Korea and Cuba have erected anti-monopolistic protective barriers, according to the US board game and toy maker Hasbro, which owns the rights to Monopoly. Other bastions of anti-capitalism have fallen like dominoes. The policy of openness known as glasnost brought the game to the Soviet Union in 1988 and a short time later it appeared in other East European countries. A Chinese edition has also been released.

The games origins are traced back to Charles Darrow, an unemployed salesman of home heaters, who in 1935 had no idea his game would one day have such a long history. He looked for a publisher for a long time after observing that the game was well-liked by his friends. With the help of his wife, son and a hired graphic artist, he developed the board with names borrowed from Atlantic City, a popular resort location on New Jersey’s shore south of New York.

Lucky rolls of the dice and tactical property purchases turn some players into rich real estate moguls, while others go broke because of bad luck and astronomical rent. In addition there is a jail and “chance” cards that can enhance a player’s luck or chip away at his fortune. The game also is the origin of the phrase, “Do not pass go.

Do not collect $200.”

There were several similar forerunners with different names, but Darrow is given credit for receiving a patent for his game, which he called Monopoly, after including some of the game’s familiar symbols still recognised today including the light bulb representing the electric company and the black trains representing the railroads. He also sold the rights to game maker Parker Brothers. In the months just prior to selling he made about 5,000 versions of the game and sold them to stores.

The game encourages players to haggle playfully over rent, power and money, and that struck a nerve immediately when the game came to market. Monopoly made Darrow a millionaire and saved Parker Brothers from ruin - all in a year of economic crisis.

The connection between the revival of board games now and another economic downturn is significant.

Mathematicians have put forward theories of probability on the best tactics to use when playing Monopoly while psychologists say that winning the game also depends on the luck of the dice. Players have the chance today to test their skills at Monopoly world championship matches.

The game’s longevity certainly also has to do with its ability to adapt. In addition to all the versions based on major cities, there are even versions based on the Star Wars films.