You probably think you know this story. A guy named Charles Darrow, unemployed and desperate during the Great Depression, dreams up a game about real estate, sells it to Parker Brothers, and becomes the first millionaire game designer. It's a classic American "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" tale.
Except it's mostly a lie.
If you want to know when was monopoly invented, the calendar doesn't start in 1935. It starts thirty years earlier with a bold, progressive woman named Elizabeth Magie.
Lizzie Magie was a rebel. She was a stenographer, an actress, and a writer who stayed single late into her life and once staged a "public sale" of herself to protest the low wages women earned. She was also a follower of Henry George, an economist who believed that people should own what they create, but that nature—specifically land—belonged to everyone. Magie wanted to teach people about the "evils" of land monopolies.
In 1903, she filed a patent for The Landlord's Game.
The 1903 Patent and the Dual Rulebook
Magie's game looked eerily similar to what you play today. It had a circuitous path, corner spaces like "Go to Jail," and properties you could buy. But here’s the kicker: she designed it with two different sets of rules.
Under the "Prosperity" rules, every time someone bought a new property, everyone else at the table gained something. The goal was to create wealth together. It was a cooperative utopia.
Under the "Monopolist" rules, the goal was to crush your opponents, seize their assets, and leave them broke.
Guess which one people actually liked?
When we ask when was monopoly invented, we’re usually looking for a single date, but the game evolved through a sort of folk-history process. Between 1904 and 1930, The Landlord's Game spread like wildfire through college campuses and Quaker communities. People didn't buy it at stores; they made their own boards. They changed the names of the streets to match their own neighborhoods.
The Quakers in Atlantic City were the ones who added the specific street names we know today, like Boardwalk and Park Place. They were playing a version of Magie's game for decades before Charles Darrow ever saw a dice roll.
How Charles Darrow "Invented" a Game That Already Existed
By the time the 1930s rolled around, a version of the game was being played by a man named Charles Todd. He taught it to his friend, Charles Darrow.
Darrow was an out-of-work domestic heater salesman. He saw the potential. He asked Todd for a written copy of the rules, which he then tweaked slightly, added some iconic illustrations (with the help of a local cartoonist), and claimed the whole thing as his own invention.
When Darrow took it to Parker Brothers, they initially rejected it. They said it had "52 fundamental errors," including the fact that it took too long to play and the rules were too complex. But after Darrow sold 5,000 copies through Wanamaker’s Department Store in Philadelphia, Parker Brothers realized they were missing out on a goldmine.
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They bought the rights from Darrow in 1935. That’s the "official" date often cited for when was monopoly invented, but it was really just the date it was commercialized.
The $500 Payoff
Parker Brothers soon discovered that Darrow wasn't the original inventor. They found out about Lizzie Magie's 1903 and 1924 patents. To protect their investment and clear any legal hurdles, they went to Magie.
She was thrilled. She thought her anti-monopolist message was finally going to reach the masses. She sold her patent to Parker Brothers for a flat fee of $500. No royalties. No residuals.
Parker Brothers then released a version of The Landlord's Game and two other games she designed, but they buried them. They didn't want the "educational" version. They wanted the cutthroat, winner-take-all version that Darrow had popularized. Magie died in 1948, largely forgotten, while Darrow's name was printed on every box for decades.
Why the Date Actually Matters
The timeline of when was monopoly invented matters because it changes the entire meaning of the game.
If you think it was invented in 1935, it's a game about the American Dream and winning big.
If you know it was invented in 1903, it's a satirical warning.
Magie's original intent was for you to feel the frustration of a monopoly. She wanted you to realize how unfair it is when one person owns everything and everyone else is just paying rent until they're bankrupt. The irony is that the world fell in love with the very behavior she was trying to discourage.
The Ralph Anspach Legal Battle
The truth about Lizzie Magie might have stayed hidden forever if it weren't for a linguistics professor named Ralph Anspach. In 1973, Anspach created a game called Anti-Monopoly. General Mills (which owned Parker Brothers at the time) sued him.
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Anspach spent ten years fighting them. In the process of his research, he uncovered Magie’s patents and interviewed the people who had been playing "the folk game" long before Darrow. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Anspach won, and the history of the game was finally corrected in the public record.
Timeline of Key Events
- 1903: Lizzie Magie applies for the first patent for The Landlord's Game.
- 1904: Patent #748,626 is granted.
- 1906: Magie moves to Chicago and publishes the game through the Economic Game Company.
- 1910: Parker Brothers turns down the game for the first time, calling it "too political."
- 1924: Magie receives a second patent for a revised version of the game.
- 1932: Charles Darrow is taught the game by the Todd family in Germantown, PA.
- 1935: Parker Brothers buys the rights from Darrow and the patent from Magie.
Modern Evolution and Cultural Impact
Today, Monopoly is available in 114 countries. It has been translated into 47 languages. There are versions for Star Wars, Fortnite, and even "Cheater’s Edition."
But the core mechanics haven't changed much since the early 1900s. You still roll two six-sided dice. You still try to build houses and hotels.
The game remains a staple of family fights and holiday arguments. Maybe that's because, as Magie intended, it highlights the inherent tension of capitalism. It's fun to be the landlord, but it’s miserable to be the tenant.
What You Can Do Next
If you’re interested in the real history, don't just take the box lid's word for it.
- Look up the patent: Search for US Patent 748,626. You can see Magie’s original board design.
- Check out the "Anti-Monopoly" case: Read about Parker Bros. v. Anti-Monopoly, Inc. It’s a fascinating look at how corporate history is written.
- Play a "House Rules" version: Try to find the original "Prosperity" rules online. It’s a completely different experience when the goal isn't to bankrupt your friends.
The next time someone asks you when was monopoly invented, you can tell them 1935—but then tell them why they're thirty years off. It’s a much better story.