A clever game and a perfectly-pitched look – Monopoly’s unique appeal makes it a classic of the game design world.

border=0 /><BR></div> </p> <p> Wherever you live in the UK, you know that Park Lane and Mayfair are a bit posh. And you know Old Kent Road and Whitechapel are at the other end of the scale. You know this because you’ve played Monopoly. </p> <p> The design of the UK version of the world’s most popular board game has shaped the way we view our capital city – from the low-value browns at the bottom of the social scale to the regal greens and blues at the end. £400? It must be plush. </p> <p> The game has origins in the early 20th Century US Quaker movement, but it wasn’t until the 30s that someone manufactured and distributed it. In 1933 Charles Darrow, an unemployed salesman in Pennsylvania, presented a homemade Atlantic City version of the game to Parker Brothers. </p> <p> As America struggled to emerge from the Great Depression, Darrow must have been dreaming of making his fortune in real estate – hence the Uncle Sam-style mascot character. </p> <p> Thanks to Monopoly, Darrow got to live the American Dream after all – it made him a packet. Parker Brothers initially rejected it, they said it had 52 “design flaws”. It was too long, too complicated, and there was no final goal. </p> <p> But Darrow convinced them by making a success of it himself, botching together some jobbing mates to manufacture it. Parker Brothers bought the rights off him in 1935. </p> <p> <div class=inlineimage><img src= Print

Comments