Monopoly: the secret socialist board game you never got to play.

Did you know the original prototype of Monopoly was called “The Landlord’s Game?” It was meant to promote the teachings of economic philosopher and writer Henry George, who believed that no one could claim to own any piece of land.

This is what the board looked like:


And here’s an excerpt, from Harper’s, about the big difference in the rules (the emphasis is mine):

In place of Monopoly’s “Go!” was a box marked “Labor Upon Mother Earth Produces Wages.” The Landlord Game’s chief entertainment was the same as in Monopoly: competitors were to be saddled with debt and ultimately reduced to financial ruin, and only one person, the supermonopolist, would stand tall in the end. The players could, however, vote to do something not officially allowed in Monopoly: cooperate. Under this alternative rule set, they would pay land rent not to a property’s title holder but into a common pot—the rent effectively socialized so that, as Magie later wrote, “Prosperity is achieved.”


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