Monopoly Boardgames

The World's Most Successful Board Game Was Created As a Metaphor For Hard Times
By Geoff Ficke

Successful entrepreneurs are people that always see opportunity in any situation. By nature they are positive and constantly seek innovations that address wants and needs that they identify in their contemporary environment. Currently we are in a dark economic period, and this will prove to be a fertile time for the introduction of novel innovations that will reward their creators with significant profit.

The world's most famous, widely played and sold board game is Monopoly. Lizzie Phillips created the first version of the game that was to evolve into modern Monopoly. Her game was meant to promote the single tax theories of Henry George, and the play rules were heavily influenced by his populist philosophy. Ms. Phillips filed several patents on versions of her game around 1904. She enjoyed modest commercial success.

The game and its play rules were tweaked through the years. Subsequently, the various forms of Ms. Phillips rudimentary game that were introduced never enjoyed great sales but the game never quite disappeared. Then came the Great Depression.

The many causes of the Great Depression have been well chronicled and today most people are aware of at least the broadest reasons for the implosion of the world's economy. Greed was the cause most often stated at the time to assign blame. Society was highly segmented by wealth, education, geography and class. Charles Darrow recognized opportunity in the misery of so many and crafted his classic version of Monopoly to address the perceived social sins of the times.

The play rules and component elements of Monopoly, little changed to this day, reflected the deep divisions in society. Darrow's game, launched in 1935, displayed the whole range of opportunities for failure and success that could occur in a capitalist society. You could go to jail, be taxed, be fined, go bankrupt or land on owned property and have to pay rents to the hated landlord if the dice were unlucky for a player.

Likewise, you could "pass go" and collect $200, win dividends, buy property, build houses and hotels, own railroads (the classic metaphor for greedy capitalists) and collect rents if the roll of the dice favored you. Also, you could bankrupt your opponents and this occurred with frightening regularity in real life during the 1930's.

Clearly Monopoly was a game that resonated during the darkest days of the Depression and still works as a leisure activity to this very day. Darrow attained great wealth from the sales of his version of monopoly. Monopoly was licensed by the British Secret Service through John Waddington Ltd. during World War II. The International Red Cross forwarded Monopoly sets to British war prisoners incarcerated in Nazi camps. These games included hidden packets of real money, maps, communication devices and tools for use in escape attempts.

Parker Brothers secured the rights to Monopoly and succeeded in internationalizing the game by assigning country-specific play features. For instance, in the American game, the most prized real estate deeds to own are Park Place and Boardwalk. In the British version the most prized blocks of real estate to own are the very tweedy Park Lane and Mayfair.

The game's origins, history and ownership are surrounded by significant controversy. Parker Brothers attributes all of the creative, copyrights, play rules and component design of Monopoly to Charles Darrow. This lead to decades of legal wrangling over the true ownership as Lizzie Phillips and others claimed creative ownership of the game. These legal issues were not settled until the 1980's.

There are a number of lessons for modern inventors to be taken from the profitable, but stormy history of the simple board game of Monopoly.

If the game has play rules that anyone can easily understand, play is fluid, play pieces are simple and attractive; then there is potential for commercial success.

You must protect your game with copyrights, trademarks and patents where applicable. Not properly protecting these valuable assets lead to much disagreement and expensive, extended legal wrangling in the case of Monopoly.

My consumer product development and marketing consulting company sees more toy and game submissions than almost any other product category. The barriers to entry in this class of trade are reasonable if the inventor is willing and able to bootstrap their offering. We recommend a play focus group to confirm that target players affirm the attractiveness and commercial appeal of the game or toy.

Recently, for a class project, a third grade teacher let us borrow her class of 23 students to play a new sports board game for half a day. We filmed the session. We also had the kids answer a series of simple questions of their play experience. Based on their reactions, we were able to adjust one basic play rule to further simplify and expand the appeal of the game. The change resulted in the final result of the game becoming much more closely contested, therefore exciting.

The perfect time to launch a new product is always now. Time is never the friend of the entrepreneur. If you wait for the perfect time, the best market conditions to appear, someone can beat you to market with a product that cannibalizes the best parts of your idea. This happens all too often. Waiting for a better climate is an excuse for inaction and a sure path to mediocrity. Charles Darrow's launch of Monopoly in 1935 at the height of the Great Depression is a wonderful example to study.

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, Inc. (http://www.duquesamarketing.com) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Business School, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

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Learn the basic rules of the game of Monopoly, including tips on following the rules, in this free how-to video on the game of Monopoly.

Duration : 0:1:34

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Multiple Editions of Board Games
By Victor Epand

Many different board games allow themselves to be periodically updated, with new editions coming out every once in a while. These new editions often feature slight redesigns to the components of the game, such as player tokens, board design, or even a new style to the cards that the game may use.

Sometimes, classic games are even redesigned along different themes, from a special edition to commemorate a certain movie or television show, to special events that may be happening around the world. These games usually maintain the same rules as the traditional, but offer fans a special chance to own a different copy, usually in a limited release, of a beloved game.

Monopoly is one game with many, many different editions. Most popular films and TV shows have a Monopoly edition, with everything from Star Wars to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Simpsons, Disney, and Family Guy are all represented. Fans greatly enjoy these, as it combines a classic game with the novelty of having one of their favorite entertainment sources being featured.

However, Monopoly takes the range of their editions even further. An updated "Here and Now" edition was recently released that doesn't focus solely on Atlantic City properties. By buying either the USA or World edition of "Here and Now," players can purchase and charge rent on famous location both over the United States and the World. This edition of Monopoly is especially popular with players because, before the release of the game, the general public was allowed to vote on the locations being chosen, making these editions of the game have a personal touch.

The Game of Life released another variation of itself, called Life: Twists and Turns. This game presents a unique twist on the classic game and not solely because it works primarily on an electronic base. At the beginning of the game, players are each given an electronic "lifepod," which controls not only the length of the game, but all of their money, foregoing all of the paper bills that were once used. The length of the game can be determined in "years" before the game starts, letting players live out different ages of a life during a traditional game.

The game also works differently as the amount of money that a player ends the game with isn't the sole determining factor of who wins. In this edition, players compete for different "Life Points" and the player with the most Life Points in the end of the game is declared the winner.

Scene It is a popular DVD based game that normally features clips from different movies and encourages players to have a wide base of knowledge in all things cinema in order to compete. This format, however, lends itself easily to many different editions of the game. Scene It can be found not only for a general movie category, but special Harry Potter, Friends, and Disney editions can be found, among many other varieties.

With many different forms of media available, games often lend themselves to different variations and even themes that can be played through them. This is important for the board game industry, however, for the public loves re-invention and if things stay the same for too long, the games can grow boring and fade away.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for board games, chess boards, and dungeons and dragons miniatures. You will find all these things and more if you visit editions of board games and chess boards.

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