The Hidden Worlds of Monopoly
The Hidden Worlds of Monopoly
The Hidden Worlds of Monopoly
By Adrienne Raphel
January 5, 2024
Summary
Atlantic City Monopoly is itself a version of another game, a debt it doesn't recognize for obvious reasons.
The Landlord's Game is the same concept and mechanism-players travel around a game board, buy properties, and pay each other rent.
It is also a truth universally acknowledged that Monopoly is a bad game, especially in the board game bonanza we currently live in.
Of course, play the original Monopoly, why would you? There are countless adaptations, though they don't actually make the game any better, since the vast majority are essentially skins.
As Mary Pilon, author of The Monopolists, a history of the game, observed inThe New Yorker, Ms. Monopoly pointedly failed to recognize, either in the press release or the gameboard itself, another invention from a female: The Landlord's Game.
On the Boardwalk end of the spectrum, luxury designer Olympia Le Tan produced a limited-edition set of Monopoly that featured the game's deeds embossed and embroidered on multi-thousand-dollar clutches.
In season two of And Just Like That, the reboot of Sex and the City, Sarah Jessica Parker's character Carrie Bradshaw sports a vintage sweatshirt with "New York Monopoly," a graphic loosely based on the look of the board, which should not be confused with the actual New York City Edition, a playable version of the game.
Reference
Raphel, A. (2024, January 5). The Hidden Worlds of Monopoly. Atlas Obscura. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/column-secrets-of-monopoly