How Some Popular Games Came Into Being

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In 1900 Elizabeth Magie designed a game that would later inspire Monopoly. The Landlord's Game was her version and was a critique on such monopolists as Carnegie and Rockefeller. The game Monopoly is now seen as a celebration of capitalism. The first patent on the game was in 1904. During the Depression of the 30s, people enjoyed reusable, cheap games like Monopoly and Scrabble. If it hadn't been for the inventor of Scrabble being out of work, like many others during this time, Scrabble may not have been created. They had no money to go out and so they stayed home and played board games. Alfred Musher Butts invented Scrabble in 1938. It was first called Lexiko in 1933, Criss-Cross Words in 1947, and finally Scrabble in 1952. The game of Clue was conceived during World War II air raid blackouts. Anthony Pratt would reminisce about the fun of murder mystery parties on an English country estate. Guests would creep along hallways then shriek and fall 'dead' on the floor. The early one was called Cluedoin. A patent was put in 1945 but conditions were such that there was a post-war shortage and couldn't be available until 1947.