Did Charles Darrow really invent Monopoly?

Like most origin stories, the plot of Monopoly’s creation had been boiled down to a sentence. During the Great Depression, struggling salesman Charles Darrow creates the game, gives it to Parker Brothers and becomes a millionaire. But is that really how the story goes?

It turns out that it’s not exactly true. According to Mary Pilon, who has a book about the history of the game out, it can actually be traced to the Landlord’s Game, created by Lizzie Magie of Washington DC in 1904. The game is remarkably similar to Monopoly and became popular around the country. While researching her book, Pilon found that Darrow got a copy of the game before telling Parker Brothers that he created his own.

“I think the Darrow story, from a publicity standpoint, is a beautiful story,” Pilon told NPR, noting that it has become as integral to American pop culture as the game itself. “Who doesn't want to believe that they can go into their basement in one of the nation's darkest hours and create something that will change, you know, their own fate and make everybody rich and make you beloved?”

According to The New York Times, Magie’s game actually had two rules - one where every player was rewarded when money began to flow, and another where players create monopolies to buy up property before your opponent. The monopolist rules were much more popular and are the ones that Darrow followed in Monopoly.

This isn’t the first time that Magie’s story has gotten attention. Back in 1936, Magie was still alive and spoke out herself, noting the similarities between her game and Darrow’s. In the early 1970s, Magie was brought up again when Ralph Anspach was sued by Parker Brothers for creating a game called “Anti-Monopoly.”

Pilon’s book, The Monopolists, is now available.