Spooky season has finally come to a close and international games month is finally here! So, in celebration of this month, here are the stories of how some of today’s most popular board games were invented.
Chess:
The classic game with a black and white 64 square board and is famous for the strategy (or frustration) that comes with playing it. The game is said to have originated in India as a game called Chaturanga. Chaturanga appears to be somewhat similar to chess, with the only differences being different pieces such as elephants and counselors, and the movement of the pieces being more limited. How exactly this game originated, no one is really sure. But there are a variety of myths surrounding the invention. One of the most popular myths is that the youngest prince of Gupta Empire (an empire in Ancient India) had met his death on the battlefield and his older brother used the 8 x 8 board to recreate what had happened back home to his mother. However, another common myth is that a “wise man” had created the game to present to the king. When the king asked what the man wanted as a reward for such a fine game, the man simply put one grain of rice on the chess board, and asked for the amount of rice on each square to be doubled each day until all 64 squares were filled. While the king was originally offended that the man did not ask for more, he soon realized that there was not enough rice in the kingdom to fulfill the man’s wish. The inventor forgave the king and told him that he used it to teach him a lesson. From India the game spread to Persia where it was used to educate the princes of Persia, and then to China and Japan where variants of the game formed in their respective locations. The game eventually spread and evolved into what we know today.
Monopoly:
A household staple that usually takes hours to play started as an educational tool used to teach the evils of private monopolies created by Lizzie Magie in 1903. Originally called The Landlord’s game, Monopoly was created as an attempt to spread anti-capitalist ideas to children who might play the game. The game had a similar board to Monopoly, but had two different rulesets. One version was very similar to Monopoly, with players winning after they bankrupt everyone else. However, the other ruleset allows the players to cooperate and share their wealth, having a different end goal than the game we now know today. The game was eventually redone by a man named Charles Darrow who discovered The Landlord’s game by being invited to play a few rounds by a friend of his. After modifying the game he sold it off to the Parker Brothers who gave the game the title of Monopoly which is one of their best selling board games today.
Candyland:
This simple yet colorful game was invented by Eleanor Abbott while she was recovering from polio in 1948 during an outbreak. She created this simple game so the children in the ward could have something to distract them from boredom. The children enjoyed playing the game so much that they convinced her to pitch it to a toy seller named Milton Bradley who published the game in 1949. The game quickly rose in popularity and became a bestseller.
Some of our most well known board games today had surprising origins! I hope you all enjoy your November and find some time to play your favorite board games.