“Wanted: A $1,000,000 Game”
Here’s one for everyone who has ever wanted to design their own game, a 1942 Popular Science magazine article that gives us a peek at the boardgame industry of the time. What’s fascinating about the article is that it comes close enough to Monopoly’s original release that the game was only nine years old when the article was published. What’s even more fascinating is that the article says of game designs:
“Game manufacturers receive thousands of game ideas, often in the form of working models, but the great majority of these are not acceptable because they aren’t new ideas; most inventors fail because they don’t go to the trouble of first finding out if their big idea is new.”
For this statement to come after the mention of Monopoly is pretty funny considering Monopoly’s background. The game was derived from an earlier game, and as we learn in The Game Makers* Parker Brothers went so far as to grab an earlier patent in order to protect Monopoly.
You’ve gotta read the full article if you’re into games and the history of games.
Related articles
- 1951 Ads for Monopoly and Sorry (battlegrip.com)
- “So You Want To Invent A Game” (battlegrip.com)
- 1985 Parker Brothers Catalog Featuring M.A.S.K., Knight Rider, and More (battlegrip.com)