“The way Parker Brothers tells it, Monopoly, the world’s most famous board game, was invented by an out-of-work salesman in the depths of the Great Depression, who sold his invention to the game company in 1935 and lived happily—and richly—ever after. Parker Brothers even included this story, for some time, alongside the rules in every game box they sold. It was a heartwarming rags-to-riches story that garnered loads of media attention, catapulting the game company to new levels of wealth. It just wasn’t exactly true.”
The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World’s Favorite Board Game reveals the unknown story of how Monopoly came into existence, the reinvention of its history by Parker Brothers, the lost female originator of the game, and one man’s lifelong obsession to tell the true story about the game’s questionable origins.
Join us Thursday, Februrary 19th for an evening with Mary Pilon, the author the upcoming book The Monopolists. She’ll be sitting down and discussing the history of Monopoly with Jesse Fuchs, professor of Modern Tabletop Game Literacy and resident NYU Game Center Monopoly expert.
At 5PM, come to Playtest Thursday and play Monopoly with Mary Pilon and Jesse Fuchs, directly followed by a conversation about the history and design of Monopoly at 7PM. The Monopolists will be on sale before and after the talk!
Mary Pilon is an award-winning sports reporter at the New York Times and was previously a staff reporter at the Wall Street Journal. In 2011, she was named one of Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 for media.