Final Devlog

When first looking at the prompt and the asking of the what The Landlord Game  is, my immediate thought was that it was just Monopoly before it got its name. While I was right, I was also wrong. The Landlord Game was created "...by Elizabeth (Liz) Maggie, a Quaker woman from Virginia," (Flanagan 85) and was also the first patented game in the US (Flanagan 85). This game was focused on and used to promote the Single Tax Movement by following Henry George's belief that "...'Single Tax' would discourage speculation, decrease land prices, and provide revenue for the state." (Flanagan 87).  This game was for the most part a success, especially for more local areas to her: Midwest, Pennsylvania and Atlantic City, New Jersey (Flanagan 87). This game also gained a huge following between professors and their students during the 1920's and 30's, especially once the stock market crashed (Flanagan 87), one of the many causes of the Great Depression. With the game's historical first patent, the way it made players think, and possibly influenced their thoughts, on the taxes imposed in the US and how capitalism worked in the US, along with the cult following it gained, it is obvious that it was quite important to US history both in the general and the gaming sense. So why do we no longer play it? Better yet, why do we as Americans not even know about it? Well that answer comes from two easy answers: publishing and a new game being introduced. When  Maggie went to get the game published and distributed to the rest of the country, she was turned down as the publishing company, Parker Brothers, believed that. "...her game was too complicated, too educational, and wasn't at all fun...the game was also political," (Flanagan 87) the first three made the decision but it being too political put the nail in the coffin as it was deemed too risky. The other cause of us no longer knowing and playing the game is that a new game was introduced. What game? The one that I originally thought the prompt was talking about, Monopoly. Monopoly was actually created by Charles Brace Darrow who played the Atlantic City version and after he made his own version, he sold it, quickly making his game the more well known one. Learning this tidbit of game and US history, I believe it is a crime that it is not common knowledge what was the base of Monopoly, now do I see us as a society bringing back The Landlord? No, I don't, after all Monopoly is way ahead now and has multiple variations (see Tech-opoly and Mrs. Monopoly to name a few). I do believe that we should at least give credit to the original game and its creator: Elizabeth Maggie.