But wait—there’s more to this story. Mary Pilon, a former Wall Street Journal and New York Times reporter, discovered that it was a woman who was behind one of America’s most enduring pastimes. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie got a patent for what was called The Landlord’s Game in 1904, and it sounds very much like Monopoly. The story long promoted about the origins of Monopoly was that a man named Charles Darrow of Pennsylvania created it and sold it to the Parker Brothers board game manufacturer in 1935. After playing a version of The Landlord’s Game at a Quaker friend’s home, Darrow, who was unemployed during the Great Depression, decided to remake the game board, keeping the names of the Atlantic City, New Jersey, streets, as a model for his Monopoly. He made millions of dollars from his “invention.” In this version, you play as one of The Avengers. Iron Man, the Wasp, the Hulk, Thor, the Ant-Man, and Captain America collect power when they pass go, which can be used to save properties. The goal is to save each property from the villains. Community Chest and Chance cards are replaced with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Villain cards in this Marvel version of the classic game.

Players can choose two options of play and traverse the board across the territories of Middle-earth, building fortresses; acquiring wizards’ staffs and other relics; and employing the power of the One Ring. The pewter tokens represent key characters in the story. The popular sitcom “Seinfeld” is played on the Monopoly board with the show’s unforgettable characters, Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer. Players draw yadda yadda yadda cards and land on Jerry’s Apartment, Monk’s Restaurant, The Chinese Restaurant, and the Non-fat Yogurt Shop. The New York City Subway and Kramer’s Central Park Carriage replace railroads. The bills include “Seinfeld” quotes, including “No soup for you.” In regular Frozen Monopoly, players start the game with the same money and same note breakdown as in modern classic Monopoly:Here’s a look at the iconic American board game, its long-lived popularity, and its spin-offs over the years. This Monopoly game is designed to be long, from the long game board with 66 properties and only one die. The game does not end until someone owns every property. With tortoise and hare tokens, the game also does not allow auctions, but does award cash for landing on free parking.

This anniversary edition, published by Parker Brothers, comes in a wood case with wooden buildings and is the standard Atlantic City version of the game that had its beginnings among the members of an Atlantic City Quaker community. As its popularity grew at the beginning of the 1900s, they added the names of their streets to the game board. It was Charles Todd, a Quaker, who taught his friend Charles Darrow to play the game in the early 1930s. After fine-tuning a version of the game as his own, Darrow sold his patent for it to Parker Brothers in 1935.This edition of Monopoly draws on the wildly popular Pokémon video game series. The tokens are Pokémon characters and the familiar Pokémon slogan, “Gotta catch ’em all!” joins Mr. Monopoly on the cover. A rule was changed consistent with the theme: Instead of rolling again if you get doubles, you receive Pokémon Powers.