The original version of the game in this format was based on Atlantic City, New Jersey. Several people, mostly in the Midwestern United States and near the East Coast, contributed to the game's design and evolution, and this is when the game's design took on the 4 x 10 space-to-a-side layout and familiar cards were produced. A series of variant board games based on her concept were developed from 1906 through the 1930s that involved the buying and selling of land and the development of that land.īy 1933, a board game called Monopoly had been created which formed the basis of the game sold by Parker Brothers, beginning in 1935. Her game, The Landlord's Game, was self-published, beginning in 1906. Magie Phillips created a game through which she hoped to be able to explain the single tax theory of Henry George (it was intended as an educational tool to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies). The history of Monopoly can be traced back to 1903, when an American woman named Elizabeth (Lizzie) J. 6.1.3 Get Out of Jail and Free Parking Mini Gamesįurther information: History of the board game Monopoly Early history.