Bizarre History & 5 Fun Facts About Monopoly Board Game Ahead of New Margot Robbie Film

Lauren Novak April 18, 7:00 am

A Monopoly game is seen during the Monopoly U.S. National Championship tournament at Union Station April 15, 2009 in Washington, DC. 28 finalists are competing for the title of National Champion who will represent the U.S. in the World Championship in October in Las Vegas — Alex Wong/Getty Images

Ahhh Monopoly. Whether you love or hate the game, often played for hours on end and can be purchased in many varieties (there is even a Costco version!), there’s no doubt that it is one of the most popular games in the world. Since its inception in 1935, over 250 million games have been sold and it was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998. Did you know some of these other fun facts about the beloved board game?

1The idea of the game was created by a woman named Lizzie Magie

Landlords Game® ~ 1906, board game. Designed by: Lizzie J. Magie (Phillips); Published by Economic Game Company, New York, 1906; Patent Filed: Mar 23, 1903 - No.149,177 - Lizzie J. Magie; Patent Granted: Jan 05, 1904 - No.748,626 - Lizzie J. Magie; Image courtesy of Thomas Forsyth owner of the REGISTERED TRADEMARK "The Landlord's Game®" - See http://landlordsgame.info/wikipedia public domain

Image courtesy of Thomas Forsyth owner of the REGISTERED TRADEMARK “The Landlord’s Game®

Magie acquired a patent in 1903 for a very similar game called Landlord’s Game. She received her patent in 1904 before women were even legally allowed to vote. While Magie went on to create many amazing games, unfortunately, her idea was essentially stolen by Charles Darrow. He made some changes and sold the game to the Parker brothers in 1935. Initially, they rejected the game due to its length and complexity but later changed their minds.

2The original board pieces were inspired by a charm bracelet

In this photo illustration, Monopoly board game pieces are displayed on February 6, 2013 in Fairfax, California. Toy maker Hasbro, Inc. announced today that fans of the board game Monopoly voted in an online contest to eliminate the iron playing figure and replace it with a cat figure. The cat gamepiece received 31 percent of the online votes to beat out four other contenders, a robot, diamond ring, helicopter and guitar

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Darrow was inspired by his niece and her charm bracelet to create the different game pieces.

3Can you guess the total bank amount?

SWINDON, UK - JUNE 12, 2014: Pile Of Monopoly Money on a White Background, The classic trading game from Parker Brothers was first introduced to America in 1935.

Adobe Stock

While it seems like there is always a ton of cash, the total bank amount comes out to $20,580 in a standard game.

4How many versions of Monopoly exist now?

Rows of special edition Monopoly board games are seen at the Toy Fair 2022 on January 27, 2022 in London, England. The 2022 London Toy Fair is the only international toy trade event this year with others being canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic

Leon Neal/Getty Images

It seems there is a new version for every franchise. There are now over 1,100 different versions and this number is always growing. There is even a version that is supposed to take longer than usual. Do you own any of the different versions or just the classic?

5The longest game was played for 70 days straight

It may seem like playing with your family takes an eternity but the longest game on record is actually about 70 straight days. Yikes. According to a fun Wiki page, here are some other odd records:

Longest Monopoly game in a treehouse – 286 hours
Longest game underground – 100 hours
Longest game in a bathtub – 99 hours
Longest game upside down – 36 hours