1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,519 Speaker 1: You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,280 Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 2: Guess what Will? What's that Mango? Did you know that 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 2: the game Candyland comes from a polio ward? I have 5 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 2: to say, I cannot think of two things more different 6 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 2: than Candyland and polio Mango. I know it sounds entirely insane, 7 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 2: but in nineteen forty eight, a teacher named Eleanor Abbot 8 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 2: invented candy Land during a polio epidemic. Apparently, Abbot got 9 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,319 Speaker 2: sick and was confined to this hospital where children were 10 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 2: being treated in iron lungs, which you know, it just 11 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,559 Speaker 2: sounds horrible. Iron lungs for those of you who don't know, 12 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 2: were these early types of respirator where the kids were 13 00:00:45,720 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 2: basically immobilized and mostly they're just lying on their backs, 14 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,480 Speaker 2: unable to see anything except the white ceiling above them. 15 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 2: And to counter all of this, Abbot creates this bright, 16 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 2: cheerful game where the only goal. The only goal is 17 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 2: to move around the landscape of treats, and her original 18 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 2: version of the board even showed a boy in a 19 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 2: leg brace starting to walk. Wow, that's pretty cool, and 20 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 2: you know, I almost feel bad admitting this now, but 21 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 2: I always thought Candyland was kind of boring. Is that 22 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 2: controversial to say? I don't know. 23 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: I mean, let's be clear, it is super dull. The 24 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: game basically requires no effort and has no strategy. But 25 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: it was made as mindless entertainment. It was really this 26 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: way for kids to imagine again and pastime. But you know, 27 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: reading about candy Land made me wonder about all these 28 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: colorful cardboard boxes and family rooms across the country and 29 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: the incredible stories hiding inside them, many of which don't 30 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: involve deadly diseases. So let's dive in. 31 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 2: Hey there, podcast listeners, welcome back to Part Time Genius. 32 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 2: I'm Will Pearson, and as always, I'm here with my 33 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 2: good friend mangesh Hot Ticketer and they're behind the booth. 34 00:02:14,840 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 2: That's our amazing producer Dylan Fagan, who seems to be 35 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 2: wearing a tweed jacket with elbow patches. Haven't seen those 36 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 2: in a minute. He's got a pipe. I hope the 37 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,080 Speaker 2: smoke alarm doesn't go off, and he's waving something at us. Mego, 38 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 2: can you actually tell what that is? Yeah? I think 39 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 2: it's a candlestick, which is maybe a reference to Clue. 40 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's Professor Fagan in the booth with 41 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 2: a candlestick. That's amazing. So I was a big fan 42 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 2: of Clue. But Will I'm wondering if you had to pick, 43 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 2: what would you say is your favorite board game of 44 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 2: all time? You know, if we're having to stick to 45 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 2: board games versus just like a party game and a box, 46 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 2: I probably would put Clue way up there. I mean, 47 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 2: it is so much fun playing with the family. My 48 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 2: daughter gets so into it and so anxious about one 49 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 2: of us guessing before her, and it just gets real heated, 50 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 2: but in the right kind of way. But if I 51 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 2: had to just say my favorite like game in a box, 52 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 2: I'd probably go with something like, uh, Taboo. Like I 53 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 2: just love the element of a timer being there and 54 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 2: it being a word based game and having to play 55 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 2: with a team and just getting so into it and 56 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 2: all the screaming that starts to happen when it gets 57 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 2: really heated. I don't know that those would probably be 58 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 2: my two favorites, how about you. Yeah, for parties, I 59 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,760 Speaker 2: like Categories. I think Categories is always really really fun. 60 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 2: Ruby brought home this game called out Foxed a few 61 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 2: years ago and it's for younger kids, but there is 62 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:48,839 Speaker 2: a fox who is stolen the pie and you're trying 63 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 2: to figure out which fox it is, and it's super 64 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 2: super cute and really really fun. So that's a game 65 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 2: I've been giving to people recently. So many good games 66 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 2: out there. Well, you know, one of the things that 67 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 2: surprised me when I started researching for this topic is 68 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 2: just how many different types of board games that are 69 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 2: out there. In fact, in nineteen ninety nine, a renowned 70 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 2: British games history I'm named David Parlott. He published a 71 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 2: book called The Oxford History of Board Games, and he 72 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 2: divided board games into four different groups. You've got your 73 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 2: race games, where the goal is to cross a finish 74 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 2: line or get your pieces home first. You've got your 75 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 2: space games, where you need to achieve a certain pattern 76 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 2: or configuration. You've got your chase games where you hunt 77 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 2: down and thwart your opponent's pieces. And then you've got 78 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 2: your displaced games, where you win by capturing your opponent's pieces. 79 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 2: So I don't know if you've got all those straight now, 80 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,280 Speaker 2: but those are the four categories. I love that games 81 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 2: historian is a real job, but I also love that, 82 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 2: like the height of games historian is that you make 83 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 2: your categories rhyme like that, right, right, yeah, but I'm curious, like, 84 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 2: where does something like Monopoly fit into the system? Mango, 85 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 2: do not underestimate British games history and David Parlott so 86 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 2: to address questions just like that one you asked, he 87 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 2: actually added in an informal fifth classification these are theme games, 88 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 2: so I guess they didn't rhyme with the others, but 89 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:16,039 Speaker 2: it includes quote the plethora of modern board games chiefly 90 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 2: categorized by a thematic subject matter, such as property trading 91 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 2: or crime detection. 92 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I do love that someone is taking 93 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 1: such an academic approach to understanding board games. 94 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 2: It's really kind of amazing. It's honestly one of my 95 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 2: favorite things is when people have such specific specialties, like 96 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 2: I really do love that to be like the guy 97 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 2: to go to on stuff like this. But anyway, Parlotte 98 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 2: explains that board games are a cultural activity, not unlike 99 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,919 Speaker 2: music or dance. They've been part of human civilization for 100 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,720 Speaker 2: as long as human civilization has been around, and as 101 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 2: a result, they deserve to be studied. 102 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: I actually wanted to know what the world's first board 103 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: game was, and it turns out it's something called senate. 104 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 1: The game means passing, and it was a popular board 105 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: game in ancient Egypt, played by everyday people as well 106 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: as royalty, and one of the paintings in Queen Nevertid's 107 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,480 Speaker 1: tomb shows her playing it, and King tut was actually 108 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,720 Speaker 1: buried with five Senate game boxes. 109 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 2: So how did the game work? 110 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: I mean, the thing is, we don't really have a 111 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:19,920 Speaker 1: definitive account of the rules. What we know mostly comes 112 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: from tomb paintings and the few surviving boards. But basically, 113 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: the board was a grid of thirty squares made of 114 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 1: both three rows of ten, and you started the top 115 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: left corner and move your pieces across the roads until 116 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: you get to the bottom right corner. But what's interesting 117 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 1: about it is that while archaeologists think Senate began as 118 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,359 Speaker 1: this sort of simple pastime, like something you played for fun, 119 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,679 Speaker 1: eventually it took on this greater meaning. So there's actually 120 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: tombart that shows the deceased playing Senate against their living relatives, 121 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: and that sug just the game had the power to 122 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,800 Speaker 1: connect the living and the dead, and some people think 123 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: the game may represent the soul's journey through the realm 124 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: of the dead as they try to reach the after life. 125 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 2: So maybe a little bit more profound than say, hungry, 126 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 2: hungry hippos. But you know, I also looked into ancient 127 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 2: board games and I discovered the story of the royal 128 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 2: game of er. Now. It was played in Mesopotamia around 129 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 2: four five hundred years ago, and Westerners learned all about 130 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 2: it in the nineteen twenties when a British archaeologist named 131 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,000 Speaker 2: Sir Leonard Woolley was exploring the ruins there and that 132 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 2: was the great Samerian city state in modern day Iraq, 133 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 2: and so deep in the royal tombs there, Woolly found 134 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 2: these beautiful boards made from shells and semi precious stones, 135 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 2: but there was nothing to indicate what the game was 136 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 2: exactly or how to play it. So for decades the 137 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 2: boards just sat there at the British Museum. And I'm 138 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 2: guessing the story doesn't end there. It does not, I 139 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 2: have more to say about that. And so that's when 140 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 2: Irving Finkel, who was a British museum curator with the 141 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 2: perfect name for a British museum curator, Irving Finkel, he 142 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 2: enters the scene. Now, he's apparently quite a character he's 143 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 2: got his huge white beard and bushy eyebrows, all these 144 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 2: things that you knew exactly when I said. His name 145 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 2: was Irvan Finkel, and he's obsessed with board games and 146 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 2: cuneiform and this made him uniquely suited to solve this mystery. 147 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 2: So one day in the nineteen eighties, he's looking at 148 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 2: a tablet that had this weird combination of Sumerian and 149 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 2: Babylonian languages on it, and he's just trying to decipher it, 150 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 2: and Finkel figured out it was written by a Babylonian 151 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:29,480 Speaker 2: scribe who was quoting an early Sumerian document. This was 152 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 2: all about the royal game of er. So what was 153 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 2: he looking at? Like, did he find directions for the game? 154 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 2: He kind of did. So the tablet Finkel translated had 155 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 2: a set of directions for a gameplay that included fortune telling, 156 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 2: like landing on certain squares apparently predicted your future. But 157 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 2: like I said, this Babylonian guy was quoting an earlier 158 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 2: description of the game, and so that helped Finkel reconstruct 159 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 2: the original method of play, and under David Parlot's classification, 160 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 2: it's a race game. So you move your pieces along 161 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,720 Speaker 2: the board by rolling dice which back in Sumerian times 162 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 2: would have been made from sheep or ox bones. And 163 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 2: whoever gets all their pieces across the finish line wins. 164 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,559 Speaker 2: Now you can thwart your opponent by landing on one 165 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 2: of their pieces and then sending them back to the start, 166 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:18,679 Speaker 2: and according to Finkel, special mark squares gave you an 167 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 2: extra turn. So even some of the little things that 168 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 2: you would see in today's games. 169 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, it feels so modern in a sense. 170 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:26,080 Speaker 1: So can you actually play this game now? 171 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 2: Yeah? And so lots of people have made boards modeled 172 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,680 Speaker 2: after the ones at the British Museum. You can find 173 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 2: them on Etsy if you want to look at this. 174 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 2: But if you prefer a more digital Sumerian experience, you 175 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 2: can go to royal ur dot net and play online. 176 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: That is amazing to think you can play a game 177 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,240 Speaker 1: that Mesopotamian's played way back when. 178 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 2: You know. 179 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,240 Speaker 1: One thing I learned while researching this episode is that 180 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 1: board game history is really messy, and different culture has 181 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: often developed similar games, and they evolved as people played, 182 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,719 Speaker 1: so it's not always easy to trace their lineage like 183 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: you think about chess. Right, Chess was originated in India 184 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,959 Speaker 1: over a thousand years ago, but there's also evidence that 185 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: similar games were created in China, Pakistan, Russia and elsewhere. 186 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 2: Wow. Yeah, And actually, for our newer listeners, you know Mango, 187 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 2: didn't we do an episode about chess a few years ago? Yeah? 188 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 2: It was called why are Russians So Good at Chess? 189 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 2: And we got into some of that history. So we 190 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 2: don't have to go over it now. But I do 191 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 2: want to tell you about another game with Indian roots 192 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:33,319 Speaker 2: and a complicated family tree. It's called Pachis and it 193 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 2: goes to show how a single game can leap frog 194 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 2: its way across the globe. But why don't we get 195 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 2: into that right after this break? Welcome back to Part 196 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 2: Time Genius, where we're talking about board games, where they 197 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 2: come from, and why we love them so well. I 198 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 2: want to tell you about the game of Pachise, So, Mengo. 199 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 2: I know a lot of times we'll have discussions around pronunciations, 200 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 2: given your family roots and my roots here in Alabama. 201 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 2: So I think what you mean though, is Parcheesi, right? No? 202 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: I mean pachie swhiches often revirred to is the national 203 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 1: game of India. I had no idea of been the India. 204 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:23,679 Speaker 1: A number of times. I did not know it was 205 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: the national game of India. But the name comes from 206 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 1: the Hindi word which means twenty five. And it's a 207 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: classic chase game played on a board shaped like cross. 208 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: There's a square in the middle and the goal is 209 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: to be the first player to get all four of 210 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: your pieces around the board and into the center. 211 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 2: I have to say, mango, that sounds a lot like Parcheesi. 212 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: Yeah it should, because Parchiesi is a simplified version of 213 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: the game that was marketed in the US and the 214 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds, but there are differences. So in the 215 00:11:52,520 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: Indian version, the pieces start and end in the center square. 216 00:11:56,800 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: In PARCHIESI, each player starts their pieces in one corner 217 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: and races to the center. Also, Parchiesi uses dice, putchies 218 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,720 Speaker 1: uses Cowrie shells. You throw them and count the number 219 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: of shells that land with the open end up and 220 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: that determines the number of spaces you can move. And 221 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: in most versions of the game, the highest value you 222 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 1: can get from these cowri shells is twenty five. 223 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,640 Speaker 2: Hence the name you know, the cowori is of course 224 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 2: for those that don't know, it's a small, shiny sea snail, 225 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,560 Speaker 2: which I've just discovered is a great tongue twister to 226 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 2: say ten times fast. 227 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: Well, what's really interesting is that no one knows exactly 228 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 1: where Putchies came from. It may have evolved from games 229 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 1: that began in the fourth century or even earlier. There 230 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,320 Speaker 1: are depictions of cross shaped boards that date back to 231 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: the second century BCE. We do know there was an 232 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:48,240 Speaker 1: early version called chowpar that was popular among Mogul royalty 233 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: in the sixteenth century, including the Emperor Akbar, and he 234 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: actually had a life sized game set up at his 235 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: palace and instead of using tokens, he and his friends 236 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,559 Speaker 1: played by calling out their moves to courtesans who walked 237 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: across the outdoor board. 238 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 2: It's interesting, and how did pacice get turned into Parcheesi? 239 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:08,600 Speaker 2: For those of us in America now around eighteen sixty, 240 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 2: there was a British games company that made a version 241 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,800 Speaker 2: called Pachisi for the UK market. A few years later, 242 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 2: a New York man named John Hamilton made his own version, 243 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 2: copyrighted it, and sold it to a company that became 244 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 2: known as Cell Chaw and Writer, which you know is 245 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 2: a major games publisher, and that's where it was rebranded 246 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 2: as PARCHIESI and became a hit. I do like it 247 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,560 Speaker 2: when things like this evolve and sort of bounce around 248 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 2: over time. So in this case, this bounced from India 249 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 2: to Britain to America, and I guess with slightly different 250 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:40,200 Speaker 2: names at each stop. 251 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,679 Speaker 1: I mean, what's weird is that there's even a little 252 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: bit more back and forth. So in the eighteen nineties, 253 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: after Parcheesi took off in the US, the game changed 254 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: again in England and people modified it to a smaller 255 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: board and they used one die instead of two, and 256 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:57,559 Speaker 1: that version was called Ludo, which you know, I'm sure 257 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 1: you've heard of, And strangely enough, in the twentieth century 258 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 1: there was a Ludo craze that swept India. So, I mean, 259 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:07,920 Speaker 1: it's kind of amazing to think this board game that 260 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: started in India ends up traveling, evolves and then and 261 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 1: then comes back to India. 262 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 2: Oh that's wild, all right. So for my next fact, 263 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 2: I think I'm going to go back to British Games Historium, 264 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 2: David Parlott and his game classification system. You remember him 265 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 2: from the top of the episode Mango. I mean, how 266 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 2: could I forget British Games historian David Parlotte. I like 267 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 2: that every time we're going to mention and we're going 268 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 2: to have to say in full British games historian David Parlott. 269 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 2: But it's good, good branding for him. But I want 270 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:36,800 Speaker 2: to get into the modern era of board games here, 271 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 2: which is really when we start to see the rise 272 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 2: of what Parlot calls these these theme games. And one 273 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 2: of the first teams people applied to board games was geography. 274 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,080 Speaker 2: And why do you think that was? Well, in the 275 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 2: late eighteenth century, board games took off in Europe. Now 276 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 2: this was the age of Enlightenment, so there were all 277 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 2: kinds of theories about education and people realize that board 278 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 2: games could be educational. Now at the same time, you 279 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 2: have cartographers who were getting into the game publishing business, 280 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 2: creating game boards out of maps. And these geographic board 281 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 2: games mostly followed the same pattern, so you moved from 282 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 2: city to city across a map, learning little facts along 283 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 2: the way. And here's an unusual detail. Most games didn't 284 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 2: use dice because dice were associated with gambling. So instead 285 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 2: people use this spinning top with numbered sides called teetotem. 286 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 2: Now have you ever heard of this? I actually have 287 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 2: it kind of looks like a Dradel right. In fact, 288 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 2: it became the Dradal like European Jews modified it by 289 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 2: replacing numbers with Hebrew letters, so by using a teetotem 290 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 2: instead of dice, it made board games socially acceptable. And 291 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 2: back then travel wasn't as common as it is now, 292 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 2: so geographic board games were also a way to discover 293 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 2: places that you might not otherwise get to know. Oh 294 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 2: that's really fun. So in eighteen twenty two, a geographic 295 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 2: game called a Traveler's Tour of the United States became 296 00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:58,240 Speaker 2: the first board game to be published in America, and 297 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 2: it was created by a New York map maker, and 298 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 2: it consisted of a map of all twenty four states 299 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 2: at the time, that's all we had at that point, 300 00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,200 Speaker 2: and so cities on the map were marked by numbers 301 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:11,800 Speaker 2: instead of names. There was a corresponding list of places. So, 302 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 2: for example, Trenton, New Jersey, was marked with a ten 303 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 2: on the map, and if you looked up number ten 304 00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 2: on the list, it said Trenton. And then there were 305 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 2: bonus facts like capital of the state on the Delaware River, 306 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 2: thirty miles northeast of Philadelphia, population three thousand, stuff like that. 307 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,560 Speaker 2: And so you spin the teetotem, look that number of 308 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 2: spaces ahead on the map, and if you can name 309 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,600 Speaker 2: the town without looking at the list, you get to 310 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 2: move your token there. So if I'm a number seven Wilmington, 311 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 2: Delaware and I spent a three, I can move to 312 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,280 Speaker 2: number ten, assuming that I know the spot is Trenton. 313 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 2: You're following this, it's a little complicated. 314 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: I mean, I do love this like Oregon Trail nature 315 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 1: of these games where you're learning about places along the way, 316 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: but this almost sounds painfully educational. 317 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:00,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, and the goal of the game was to travel 318 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 2: from the East Coast down to New Orleans. But interestingly 319 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:08,040 Speaker 2: the game was political too, so an Iowa State professor 320 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 2: named Matthew winn Sivils he writes this fascinating essay about 321 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 2: this in the conversation, and he points out that the 322 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,280 Speaker 2: location descriptions tell a very specific story about the United 323 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 2: States in eighteen twenty two and how we wanted to 324 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:27,400 Speaker 2: see ourselves. They emphasize institutions of higher learning, economic prosperity, 325 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,320 Speaker 2: the industriousness of American citizens, and they do not, however, 326 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,080 Speaker 2: mention slavery. So it's like American exceptionalism the game, right, 327 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,239 Speaker 2: that's exactly right. But you have to know where Trenton is. 328 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:39,360 Speaker 2: That's the main thing. 329 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: Fascinating. Well, speaking of things Americans are good at. I 330 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: did some research into the creation of the board game industry, 331 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: like how did these games go from these folk creations 332 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 1: to indie publications to you know, a billion dollar business. 333 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 1: And it turns out we have a man named Milton 334 00:17:58,359 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: Bradley to thank for it. 335 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 2: You know, for some reason, I always thought that was 336 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:03,920 Speaker 2: like a law firm name, you know, the partner's last 337 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:05,960 Speaker 2: names that come together to form the name. 338 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, I actually thought so too. I thought it was 339 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: two partners. But Milton was a real person, and he 340 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,400 Speaker 1: was born in Maine, in this tiny town called Vienna. 341 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: His family struggled financially and they ended up moving to Lowell, Massachusetts, 342 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: so his dad could work in a mill. Now, Milton 343 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 1: never finished school and he had a hard time finding 344 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,880 Speaker 1: jobs too. But in eighteen sixty he started this lithography business. 345 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: This happened to be an election year. Abraham Lincoln was 346 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,879 Speaker 1: running against Democrat John C. Breckinridge, and Bradley made a 347 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 1: lithograph print of Lincoln that sold like hotcakes. Actually, I'm 348 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:42,680 Speaker 1: just going to send you a copy so you could 349 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 1: take a look at it. 350 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 2: I mean, that's Abraham Lincoln, but his hair is very 351 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:48,080 Speaker 2: short and he doesn't have a beard. 352 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, he doesn't have that trademark beard. So shortly after 353 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 1: Bradley started selling this lithograph, Lincoln actually grew his beard, 354 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,880 Speaker 1: which made him look totally different. So not only did 355 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,200 Speaker 1: his stock of prints become worthless overnight, but some people 356 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: actually started complaining about this and Bradley starts giving them 357 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,400 Speaker 1: their money back. It almost put him out of business 358 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: and as well because of this ridiculous beard. But after 359 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: this disaster Bradley pivots. He published a board game called 360 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,880 Speaker 1: The Checkered Game of Life. Now this was probably inspired 361 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: by a British game called a New Game of Human Life, 362 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: which was weirdly based on a sixteenth century game called 363 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: the Royal Game of Goose, which I feel like, if 364 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 1: you've got a game called the Royal Game of Goose, 365 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 1: how can you improve on it? 366 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 2: Early they did. 367 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: But what all these games had in common was the 368 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: idea of moving along a path that represented life, and 369 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:43,880 Speaker 1: it had a strict moral code that determined the outcome. 370 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: So if you landed on a vice, you'd travel backwards. 371 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: If you landed on a virtue, you move forwards. And 372 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,800 Speaker 1: players didn't have much agency in the games, much like Candyland, 373 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: so wherever your pieces landed, that was kind of your fate. 374 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: So what Bradley does is he adds this level of 375 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: decision making to the game. Players spun a teetotem and 376 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 1: then they look at the chart that gave them two 377 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,159 Speaker 1: to four options for their move. So some of the 378 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 1: spaces on the board had points, like landing on college 379 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: or happiness that actually gave you five points, and other 380 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: spaces sent you back, kind of like snakes and ladders. 381 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: And weirdly, Bradley really pulled from all elements of life, 382 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,960 Speaker 1: so bad spaces included things like ruin, poverty, disgrace, and 383 00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 1: most surprising of all, suicide. 384 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:29,119 Speaker 2: Oh that is horrifying. 385 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, nothing fun about that. But Bradley's game was an 386 00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 1: enormous hit for the time. He sold over forty five 387 00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:39,120 Speaker 1: thousand copies in his first year alone, which enabled them 388 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:41,000 Speaker 1: to build a company named after himself. 389 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,480 Speaker 2: And is this this checkered game of life related to 390 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 2: the game life that we played growing up? 391 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 1: You know, you look at the board and looks nothing 392 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 1: like it right, Like, it almost looks more like Shoots 393 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:55,320 Speaker 1: and Ladders than the Game of Life, but it is related. 394 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: So in nineteen sixty Milton Bradley gave the game to 395 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: a designer to retool for the hundredth anniversary of the game. 396 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,440 Speaker 1: And along with taking out things like suicide, that's when 397 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,120 Speaker 1: they added those like little cars and the spinner and 398 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: the cash, all to make it more fun. And along 399 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: the way his company became this cornerstone of American board games. 400 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,840 Speaker 1: They produced titles like Operation Battleship, also Candy Land, and 401 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,640 Speaker 1: after one hundred and twenty four years of ownership by 402 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: the Bradley family, in nineteen eighty four, the company was 403 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: acquired by Hasbro, and then a few years later Hasbro 404 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:31,880 Speaker 1: was consolidating things, they buy Bradley's rival Parker Brothers, and 405 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: they merged the two to form Hasbro Gaming. 406 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:36,960 Speaker 2: Actually, I'm glad that you mentioned the Parker Brothers because 407 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 2: I did some research on them and it's kind of 408 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 2: this heartwarming tale of a teenage prodigy who just wanted 409 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 2: to have fun and make money in the process. So 410 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 2: I'll tell you all about that right after a quick break. 411 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,440 Speaker 2: Welcome back to part Time Genius where we're talking board. 412 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 1: Games, and I think you're going to tell us about 413 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: the Parker brothers, who I didn't realize were real people. 414 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 2: They were indeed real people. So specifically, the Parker brothers 415 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:19,760 Speaker 2: were George, Charles and Edward Parker. They were born in Salem, Massachusetts, 416 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 2: and it was George, the youngest who was into games. 417 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:25,640 Speaker 2: This was in eighteen eighty three. He was just sixteen 418 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:29,359 Speaker 2: years old, and he created a game called Banking. Now, 419 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 2: like you were saying earlier, many games at the time 420 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,520 Speaker 2: were thinly disguised lectures or lessons on various things, and 421 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:39,439 Speaker 2: so teenage George was like, absolutely not. Games should just 422 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 2: be fun. So he made a game called Banking. Yeah, 423 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 2: I mean, what's more fun than banking? I guess banking 424 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 2: was fun at the time, maybe now. The point of 425 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 2: banking was pretty simple. Players competed to see who could 426 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,959 Speaker 2: make the most money, which was a little different than 427 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,479 Speaker 2: all other games that lectured you about morals. Anyway, George's 428 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 2: family loved the game, and after two publishers were rejected it, 429 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 2: his older brother Charles, convinced George to just publish it himself, 430 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 2: and he did exactly that spending forty dollars to make 431 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 2: five hundred copies. Can you imagine being on the five 432 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 2: hundred copies of the game for forty bucks these days? Anyway, 433 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 2: he sold almost all of them within the year and 434 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,440 Speaker 2: decided to launch his own games business. Charles joined the 435 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 2: company a few years later and they adopted the name 436 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,800 Speaker 2: Parker Brothers. Eventually Edward, the oldest brother, joined too, and 437 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,399 Speaker 2: it was truly a family affair. So we have George 438 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 2: Parker to thank for pushing American games in a much 439 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,200 Speaker 2: more entertaining direction. And over the years, Parker Brothers launched 440 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,440 Speaker 2: all these favorites from Clue to Sorry to Risk, even 441 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:40,879 Speaker 2: the Oiji board. So like some really fun stuff. 442 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 1: That's so funny because when I think of Parker Brothers, 443 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:45,920 Speaker 1: I really only think of one game. 444 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,199 Speaker 2: All right, I'll take a guess it's Monopoly exactly. 445 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: And I have to say this is one of the 446 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: most interesting and infuriating stories I found during my research. 447 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:01,359 Speaker 1: So according to Hasbro's official narrative, Monopoly was invented in 448 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,159 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty three by an out of workman named Charles Darrow. 449 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: He brought the game to Parker Brothers, which was struggling 450 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: during the Great Depression, and of course the famous story 451 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:12,919 Speaker 1: is that they turn it down at first it breaks 452 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: all their rules, but then they changed their mind and 453 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,439 Speaker 1: Monopoly becomes a sensation, selling millions of copies and making 454 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: Darrow and Parker Brothers a ton of money. Today, it's 455 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: a bestseller in over one hundred countries with at least 456 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,159 Speaker 1: a billion copies sold, which is insane to me. 457 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 2: Now, there was something about the way you said official 458 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,920 Speaker 2: narrative that makes me think there's a more interesting story here. Yeah. 459 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,320 Speaker 1: Well, it turns out the nineteen oh three, and this 460 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: is three decades before Darrow patented Monopoly, there was a 461 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:46,800 Speaker 1: Maryland woman named Lizzie McGhee and she created a monopoly prototype. 462 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,520 Speaker 1: She called it The Landlord's Game, and she actually had 463 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:51,880 Speaker 1: an agenda with this. She wanted to spread the belief 464 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: of a philosopher named Henry George, and George believed that 465 00:24:55,800 --> 00:25:00,360 Speaker 1: private land ownership would ruin society. So McGee released game 466 00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:02,480 Speaker 1: in nineteen oh six, and it caught on even among 467 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:04,960 Speaker 1: people who weren't interested in this philosophy. It was just 468 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: really fun to play. 469 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 2: And do you play it in the same way you 470 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:08,720 Speaker 2: play Monopoly? 471 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: Today, not quite Like the goal of avoiding bankruptcy was 472 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,720 Speaker 1: the same. But McGee made a rule that allowed players 473 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: to cooperate. You could vote to pay rent into a 474 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 1: common bank instead of paying the title holder of the property. 475 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: And I actually love this detail. Instead of that square 476 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,240 Speaker 1: that says go, McGee had a square that read, quote 477 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 1: labor upon mother Earth produces wages. 478 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:37,399 Speaker 2: Which is kind of a mouthful. Yeah, the card that says, 479 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 2: do not pass labor upon mother Earth produces wages, do 480 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:42,040 Speaker 2: not collect two hundred dollars. 481 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:48,719 Speaker 1: It's not as catchy. But McGee's game became popular with 482 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 1: socialists and quakers and also university students, and in keeping 483 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,719 Speaker 1: with her beliefs, she didn't profit from this, Like it 484 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: was an open source, public domain, free for people to 485 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: play and modify game. 486 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 2: Wow, so I'm curious. So how did this socialist experiment 487 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 2: turn into a billion dollar commodity? 488 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,720 Speaker 1: So Harper's magazine actually did this incredible investigation of this, 489 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: and according to that article, a professor at the Warden 490 00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: School used the game to teach his classes quote the 491 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:19,480 Speaker 1: wickedness of land monopoly, Which is just amazing to think of, 492 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,719 Speaker 1: right Warden teaching the wickedness of land Monopoly, but it 493 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: catches on and the students spread it across Pennsylvania as 494 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,040 Speaker 1: summer camps. It gets to the Pocono's, people are playing 495 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:32,439 Speaker 1: it at like Columbia and Harvard and lounges there, and 496 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,480 Speaker 1: before long people were calling it monopoly, but with a 497 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: lowercase M, so kind of the way you'd refer to 498 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,520 Speaker 1: Domino's or chess. And then during the Great Depression, these 499 00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:46,240 Speaker 1: two brothers in Atlantic City, Jesse and Eugene Rayford, they 500 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: learned the game from this Indianapolis woman they had met. 501 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:52,400 Speaker 1: The Rayfords were Quakers, and they shared it with their community. 502 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 1: But they replaced the usual ponds in the game with 503 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: household objects. You've got things like thimbles that suddenly are 504 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: added into the next. 505 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,119 Speaker 2: Oh interesting, And so this was still in its open 506 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 2: source kind of free to the public stage though too right, yeah, 507 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:09,680 Speaker 2: And people were free to modify the rules. So they 508 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 2: actually made one other major change. Originally, properties were sold 509 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 2: at auction when players landed on them, but the Rayferds 510 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 2: thought that was too complicated, so they put sale prices 511 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 2: on the board and changed property names to reflect places 512 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 2: in Atlantic City, and they showed their version of the 513 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:28,879 Speaker 2: game to a friend who showed it to a friend 514 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 2: of his, and that friend ended up being Charles Darrow, 515 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 2: who I think is the alleged inventor of Monopoly. 516 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: Right, yeah, so it seems what Darrow really did was 517 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: copy McGee's games, stripped out the socialist elements, capitalized the 518 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:48,200 Speaker 1: m monopoly, and passed this version off as his original game. 519 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:51,879 Speaker 1: And in doing so he made himself fantastically wealthy. 520 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,000 Speaker 2: I mean, it's kind of like he won the biggest 521 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 2: real life game of monopoly. If you think about it. 522 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,479 Speaker 2: He really did. But the question today is who's going 523 00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:02,880 Speaker 2: to win the fact off, I don't know if there's 524 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:03,920 Speaker 2: only one way to find out. 525 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: Okay, So in the past, board games were used to 526 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,119 Speaker 1: teach everything from geography to morality. But did you know 527 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: there's growing evidence that games have a positive impact on 528 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,919 Speaker 1: brain activity. For instance, a study showed that playing the 529 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,679 Speaker 1: game Go can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety in 530 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,000 Speaker 1: patients with Alzheimer's. Some experts think that Go can help 531 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: kids with ADHD two because it can help improve executive function. 532 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:33,160 Speaker 1: All right, well, I think we both know trivia keeps 533 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: the brain sharp. So here's a fact about trivial Pursuit. 534 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:38,880 Speaker 1: Did you know that Trivial Pursuit was the focus of 535 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,480 Speaker 1: a strange lawsuit. The game was invented in nineteen seventy 536 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: nine by Canadian journalists Chris Haney and Scott Abbott, and 537 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:49,520 Speaker 1: it was an overnight success, But in nineteen ninety four, 538 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 1: a Nova Scotia man southed the pair, saying that in 539 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine, Hany had picked him up while he 540 00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:58,200 Speaker 1: was hitchhiking. He claimed that during the ride, he had 541 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,320 Speaker 1: described the idea for Trivial Pursuit and Haney stole it. 542 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: Haney said in his defense that he'd never picked up 543 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: a hitchhiker. A judge ruled in the journalists favor in 544 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:07,920 Speaker 1: two thousand and seven. 545 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,040 Speaker 2: Lizzie has a family friend who claims that she sat 546 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 2: next to Leijah Coca on a plane and coach and 547 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 2: mentioned that he should make an affordable car called the Eon, 548 00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 2: and all he did was add the letter end on Wow. 549 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 2: That is amazing. 550 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: So I know we talked about life and Milton Bradley earlier, 551 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 1: but one thing I hadn't realized was what a marketing 552 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: genius the game designer was. So during the Civil War 553 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,760 Speaker 1: he realized that soldiers needed things to de stress. So 554 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: he started bumbling a game set with chess, checkers, dominoes, 555 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,720 Speaker 1: and his game the early Version of Life. And he 556 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: made it tiny enough that you could nail it anywhere, 557 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: so according to mental flaws, during Christmas he advertised it 558 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: as quote, just the thing to send to members of 559 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: the armed forces, and that's how the game really took off. 560 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,200 Speaker 2: So classy, all right, So for my last fact, mango, 561 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 2: do you know what copy pasta is? I mean, I 562 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 2: know it's kind of like a memish thing, but remind 563 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:10,960 Speaker 2: me what it is, all right. Copy pasta is a 564 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 2: horror story that's spread around the Internet, getting copied and 565 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:18,000 Speaker 2: pasted over and over across the Internet, and one of 566 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 2: the weirdest copy pastas of all time is about a 567 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:24,480 Speaker 2: nineties board game. It's been shared thousands and thousands of times. 568 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 2: The anonymous author claims that they were terrorized by a 569 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 2: demonic VHS tape of rap Rat, a character in a 570 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 2: bizarre board game also called rap Rat. Now that story, 571 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:38,480 Speaker 2: like most copy pastas, is fake, but rap Rat is real. 572 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 2: The game was released in nineteen ninety two, and it 573 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,640 Speaker 2: really did come with a VHS tape featuring a wrapping rodent, 574 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 2: so players would compete to assemble puzzles before rap Rat 575 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:50,880 Speaker 2: eats all the cheese on the TV screen. Now, in 576 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 2: between nibbles, he shouts off instructions and of course he raps, 577 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 2: and the whole thing is totally nuts. And the best 578 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 2: part is I found an actual nineteen ninety two commercial 579 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 2: for rap Rat. It's VHS's a okay, it's kids entertainment. 580 00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 2: It's you have to stay with video board so get mellow, 581 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 2: get yellow, get the video board game rap Rat. He 582 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,280 Speaker 2: ain't no ghost, He's the most the video board game 583 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 2: rap Rat. Okay, that is amazing for rap Rat alone. 584 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,880 Speaker 2: I think you have to take the trophy. Congratulations. It 585 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 2: is possible that this entire episode was an excuse for 586 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 2: me to play some rap rap for you brought up, 587 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 2: but there you go. I'm gonna look for on Spotify. 588 00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:38,720 Speaker 2: Now that's it for today's episode. Thank you so much 589 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:44,160 Speaker 2: for listening from Will Dylan, Gabe, Mary, and myself. We 590 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 2: are so excited to be making shows in the new year. 591 00:31:46,560 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: And can't wait for you to hear all of them. 592 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius is a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. 593 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:10,080 Speaker 1: This show is hosted by Will Pearson and me Mongais Chatikler, 594 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 1: and research by our goodpal Mary Philip Sandy. Today's episode 595 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: was engineered and produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan with 596 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 1: support from Tyler Klang. The show is executive produced for 597 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: iHeart by Katrina Norvel and Ali Perry, with social media 598 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:29,520 Speaker 1: support from Sasha Gay, trustee Dara Potts and Viny Shorey. 599 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:34,640 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 600 00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:50,400 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.