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Games reflecting their timesJuly 25th, 2006 |
The history of Monopoly is an interesting one. Its origins are mildly controversial, having begun as a folk game that was popular on the East Coast and even connected with the Quaker community. Then it became a bit of a political statement, its “dressing” and its theme becoming something of an ironic commentary on moneygrubbing landlords. Then it was allegedly plagiarized or co-opted by big business. Then it became a cause celebre in the hippie days, the subject of heavily ironic major lawsuits against monopolistic practices. Finally, it became a “skinnable” board game, where you can now get it flavored with everything from your local town’s streets to Scooby Doo.
Now, it’s a game with a credit card instead of cash.
The lesson here is that a game’s culture defines its games, and that a game also defines its culture. The two pressures are intimately intertwined. Just as Ultimate Frisbee, surfing, polo, lacrosse, hockey, and go are definitional for certain parts of society, so do towns make accommodations for the sports of choice, shifting around the flows of traffic, the locations of businesses, and even the financial viability of the city.
Now we see a huge element of our culture — the business deal, in the form of a deal cut between Parker Bros. and Visa — meeting another huge part of our culture — the way in which we have moved to a cashless society — and it’s impacting a game that is a hundred years old. The managing of cash is clearly the most obnoxious part of Monopoly, so from a convenience point of view this seems a good thing.
And yet… many of the folk rules for Monopoly have involved things like placing money under Free Parking (not something in the official rules). They have involved special deals and contracts negotiated between players — things like futures options on land, free passes on rent, part shares in other people’s properties, and so on. As we mechanize the game, will we leave scope for these elements? (Particularly if, as in my case, those elements are the only thing that even make the game playable anymore?)
If Monopoly is to really reflect the credit-driven world, it needs to support overdrafts, and carrying a balance versus paying off promptly, and usurious compound interest. Instead, it’ll probably be a model showing the best aspects of the cards with none of the warts.
And that, too, will be reflective of our culture.
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I very very rarely use my credit cards — I stick to the debit card all the time.
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