“Monopoly” and “The Game of Life” would be produced on a large scale mass production yet to be seen. Milton Bradley’s “Game of Life” and George Parker’s (Parker Brothers, Inc.) “Monopoly” would set the United States into a board game frenzy. Yet, it would take the changes brought by the nineteenth century to inspire Milton Bradley and George Parker to design some of the first inherently “Americanized” board games.
Games like backgammon, chess, checkers, dominoes, and cards had been played in the United States since colonial times. Games of ancient civilizations like the Ur Game, Senet, and Hnafentafl helped build the basis and popularity of board games that would stretch into modern times. Games have been an integral part of the world’s social and cultural history for the last six thousand to five thousand years.
