Monopoly is a rip-off of which game?

The answer is: The Landlord's Game

The Landlord's Game was created by Elizabeth "Lizzy" Magie in 1903, and it might be the most ironic case of game theft ever. Magie designed her game specifically to teach people about the dangers of monopolies and wealth concentration. Talk about missing the point.

The game spread through word of mouth, with people making their own copies and teaching others. Charles Darrow played it at a friend's house in 1932. He liked it so much, he straight-up copied it, including a typo from the version he played, and sold it to Parker Brothers in 1935 as his own creation.

Parker Brothers knew exactly what they were doing. They bought Magie's patent for $500 with no royalties, while Darrow got rich off royalties and was celebrated as the game's inventor. Magie publicly called them out, but nobody listened. The game that was meant to warn people about greedy monopolists got monopolized by greedy people.

The truth stayed buried until the 1970s when a professor named Ralph Anspach got into a legal battle with Parker Brothers. While digging through records to defend himself, he uncovered the whole story. Monopoly, the game that's sold millions of copies celebrating capitalism, was originally designed to show why capitalism needed to be reined in.