It’s the 80th anniversary of the iconic board game Monopoly. Yes, the “world’s favorite family gaming brand” is older than some of our grandparents.
It seems Monopoly was always a hit — even in its early days. Parker Brothers released the game in the U.S. in 1935, and within a year 35,000 copies were being made each week.
Even if you’ve been playing Monopoly for eight decades, we bet you still don’t know these five things about it:
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Every four to five years, Hasbro hosts a U.S. Championship and a World Championship for Monopoly, according to Harpers. Winners can earn up to $20,580, equal to the total amount of play money that comes in each version of the game.
And here’s a tip on how to win the game, courtesy of 2009 U.S. national champ Richard Marinaccio:
Monopoly players around the kitchen table think the game is all about accumulation. You know, making a lot of money. But the real object is to bankrupt your opponents as quickly as possible. To have just enough so that everybody else has nothing.
