Monopoly was patented by Charles Darrow in 1935 and remains one of the best-selling commercial board games in the world today. Players compete to acquire wealth through stylized economic activity involving the purchase, rental, and trading of real estate using play money, as players take turns moving around the board according to the roll of the dice. The game is named after the economic concept of monopoly, the domination of a market by a single seller. Many variations and licensed-property-specific versions have been developed in recent years, further adding to the game’s popularity. The number of people who have played and enjoyed Monopoly over the years is estimated in the hundreds of millions.
