History of the board game Monopoly national editions (including a second UK "Here and Now" edition) with properties selected by online vote. The main principle of the "Here & Now" editions was "What if Monopoly had been invented today?" The first changes to the gameplay of the "Monopoly" game itself occurred with the publication of both the "Monopoly Here & Now Electronic Banking Edition" by Hasbro UK and "Monopoly: The Mega Edition" by Winning Moves Games in 2006. The Electronic Banking Edition uses VISA-branded debit cards and a debit card reader for monetary transactions, instead of paper bills. This edition is available in the UK, Germany,
History of the board game Monopoly History of the board game Monopoly The board game "Monopoly" has its origins in the early 20th century. The earliest known version of "Monopoly", known as "The Landlord's Game", was designed by an American, Elizabeth Magie, and first patented in 1904 but existed as early as 1902. Magie, a follower of Henry George, originally intended "The Landlord's Game" to illustrate the economic consequences of Ricardo's Law of Economic rent and the Georgist concepts of economic privilege and land value taxation. A series of board games was developed from 1906 through the 1930s that involved the buying and selling of land