Lizzie Magie Patents The Landlord’s Game

In 1903, the American anti-monopolist Lizzie Magie devised a board game intended to expose the social costs of concentrated private land ownership. A committed follower of the economist Henry George, Magie designed the game to demonstrate the single-tax economic theories outlined in George's book Progress and Poverty. She sought a patent for her creation, titled The Landlord's Game, which was granted in 1904. Her design established a framework that differed markedly from other games of the era, presenting an interactive model through which players could directly observe how monopolistic control over land affected economic prosperity.

The 1904 patent outlined the structural components that would later become widely familiar across the globe. Magie's board was laid out as a continuous square track, where players moved along a series of spaces defined by corner squares, one of which served as the designated starting point. Moving around the circuit generated income for participants, who collected money each time they completed a loop. The track also included hazards, such as railroad spaces that charged five dollars to players who landed on them.