IELTS HOPECO Vocabulary: Unit 4 - It was all new once (WB 4-5.5)

Monopoly is one of the biggest-selling games in the world. It is sold in 80 countries and comes in 26 different languages. But where did this classic board game come from, and why did it become so popular?
 
At the beginning of the 20th century, an instructional game called 'The Landlord's Game' was first published by a political activist, Elizabeth Magie. The purpose of the game was to teach people how rich, powerful individuals take advantage of the poor while they accumulate even more wealth. Unfortunately, the game was not popular, and she sold very few copies of it.
 
In 1934, a man called Charles Darrow redesigned it, creating a game of chance. However, when he presented his game, which he called 'Monopoly', to the games Manufacturers Parker Brothers, they rejected it. They said it was too complex and contained too many flaws.
 
Darrow persisted and decided to produce the game himself. He created and sold over 5,000 handmade sets to a local department store. The game had immense public appeal, and was so popular that Darrow went back to Parker Brothers, who bought the rights to the game.