Are you the type of person who will sulk if you’re not Colonel Mustard? Or will you do whatever it takes to get your hands on Park Lane? On a simple level, I’ve realized that the games we loved to play as kids might reveal more about personality than we think.
Last week a friend suggested playing a game of Monopoly after a dinner party; a mixture of moans and excitement followed. Interestingly, the host was an accountant, and among the players who were keen to play were a real estate agent and a financial advisor. While we tend to think of most board games as “child’s play,” a game of Monopoly can become competitive, let alone vicious, among “serious” players. Watching the game that night made me think about how enlightening are the games that people have loved to play since childhood. Perhaps the jobs we will take on later in life are fixed long before we can even spell the word “career”?
Personally, I can’t stand Monopoly, watching adults play it (once I “lost” everything to get myself out of the game as quickly as possible) reminded me of all the reasons I’ve avoided it since I was a child. If I had the choice, I would play Cluedo for hours, Monopoly, no thanks! As the game progressed, I chatted with a friend who had also retired from the game early on. She is an interesting lady; currently works as a legal secretary but studies online criminal justice or criminology and takes care of two children. She told me a bit about the degree and then revealed that she loved Cluedo too. As we watched Monopoly descend into less-than-friendly banter, we concluded that Cluedo lovers possess strong skills in logic and persuasion that are perfectly suited to very different careers from those who enjoy the absolute competitive strategies, required for Monopoly.
Turns out she didn’t just love Cluedo; She was also a walking mine of information about the history of the game. She told me that it was invented in Leeds during World War II by a solicitor named Anthony Pratt, who was an avid crime fiction fanatic. He had the idea to while away the time in 1944 during air raid exercises. Mr. Pratt, who apparently describes himself as “an introvert full of musing, speculation and imaginative imagination,” brought the game to some friends Waddingtons had already invented and sold Buccaneer. It was not published until 1949 due to wartime shortages.
A play on words was used to name the game. Since it was about gathering clues; Cluedo was a pun on the word “Ludo” – which means “I play” in Latin. However, for an American market, the game was simply called “Clue” because they play “Parchisi” instead of “Ludo”.
It was fascinating stuff that made my love of the game seem utterly amateur, I realized she would make a formidable opponent. Luckily, the Monopoly game ended in a sullen truce just as she spotted a set at our host’s house and suggested that maybe we could play.
Thanks to Sarah Maple | #Cluedo #Monopoly #Wins
