board games — Bunk History

A board game with different continents of the world and markers.

Playing with the Past: Teaching Slavery with Board Games

Board games invite discussions of counterfactuality and contingency, resisting the teleology and determinism that are so common to looking backward in time.

by Patrick Rael via Perspectives on History on October 13, 2021

Collage of images related to Monopoly's history

The Prices on Your Monopoly Board Hold a Dark Secret

The property values of the popular game reflect a legacy of racism and inequality.

by Mary Pilon via The Atlantic on February 21, 2021

Candy Land Was Invented for Polio Wards

A schoolteacher created the popular board game, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, for quarantined children.

by Alexander B. Joy via The Atlantic on July 28, 2019

Progress in Play: Board Games and the Meaning of History

Throughout the history of civilization, board games have been used as propaganda to support ideologies and lifestyles.

by Alex Andriesse via The Public Domain Review on February 20, 2019

Game board with squares about life events.

Board Games Were Indoctrination Tools for Christ, Then Capitalism

The very weird tale of how American board games used to teach you how to get to heaven, and later, how to make bank.

by Robert Rath via Waypoint on November 30, 2017

The Anti-Capitalist Woman Who Created Monopoly—Before Others Cashed In

The beloved board game's long-hidden origin story debunks the myth of a male lone genius.

by Mary Pilon via What It Means to Be American on March 27, 2017

Milton Bradley surrounded by colorful design

The Meaning of Life

What Milton Bradley started.

by Jill Lepore via The New Yorker on May 14, 2007

“A Very Curious Religious Game”: Spiritual Maps and Material Culture in Early America

The Quaker spiritual journey, often invisible due to its silent, humble and individual nature, is illustrated in this map.

by Janet Moore Lindman via Commonplace on June 7, 2022

The End of the Golden Era of Chess

The recent passing of Pal Benko and Shelby Lyman draws the curtain on an American period that produced some of the game’s most sparkling play.

by Peter Nicholas via The Atlantic on September 5, 2019

Gas station turned cannabis dispensary

Puff, Puff, Pass

The explosion of kid-friendly paraphernalia led the federal government to crack down on pot.

by Emily Dufton via Perspectives on History on April 25, 2019

Two historic hotels of very different eras. Left: The Shelburne (torn down in 1984) was a second home to entertainers in pre-casino Atlantic City; Right: Resorts Hotel (opened 1978) was the first legal casino in the US outside of Nevada.

Touring the Abandoned Atlantic City Sites That Inspired the Monopoly Board

The once-glamorous casinos and hotels have become a gilded ghost town.

by Luke Spencer via Atlas Obscura on April 24, 2017

Go on Monopoly board

The Twisted History of Your Favorite Board Game

An interview with Mary Pilon about her new book, ‘The Monopolists,’ which uncovers the real story about how Monopoly became the game it is today.

by Mary Pilon, Jessica Gross via Longreads on March 1, 2015

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