Anti-Monopoly, The Book and Game

Over the weekend I was in a local game shop, and I came across "Anti-Monopoly", which of course is an idea we at TPS are very open to. On the box of the game itself, it was promising because it said something to the effect of "in the real world, prices are set by supply and demand." Here is the game's description:

Three different games have been produced over the years:

The First one was the original Anti-Monopoly I game, launched In 1974. It was a reverse-direction Monopoly game, that the players start where Monopoly ends. The board is monopolized in the beginning of the game and players compete with each other to return this virtual economy back to a competitive, free enterprise system. About a half a million units of this game were sold world-wide. Unfortunately, many players did not understand the game since the players were lawyers working for the Antitrust Department of the United States government, the same kind of lawyers who have worked to convict Microsoft of abusive monopoly power. But most players are not lawyers. To reach a wider audience, this game was phased out to be replaced by a new invention by Anspach,

Anti-Monoply II.

Second, was an upgrade of Monopoly, one which plays like Monopoly but which has an Anti-Monopoly theme in which some players act like monopolists and others like competitors. This game was also called Anti-Monopoly II.

Third, we are reviving the anti-monopolistic message of the real inventors of Monopoly in our new game: "the Original monopoly game" .

Its game equipment included two games:
(1) an Oil Cloth Atlantic City folk game which was stolen from its inventors and then commercialized with some new art work as Monopoly, and
(2) a Create-Your-Own-Monopoly game which revived the customization of an earlier monopoly folk game.

The website for the game also carries a book on the "true history of monopoly," and the legal battle with Parker Brothers over the marketing of their game.

I haven't played it, but if I get the chance I will report back with a review. In the mean time, I recommend Cities and Knights of Catan.