Are you the kind of person who will sulk if you are not Colonel Mustard? Or will you do something to get your hands on Park Lane? On a simple level, I’ve come to realize that the games we loved to play as children can reveal more about personality than we think.
Last week a friend suggested a game of Monopoly after dinner; A mixture of moaning and arousal followed. Interestingly, the host was an accountant and among those interested in gambling were a real estate agent and a financial consultant. Although we tend to think of most board games as “child’s play,” a Monopoly game between “serious” players can turn competitive, not to mention cruel. Watching the game that night made me think about how the games that people have enjoyed playing since childhood are quite revealing. Perhaps the jobs that we will enter in later life are arranged long before we can spell the word “career”?
Personally, I can’t stand Monopoly, watching adults play (once I ‘lost’ everything to get out of the game as soon as I could) reminded me of all the reasons I have avoided it since childhood. If I had a choice I would play Cluedo for hours, Monopoly, no thanks! As the game continued, I chatted with a friend who had also dropped out of the game early. She is an interesting lady; She is currently working as a legal secretary but is studying for a degree in Criminal Justice or Criminology online, as well as caring for two children. She told me a bit about the title and then revealed that she loved Cluedo too. As we watched Monopoly descend into unfriendly banter, we came to the conclusion that Cluedo lovers have strong skills in logic and persuasion, perfectly suited to careers very different from those who enjoy the competitive strategies necessary for Monopoly.
It turned out that he not only loved Cluedo; it was also a walking treasure trove of information about the game’s history. He told me that a lawyer’s secretary named Anthony Pratt, who was an avid fan of murder mysteries, made it up in Leeds during World War II. He came up with the idea as a way to pass the time during air raid drills in 1944. Mr. Pratt, who apparently described himself as “an introvert full of musings, speculations, and imaginative ideas” took the game to Waddingtons with some friends who had already invented and sold Buccaneer. Due to wartime shortages, it wasn’t released until 1949.
A pun was used to name the game. Since the goal was to collect clues; Cluedo was a play 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 something fascinating that made my love of the game seem positively amateurish, I recognized that he would be a formidable opponent. Fortunately, just when he saw a set at our host’s house and suggested we could play, the game of Monopoly ended in a grumpy truce.
