[andymitchell]

I believe the fun-factor - or lack thereof :) - might have something to do with the fact that Monopoly's origins are supposedly as a warning of the perils of capitalism.

While the story is disappearing into time, and is perhaps an over-egged story of folk woman vs. corporate greed; there is a marked similarity between Elizabeth Maggie's "The Landlord Game" and what became Monopoly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlords_Game (it appears an apostrophe is parsed out... it should be The_Landlord's_Game).

Its intent was to demonstrate how monopolies grow, and how once they exist they are hard to overcome. I.e. not fun. Which might explain something about Monopoly today :)

There's more at http://www.antimonopoly.com/original_boardgame.html