Are you the kind of person who will sulk if it’s not Colonel Mustard? Or will you do anything to get your hands on Park Lane? On a simple level, I’ve come to realize that the games we loved to play as kids can reveal more about personality than we realize.
Last week, a friend suggested a game of Monopoly after dinner; a mix of moans and arousal followed. Interestingly, the host was an accountant and those interested in playing included a real estate agent and a financial advisor. While we tend to think of most board games as “kids’ games,” a game of Monopoly between “serious” players can get competitive, not to mention vicious. Watching the game that night got me thinking about how games that people have enjoyed playing since childhood are quite revealing. Perhaps the jobs we’ll be pursuing later in life are set long before we can spell the word “career”?
I personally can’t stand Monopoly, watching adults play it (once I ‘lost’ everything to get out of the game as soon as possible) reminded me of all the reasons I’ve avoided it since childhood. Given the choice, I’d play Cluedo for hours, Monopoly, no thanks! As the game continued, I chatted with a friend who had also retired from the game early. She is an interesting lady; She currently works 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 turn into less than friendly banter, we came to the conclusion that lovers of Cluedo have strong skills in logic and persuasion, perfectly suited to very different careers than those who enjoy the competitive strategies required for Monopoly.
It turned out that he didn’t just love Cluedo; it was also a walking treasure trove of information about the game’s history. She told me that a solicitor’s clerk named Anthony Pratt, who was an avid murder mystery fan, invented it 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 ruminations, speculations, and imaginative notions,” brought the game to Waddingtons with some friends who had already invented and sold Buccaneer. Due to wartime shortages, it was not released until 1949.
A play on words was used to name the game. Since the object was to collect 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 a fascinating thing that made my love of the game seem positively amateurish, I recognized that she would be a formidable opponent. Luckily, just as she spotted a set at our host’s house and suggested we play, the game of Monopoly ended in a sulky lull.