Women game and toy inventors abound

Monopoly Board — Did you know Monopoly was invented by a woman?

You might have guessed the inventor of the Barbie Doll was a women. But did you know the inventor of Monopoly was also a woman?

That’s right, Elizabeth Magie invented The Landlords Game in 1903!

It then went on to be published as Monopoly by Parker Brothers in 1935. It has since been licensed in more than 103 countries, printed in more than 37 languages, and spawned tons of themed versions that continue to be released every year.

While the majority of the 5,000+ board games published every year are designed by men, we’re seeing more and more modern games being designed by women.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise because board games have made a huge resurgence over the last decade. With such a wide range of people enjoying games, a broader spectrum of people are also getting into game design.

Creativity and ingenuity to design fun games can be found everywhere. Just looking at our local schools I’m impressed by all the engaging game ideas that come from teachers in the classroom. They may not go on to publish board games on their ideas, but they deliver fun for kids of all ages.

We recently saw this infographic highlighting Famous Toys and the Women Who Created Them and thought it would be great to share.