Monarch of the World

Monarch of the World

Monarch of the World is a pedagogical demonstration from the 1906 Economic Game Company edition, not a competitive game. One player takes the role of the Landlord and holds all land from the start; the other players hold every other advantage. The demonstration is designed to prove Magie’s central thesis through play: whoever owns all the land is the Monarch of the World, regardless of who controls every other resource.

Setup

• One player takes the role of the Landlord and holds all 22 Title Deed cards from the start of the game.
• All remaining players take all other advantages — houses, utilities, railroads, and Chance cards — and each begin with $100 in cash.
• The Landlord receives no wages from MOTHER EARTH and begins with no cash.

Rules

Play proceeds under 1906 Commercial Edition rules with the starting positions above. The Landlord charges rent on every lot space, since they own all lots from the beginning. Other players control all non-land assets — houses, utilities, and railroads — and begin with starting cash.

Winning

The demonstration is designed to reach a predetermined conclusion. Despite holding no wages and no starting cash, the Landlord collects rent every time another player lands on any lot space — which is every lot on the board. The accumulation of rent income outweighs all other advantages over the course of the game, and the Landlord wins. The game typically runs to its conclusion more quickly than a standard game.

The purpose of the demonstration is to make visible, through play, the Georgist argument that land monopoly is the root cause of economic inequality — that the holder of all land is inevitably the Monarch of the World.

Attribution

Monarch of the World. Rules from the Economic Game Company edition, New York, 1906. Designed by Elizabeth J. Magie. Public domain. Source: landlordsgame.info/rules/lg-1906_rulebook.html (transcription via hoelzl/L3 public repository).