Games Britania-Part 2: Monopolies and Mergers

 In this part of game Britannia Benjamin Woolley talks about how it was the British who in the 18th and19th centuries developed the idea of the board game as an instrument of moral instruction by playing games such as the Mansion of Bliss in which when a player lands on a square they must reed out a small homily to find out whether they will be rewarded or penalised.

E.g.

"Reflect when you enter this place;
For here none but the guilty are found;
While the rest of the players turn thrice'
In confinement you are to be bound."
(Miss three goes)

The kids who played this game enjoyed finding out what the outcome was going to be by reading out poems, rather than knowing already what's going to happen. It was a suprise element to this game that they seemed to enjoy, they knew the rules of rolling and moving, but not knowing the consequences of each square looked like it was a small thrill of its own.

Throughout the rest of the show Benjamin Wooley talks about how games were used as a moral compass and how games would reflect reel life conflict. These conflicts were normally economical or political.

He also talks about the irony of games, e.g. Woolley talks about the history of monopoly and how it was originally meant to deter monopolization, however that's where the fun of this game lies and is why people play it, because it gives them economic power that you don't get in other games.