cover image The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit

The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit

Philip E. Orbanes. Harvard Business School Press, $29.95 (245pp) ISBN 978-1-59139-269-9

Founded in the 1880s, Parker Brothers has been manufacturing successful games for over 100 years--ever since youthful founder George S. Parker turned his passion for games into a fledgling business. In this colorful history, Orbanes, who worked for Parker Brothers during the 1980s, draws upon his personal experiences to paint a clear picture of the self-taught businessmen who built the company's foundations, as well as of their Harvard-educated descendents, who often had to be cajoled into the family endeavor. Parker Brothers, best known for the ubiquitous Monopoly, grew its business by developing games, acquiring independently created games, buying game companies, running to ground rumors of new games, refining games by playing them over and over to make them""work,"" and manufacturing games in versions to fit different budgets and tastes. In recounting such techniques, Orbanes takes readers through a meticulous historical timeline that brings George Parker, his two brothers and their dramatically dedicated employees to life as they become the standard-bearers of their industry. The saga offers surprises and tragedy and a kaleidoscope of the changing politics and enthusiasms of the different eras--e.g., during the war years, games were sent overseas with servicemen who played them constantly, while in the early 1980s electronic games were developed, then discarded. (Today, the company has become a part of Hasbro Games.) The business angles embellish the telling, with intriguing excursions into the beginnings of Ouija, Rook and Clue; the history of the company's innovative changes to their facilities is a tale in itself. Marked by lively prose and careful research, this book makes an excellent choice for anyone interested in the development and growth of a family business.