The Game of Life is a Little Deadly…

Ever play a game and wonder just where the creators got their ideas? As it turns out, one of the greatest games ever to be created for wordsmiths was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. Alfred Butts, the creator of Scrabble, was inspired by Poe’s story “The Gold Bug,” about a code that is based on how frequently letters are used in words. Butts took this idea and tweaked it until you see the game as it is before us today. 

Another game with not quite so innocent beginnings? The Game of Life! When it was first created during the Civil War it had a slightly different name and a slightly more morbid twist. Originally called the “Checkered Game of Life,” it was intended to teach children virtue and morality. While Life isn’t exactly the most rollicking of board games, its first version was even worse, giving children the options of poverty, disgrace, and if you were particularly unlucky with the dice, suicide. 

Do you know of any other games that started out with darker origins?

Thanks to the Yahoo! team for the article, check it out here for more games with dark origins.