''Totopoly'' is a commercial

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

, based on the events leading up to, and during, a

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. Originally published in 1938 by

Waddingtons Waddingtons was a British manufacturer of card and board games. The company was founded by John Waddington of Leeds, England and the manager, actor and playwright Wilson Barrett, under the name ''Waddingtons Limited''. The name was changed i ...

, the game is based on a double-sided board, with each side representing a different half of the game.

Board design

Side 1

In the first section, each player has a set of

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

s, which start and end this phase in one of two stables. The horses are moved around a loop, and, depending on which squares they land on, the player may collect "advantage" and "disadvantage" cards, which become important in the game's second phase. Some horses may be eliminated during this part of the game. An unusual feature is that each player throws the

dice A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...

only once in each turn, the same throw being used for all his or her horses.

Side 2

The game's second phase is the actual race. Before starting, bets may be placed on any horse the player wishes. During the race, "advantage" cards may be played to improve a horse's position; also, any "disadvantage" cards held must be used, with the effect of holding a horse back or cancelling an "advantage" card, before the end of the race. As well as the settling of

bets Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three elem ...

, prize

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

is awarded for first, second and third place.

Horse names

The horses use the names of the winners of the Lincolnshire Handicap between the years 1926–37. The race, which was first run at

Lincoln Racecourse Lincoln Racecourse is a former horse racing venue to the west of the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, at Carholme, Lincoln, Carholme, a flat tract of common land in Lincolnshire, England. It was the original location of the Lincolnshire ...

in 1853, is now (with occasional exceptions) run at

Doncaster Racecourse Doncaster Racecourse (also known as the Town Moor course) is a racecourse in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It hosts two of Great Britain's List of British flat horse races#Group 1, 36 annual Group One, Group 1 flat races, the St Leger ...

Criticism

A curious aspect of the game, which some people have regarded as a serious

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

flaw, is that (in the original version) the winner was the person whose horse came in first, irrespective of how much money they had. This meant that the effect of money accrued in the first phase of this version of the game was fairly minor, and in particular the elaborate rules for betting, together with the final race prize money, were irrelevant. More recent editions of the game have an alteration to the rules, allowing the players to make the winner the one who has most money at the end of the race.

References

External links

* {{Waddingtons Board games introduced in 1938 Racing board games Waddingtons games British board games