In the realm of parlor gaming, previously only Yahtzee has sparked this kind of murderous rage. (Arguably also Dungeons & Dragons, but I think that case was more about an alleged abuse of the great power granted to a Dungeonmaster and so not inherently game-related.)

According to the Santa Fe New Mexican (that’s a newspaper, not just some New Mexican I happen to know), a 60-year-old woman repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend after an argument that started after she accused him of cheating at Monopoly. Actually, the victim said she first hit him over the head with a glass bottle, and then the knife came out. He ended up in the hospital but is reportedly in stable condition.

I wouldn’t previously have thought Monopoly was such a violent game, but an Albuquerque New Mexican (a person this time, not a newspaper) has apparently felt this way for a while. “At the age of 50,” commented “CJ,” I can honestly say I’ve never liked that game. It’s weird how popular Monopoly is considering all the bad feelings it can foster.” Seriously?

Maybe we should ban it for safety reasons.

Most coverage of this story goes with some form of a “Go Directly to Jail” wisecrack, but that seems too easy. Now that I’m thinking about it, it does make me wonder why it’s constitutional in Monopoly World to deprive someone of $200 to which they would otherwise have been entitled, with no due process at all but simply because of where they happen to have been on the board when they were arrested. But there’s no evidence this is what prompted the stabbing in this case, so we’ll have to resolve that another day.

Update: It seems plausible that much of the parlor-gaming violence is related to the participants’ failure to read the f&$*ing rules.