Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons , a table-top RPG phenomenon, has a surprising history of successes, setbacks, and controversies. Game Wizards by Jon Peterson chronicles the game's rise from a hobbyist pastime to a mass market sensation, including the initial collaboration, feud of its creators, Satanic Panic accusations, reckless expansion, and near-fatal corporate infighting. It restores historical particulars obscured by competing narratives and demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous can make people remember things differently.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 12 October 2021
Publisher: MIT Press Ltd

Discover the captivating history of the tabletop RPG phenomenon, Dungeons & Dragons, as a D&D expert delves into its surprising successes, setbacks, and controversies. "The battle over Dungeons & Dragons was the ultimate geek war," as Wired aptly put it. When Dungeons & Dragons was first released to a small hobby community, it hardly seemed destined for mainstream success. Yet, this arcane tabletop role-playing game became an unlikely pop culture phenomenon. In Game Wizards, Jon Peterson chronicles the rise of Dungeons & Dragons from a hobbyist pastime to a mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Inside, you'll learn about: • Gygax and Arneson's first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release • The founding of TSR and its growth as a company • Arneson's acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR • Satanic Panic accusations that plagued D&D and boosted its popularity • TSR's reckless expansion and near-fatal corporate infighting • And much more! With Game Wizards, Peterson restores historical particulars long obscured by competing narratives spun by the one-time partners. That record amply demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous as Dungeons & Dragons can make people remember things a bit differently from the way they actually happened.

Weight: 554g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780262542951