{"product_id":"how-dungeons-dragons-changed-the-way-we-play-9781478034131","title":"How Dungeons \u0026 Dragons Changed the Way We Play","description":"First released in 1974, \u003ci\u003eDungeons \u0026amp; Dragons\u003c\/i\u003e revolutionized game design and interactive media by allowing players to create and perform their own fictional characters in a fantasy world as expansive as their imaginations would allow. That freedom, and the rules that governed it, weren’t a creative coincidence. In \u003ci\u003eHow\u003c\/i\u003e Dungeons \u0026amp; Dragons\u003ci\u003e Changed the Way We Play\u003c\/i\u003e, Aaron Trammell excavates the game as an artifact of a burgeoning counterculture obsessed with individualism as well as quantification. Mapping the world onto a grid, building characters whose every trait is assigned a point value, and advancing the game’s narrative through dice throws—countless core mechanics are tied to numbers. Putting the game design of D\u0026amp;D into dialogue with the social and political tensions of the 1970s and 80s, Trammell illuminates how the integrated quantification in the game design led to reductionism, reinforced oppressive gender and racial norms, and accustomed generations of players to the bigoted, xenophobic mores of the Cold War era. He delivers a history of both how games can shape players and how players, united by their own shared values, can shape games in turn.\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication date:\u003c\/strong\u003e 29 September 2026\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePage count:\u003c\/strong\u003e 182\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e Height 229 mm; Width 152 mm\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e Duke University Press\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFormat:\u003c\/strong\u003e Hardback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781478034131\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Aaron Trammell","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":67645518905594,"sku":"9781478034131","price":73.45,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0522\/4297\/2845\/files\/9781478034131.jpg?v=1791241725","url":"https:\/\/shulphink.com\/products\/how-dungeons-dragons-changed-the-way-we-play-9781478034131","provider":"Shulph Ink","version":"1.0","type":"link"}