Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons

by Jon Peterson Narrated by Chris Ciulla

Overview

When Dungeons & Dragons was first released to a small hobby community, it hardly seemed destined for mainstream success-and 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 hobbyist pastime to mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As the game's fiftieth anniversary approaches, Peterson-a noted authority on role-playing games-explains how D&D and its creators navigated their successes, setbacks, and controversies.

Peterson describes Gygax and Arneson's first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release of the game; the founding of TSR and its growth as a company; and Arneson's acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR. He recounts the "Satanic Panic" accusations that D&D was sacrilegious and dangerous, and how they made the game famous.



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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The battle Over Dungeons & Dragons was the ultimate geek war."
—Wired

"In Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons, historian Jon Peterson hopes to lay to rest the rumors and speculation that have plagued the early history of D&D. At the center of this new book is the feud between co-creators Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. His work relies on a treasure trove of firsthand interviews and primary documentation, as well as remnants from the lost archives of D&D’s original publisher, TSR."
—Polygon

"A deep dive into a significant controversy in the gaming world: who deserves credit for the meteoric rise of Dungeons & Dragons and blame for the subsequent avalanche of public spats, lawsuits, and business bungling...A good dungeon crawl... treasures abound for experienced adventurers."
—Kirkus Reviews

'Jon Peterson’s “Game Wizards” is an in-depth history – and I really do mean in-depth – of the creation of Dungeons and Dragons and in particular the ugly struggle for control of TSR. It’s vivid and incredibly well-researched, although this particular niche is… well, it’s very niche.'
—Tim Harford

"A lively and readable history of the game, its first owners, and their fumbling attempts to run a business."
—ZDNet

"Game Wizards makes a fascinating reading. We have never, ever seen such a level of detail and documentation regarding the inner workings of TSR down to board meetings and executives' plans and ideas. The book shines a really strong light on the 'secret history' of the company"
—Dungeon Master Magazine

Kirkus Reviews

2021-07-18
A deep dive into a significant controversy in the gaming world: Who deserves credit for the meteoric rise of Dungeons & Dragons and blame for the subsequent avalanche of public spats, lawsuits, and business bungling?

The enduring success of Dungeons & Dragons is one of pop culture’s most inexplicable phenomena. Though tabletop gaming historian Peterson has previously chronicled the D&D origin story, notably in the gorgeous Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana, this book focuses on the game’s creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. When the gregarious and ambitious Gygax and creative but sensitive Arneson launched D&D in 1974, they casually agreed to a 50/50 split of whatever royalties it might generate. In the agreement that they signed with Gygax’s company, TSR, they retained the option to repurchase rights for a paltry amount not to exceed $300 if the game went out of print—a sign of just how little confidence everyone involved had in its success. When D&D sales surprisingly surged and started generating millions in profit, controversy and thorny legal battles ensued. As Gygax and Arneson jousted over credit in print and in court, brothers Brian and Kevin Blume helped Gygax grow and diversify TSR’s business. While subsequent years saw the company thrive despite the game’s unfair association with the “Satanic Panic” of the early 1980s, profligate spending, lack of a cohesive strategy, and rampant nepotism made TSR a case study in corporate mismanagement. Peterson’s in-depth review of legal documents, contracts, and correspondence creates the most insightful account yet of the Gygax-Arneson feud, but the exhaustive level of detail occasionally bogs down the narrative. D&D fans will need to look elsewhere for a crackling account of the game’s evolution, but grognards and business students alike will find something of value.

A good dungeon crawl: Casual readers won’t make it past the start, but treasures abound for experienced adventurers.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178888131
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	04/26/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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