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Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons (Game Histories) Paperback – October 12, 2021

by Jon Peterson (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 301 ratings
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The story of the arcane table-top game that became a pop culture phenomenon and the long-running legal battle waged by its cocreators.

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. And he chronicles TSR's reckless expansion and near-fatal corporate infighting, which culminated with the company in debt and overextended and the end of Gygax's losing battle to retain control over TSR and D&D.

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.
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Previous page
  1. Part of series
    Game Histories
  2. Print length
    400 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    The MIT Press
  5. Publication date
    October 12, 2021
  6. Dimensions
    6.06 x 1.06 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0262542951
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0262542951
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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

Review

“Jon is the great gaming librarian, the dramaturg of D&D. He is always my first call when I’m researching anything related to the history of tabletop gaming. If he doesn’t know, most likely no one else does, and this book is no exception. With it, Jon sets straight the ‘canon’ of the tragic history of how Dungeons & Dragons and TSR were ripped from the very grasp of the man who dreamed them up.”
—Joe Manganiello, actor, producer, Dungeons & Dragons ambassador, and writer/game designer for Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro
 
“Like an intrepid adventurer, Jon Peterson delves deep into the labyrinth of TSR’s checkered history and the controversies surrounding Dungeons & Dragons. His broad knowledge of the subject and impeccable research allow you to share in his discoveries, with a focus on the colorful characters who were swept up in the D&D phenomenon and transformed by their experiences. Along the way, he uncovers many of the elements that led to the company’s demise, including nepotism, hubris, poor management decisions, and unfulfilled promises. It’s a compelling story.”
—Mike Carr, TSR game designer, editor, writer, and executive (1976–1983)
 
“I thought I knew well the story of the meteoric rise of Dungeons & Dragons. Jon Peterson proves me half wrong as he reveals the labyrinth beneath the castle that Gygax and Arneson built. This book is the essential history of the personal perils, business pitfalls, and legal combats risked in the creation of the world’s first roleplaying game.”
—Sam Witwer, actor, Dungeon Master, part-time Sith
 
“While we were busy exploring the Tomb of Horrors in the 1980s, little did we know that the creators of Dungeons & Dragons were on a real-world adventure of their own—filled with tricks, traps, treasure hoards, and illusions—that nearly resulted in the dreaded Total Party Kill. Game Wizards is a gripping read and the definitive account of their quest.”
—Ray Winninger, Executive Producer of Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards of the Coast 
 
“Every great empire needs a legendary historian. For Dungeons & Dragons, the foremost authority is unquestionably and without a doubt Jon Peterson. After tireless research and interviews, Jon now brings us the most harrowing quest ever to happen in D&D—and it’s anything but fantasy. Jon meticulously documents the true story of the triumphant rise of the timeless tabletop game, and its even more utterly fascinating and heartbreakingly dramatic demise. This real life saga will be a page turner for hardcore tabletop gamers, but the mind-blowing events that Jon documents will absolutely captivate any reader.”
—Adam F. Goldberg, TV showrunner, writer–producer, Half-elf Ranger proficient in bows and short swords

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press (October 12, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262542951
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262542951
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.06 x 1.06 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 301 ratings

About the author

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Jon Peterson

Jon Peterson

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Jon Peterson studies the history of games, especially tabletop role-playing games and wargames. His first book, "Playing at the World," was called "the first serious history of the development of Dungeons & Dragons" by the Village Voice. More recently, he wrote the MIT Press Game Histories series books "The Elusive Shift" and "Game Wizards." He is also co-author of the Hugo Award finalist "Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana," the New York Times bestselling official Dungeons & Dragons cookbook "Heroes' Feast," and worked on the "Trivial Pursuit: Dungeons & Dragons Ultimate Edition." He has contributed to numerous academic anthologies and popular culture websites including Polygon, Wired, and BoingBoing.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
301 global ratings
Fascinating Read!
5 Stars
Fascinating Read!
I'm one of the last people that would consider financial history and forensic accounting interesting. Still, the description of this book intrigued me (as I'm a long-time RPG player) so I took a risk and ordered a copy. I was honestly shocked at how interesting this book turned out to be. Part of that I would have to attribute to my love of D&D but mostly it would be the author's incredible ability to give dry accounting matters the tone of a suspense story. I'm not kidding, this book reads like a murder mystery complete with ominous hints that a fact here or there will be important later. If all business history were this fascinating, I would have been an accountant. The next time I get paid, I am going to order more of Peterson's books.Picture: A map depicting the area where most of the events take place (done in the style of classic D&D module maps, too cute!).
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Top reviews from the United States

Surragard
5.0 out of 5 stars Sad but Detailed Account
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024
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While reading I could feel that this was a labor of love but when I got to the appendix at the end that was confirmed. A TREMENDOUS amount of source material was compiled for this and I look forward to the new book coming out this June that will publish some of the articles that were referenced here (which are impossible to locate today unless you want to spend a lot of money on eBay). The tale here is sad and the author does a great job of pointing out when facts are light and only speculation can give us the answer. Even if you aren’t a D&D fan this is honestly a fantastic business book. Sad but fascinating story and I enjoyed every page.
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Stephanie Billecke
5.0 out of 5 stars The best analysis of the Gygax years at TSR to date
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2022
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If you are looking for an understanding of how TSR got started and what struggle looked like for them before Dungeons and Dragons defined a genre and became the behemoth that is 5E today, I would highly recommend Jon Peterson's "Game Wizards" to you.

Like many of an older generation that discovered the Holmes Box set and ogled the Player's Handbook in their local (and independent) toy store in the early 80's, I have a soft spot for all of the starter and Advanced D&D products that made up 1st edition. I left the hobby when 2nd Edition hit and I went off to college (in hindsight - odd that I never sought out gamers at school there), but returned with the advent of 3rd edition and the nostalgia itch it created.

By that time Gary was a much venerated bulletin board presence on many gaming websites. Answering questions with a wink and a nod. Often with the same wit and charm that came across in his introduction essay to many of the early products of TSR.

But this work by Peterson lays bare the animosity, paranoia, pettiness, and later folly of both creators of D&D - Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. While also crediting their genius, drive to be something more than they were, and what they did with the surprise success that found them.

Some of these stories you may have heard. Peterson brings to the table the discussions of the industry at the time. Origins and Gencon rivalry. The competition with Avalon Hill and Flying Buffalo. The rivalries with fellow publishers that in time turned into acquisitions for TSR. The gossip that seemed to follow every move of Gary and TSR as D&D sales grew dramatically in the roughly 10 years of Gary's tenure. The nepotism of both the Gygax family and the Blume family (2 brothers co-owned the company with Gary) that constituted a good chunk of staff at any given time and seemed to suppress employee morale as the company grew.

You won't find a lot of details on product development. The attempted comic book arm that has been described in other books isn't to be found here. But you get a good look at the "Hollywood days" of Gygax as he went to the west coast in an effort to get D&D made into film and yes eventually, Sunday morning cartoons.

On full display is the hubris that quick success can bring and the awful business decisions one can make when money seems to be raining from above and can't possibly stop. Exponential growth was the expectation every year - regardless of outside factors. It seemed they wanted to go from a small company to a toy making powerhouse without stopping in the middle. They talked of competing with the enormous board game manufacturers of the time while D&D made them a big player in a very small pond. Ownership readily admitted they had little in the way of business training, and that becomes more and more evident as the company grew. A group leadership approach is fine for a small startup but proves to be increasingly problematic as opportunities and responsibilities mushroom. A company without a vision and someone to drive a team forward is bound to experience more than their fair share of growing pains. Entrepreneurs and those interested in business will learn a lot from reading about this particular decade in TSR's history.

In the end, the middle-aged war gamer was out maneuvered by a player that he invited to the table but never really saw as a threat. A pawn that could provide a cash infusion to help save his creation from the deep debt TSR found itself in by 1985. The general was vanquished and removed from the board. But he and all the creators at TSR build the foundation of a genre of gaming millions have enjoyed 50 years on (and counting).

Kudos to Peterson for his scholarship and his narrative flow. Never a dull moment in reading this. He would do a great service to the hobby and to RPG history by writing about Lorraine Williams years of TSR in another book and Wizards of the Coast and Peter Adkison in a third. If we can only be so lucky!
6 people found this helpful
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Jonathan F. Sullivan
4.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and compelling history of Gygax-era TSR
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2022
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Jon Peterson has made a name for himself as a gaming historian. His rightly lauded and fastidiously researched Playing at the World may well be the definitive treatment of the historical antecedents of modern role-playing games across the centuries.

Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons tackles a more focused topic: the creation of D&D and the first 12 years of Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) from its founding to the fateful evening when Gary Gygax was removed from direct control of the company. Peterson is particularly interested in divining credit for the game’s creation, sifting through the competing claims of Gygax and Dave Arneson, and detailing the (mis)management of TSR which led to Gygax inadvertently placing himself in danger of losing the company he co-founded.

Like Playing at the World, Game Wizards is well-researched with 30 pages of endnotes citing various trade magazines, columns in Dragon, and other sources. But what makes the book more readable than, say, Playing at the World is that Game Wizards has a compelling narrative on which to hang the various financial figures and convention numbers. No one thought Dungeons & Dragon would be an especially profitable idea (Peterson regularly reminds us that Gygax and Arneson thought it might be a “$300 idea”). So when the game takes off, what had been built on nebulous contracts and verbal agreements quickly becomes the focus of intense legal battles as various players seek their piece of the pie.

At yet those battles seem to have been exacerbated by the interpersonal conflicts that inevitably arose when a bunch of hobbyists tried to run a business. Broken promises, poor HR policies and procedures, and the lure of wealth and fame seem to have taken its toll on those who initially banded together to bring D&D to life, leading to the sad but inevitable climax of Gygax’s reign.

Game Wizards is a treat for RPG fans, especially those (like me) who came to the hobby well after the events it depicts. I highly recommend it.
3 people found this helpful
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Wulfstan
5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2021
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Jon Peterson has done it again with Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons (Game Histories) . This tome is a complete history of TSR, aka Tactical Studies Rules, and the birth of Dungeons and Dragons. It could be titled "The Rise and Fall of the D&D Empire".

I was around back then, and played a small part in D&D history (Jon apologized for leaving me out, but he said his publisher was already complaining about how long the book was) although I had no "in" to the daily workings of the company.

This book is also a very good "must read" "How NOT to do" book for small business start ups. You may have a great idea (And D&D was one of the best) but if you don't know how to run a business once it gets BIG, you will run into many of the same issues that Gygax and TSR did- expreme nepotism, spending huge amount of cash on wasteful projects, and generally killing your own Golden Goose.

Towards the end, it became hard to read as the decline was so very tragic.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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John L Keating
5.0 out of 5 stars A very good chronology of the early days of D&D
Reviewed in Canada on November 18, 2021
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Game Wizards gives a very detailed look at the origins of Dungeons and Dragons, with extensive, well-cited supporting documents. As with many history books that rely on personal letters and accounts, you have to be wary of bias, but the author does a good job of cutting through the subjectivity to piece together what probably happened. I think the best indicator that Game Wizards gives an objective account is that none of the major players come out looking particularly great in the end.

If you're looking for a detailed real-world history of DnD, this is a must have.
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Gianluca
5.0 out of 5 stars Un pezzo di storia dei giochi di ruolo, un saggio meraviglioso
Reviewed in Italy on November 16, 2021
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Meraviglioso approfondimento fatto da un autore di peso (suo è infatti il ponderoso Playing at the World, oltre che lo stupendo Art & Arcana) sulla storia dei contenziosi (anche legali) tra i due co-creatori di D&D (Gary Gygax e Dave Arneson) per la paternità del gioco più bello del mondo.
A questi si intrecciano le vicende della casa editrice TSR, da creatura di Gygax e di cui Gygax era presidente, fino ad arrivare alla sua estromissione da parte di nuovo e vecchio management. Un decennio (1975-1985) analizzato anno per anno meticolosamente e con un enorme lavoro di documentazione. Il risultato è davvero impressionante e molto dettagliato.
Assolutamente e caldamente consigliato a tutti gli appassionati di storia dei giochi di ruolo ed in particolare di D&D, il primo e di gran lunga il più famoso.
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giovanni
5.0 out of 5 stars Mandatory reading for any self respectable D&D player
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 5, 2021
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I'm a avid D&D player, and this book taught me so much about it. It's the story of a small company created as a hobby, which quickly grew too much, and collapsed on itself.
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Tall Man
4.0 out of 5 stars Recommended for old gamers like me
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 21, 2021
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Had great fun reading this. I cringed as I learnt about how great wargamers were poor businessmen and got themselves into a big hole that is reflected in the gaming industry today. A recommended read.
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