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aaronsteve's review
5.0
The turnabout I went through on Glenn Blacow is crazy. Full redemption arc.
In any case, I totally dug this. Who knew that a book about RPG philosophy and fanzine bickering would be so engaging? Feels like a real foundational work; strongly recommend to anyone interested in game design or discussion in the tabletop RPG space.
Shout out to Matt Colville and his community for piquing my interest enough to read this.
In any case, I totally dug this. Who knew that a book about RPG philosophy and fanzine bickering would be so engaging? Feels like a real foundational work; strongly recommend to anyone interested in game design or discussion in the tabletop RPG space.
Shout out to Matt Colville and his community for piquing my interest enough to read this.
sunnyphantic's review
funny
informative
medium-paced
5.0
I really enjoyed reading this- it's a great book for those who enjoy D&D (maybe especially for those who get heated about it on Reddit) and can handle a bit of a denser text. Although Peterson isn't really cracking jokes throughout, he contextualizes and analyzes his sources in such a way that made me laugh out loud a few times. I thoroughly enjoyed this earnest yet not-too-serious history of TTRPGs generally and D&D specifically. I appreciated that Peterson doesn't pick a side in his writing (although I definitely do have a side), and instead mostly let sources speak for and define themselves. Great stuff, loved every minute of reading this
genericguardsman's review
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
A comprehensive analysis of how the games we know and love came into their own. The arguments here are complex, but Peterson does an admirable job of guiding you through these.
klagge's review
Interesting discussion of the tension between the cultures of wargaming/simulation and fantasy storytelling in the early years of D&D and roleplaying as a hobby, drawing mostly on zines. If you are going to read one book on the genesis of RPGs, though, I think "Playing at the World" is more interesting (but good luck finding a copy).
jonallanson's review
5.0
I just finished reading this, and I must say, I found it very interesting throughout. I'm very glad to have read it. This book was brought to my attention, I think, when it was mentioned on one of Matt Colville's YouTube videos (that, or a similar video by someone else, I can't quite remember). This is quite a scholarly work, and looks at the history of table-top role-playing games by researching what those involved in designing, producing, and playing those games were saying in fanzines published at the time. The focus of this work is the 70s and 80s, when these games first appeared and began to differentiate themselves from the wargames that had come before. In fact, it chronicles the creation and adoption of even the very terms we use to discuss these games, such as the term role-playing being used to describe them. What I found most fascinating about this quite well-written tome is that many of the heated debates about role-playing games and how they should be played that one can easily become embroiled in when looking in online and social media spaces these days all seem to have played out before in the pages of the fanzines. Since the literal inception of these games, it seems all that is now has indeed come before. And, this is not to be pessimistic about the games. Rather, I left with a greater understanding that the search for why we play these games has been going on since we have played these games, and those whys are rich and varied, and those espousing certain whys as the one true way were as vehement then as they are today. The book is rich with footnotes that add to the well-researched passages. It avoids canonizing the creators of many of the important initial games, and sidesteps its focus on those individuals by evaluating the discourse of the participating gamers as a whole. In this way, while it treads on some history I was familiar with, it uncovered to me many conversations and ideas with which I was unfamiliar. I found it very rewarding. If you are interested in the subject matter, this is well worth the time.
fulminataxii's review
5.0
In 1974 Dungeons & Dragons described itself as a set of “rules for fantastic medieval wargames campaigns.” Nowhere in the text could the term “role-play” or “role-playing game” be found. This book attempts to show how that term came to be applied to D&D and the games it inspired, and how the application of that term shaped the discussion of what exactly D&D (and other role-playing games) was, and how it should be played.
The author does this largely through exploring the fanzines of the era, within which a lot of this debate played out. In the process, showing that many of the questions asked by later gamers as to what was the nature of role-playing were being asked by the earliest players, and many of the same answers were being presented.
An excellent addition to the still rather limited corpus of works covering the history of role-playing games.
The author does this largely through exploring the fanzines of the era, within which a lot of this debate played out. In the process, showing that many of the questions asked by later gamers as to what was the nature of role-playing were being asked by the earliest players, and many of the same answers were being presented.
An excellent addition to the still rather limited corpus of works covering the history of role-playing games.