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A review by yellowdaniel
The Elusive Shift: How Role-Playing Games Forged Their Identity by Jon Peterson
4.0
Bit of a dry book, but a great read for those interested in the history of RPGs. I think my two main takeaways were:
Gygax did not invent RPGs at all. In fact he even pushed back against both the term and the playstyle. He only embraced it later when he realized it was profitable. But even more importantly there are at least five other games before D&D which could easily be called a roleplaying game, and at least one of those games had direct influence on D&D too. I will eternally be greatful to this book for giving me more support against anyone who thinks Gygax was anything but trash.
I was simultanously frustrated and amused by reading about the kind of disagreements geeks had back in the 70s. But at the end of the book there's some great thoughts on how all that bs ultimately inspired people to create better and more interesting games and I really feel that.
Gygax did not invent RPGs at all. In fact he even pushed back against both the term and the playstyle. He only embraced it later when he realized it was profitable. But even more importantly there are at least five other games before D&D which could easily be called a roleplaying game, and at least one of those games had direct influence on D&D too. I will eternally be greatful to this book for giving me more support against anyone who thinks Gygax was anything but trash.
I was simultanously frustrated and amused by reading about the kind of disagreements geeks had back in the 70s. But at the end of the book there's some great thoughts on how all that bs ultimately inspired people to create better and more interesting games and I really feel that.