Game Wizards
The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons
by Jon Peterson
Narrated by Chris Andrew Ciulla

I received a digital copy of this audiobook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have not played Dungeons and Dragons myself but I have a 9 year old who’s getting into so I thought I’d do some research. I have seen Stranger Things which I feel like has made waves in popularizing this role playing game along with The Big Bang Theory. Being a nerd is relatively cool these days.

Getting a non-fiction historical accounting of the development of such a unique and prolific game style was fascinating and in a way reminded me of a real life version of Ready Player One. This book is accessible to both the expert and the novice in this genre of entertainment. Check it out. 4.5/5

I was a little disappointed in the direction this book took. I was expecting a more wide-scope view of D&D and its cultural impacts. But an enormous portion of the book is taken up with a detailed biography of the eccentric creator, including long passages of correspondence that, out of their original context, didn't really interest me. I ultimately set it aside.

As an avid Dungeons and Dragons player, this book was very interesting. From a player's point of view, learning about how the game we love was created and developed was fascinating and rather eye-opening. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the early Gen Con convention. (Yeah, I know con is short for convention, but it makes more sense this way.) From an entrepreneur's point of view, this book is a case study on why business deals need to be sealed with contracts, contracts that have all the details spelled out and agreed to by all parties involved. Even "casual" businesses, such as a small Etsy shop that you make with your sister, make a contract.

Through all crunchy details and trying to keep the names of everyone involved straight, this is a well-researched and written book about the demise of a beloved game company.

Have you been playing D&D and other fantasy TTRPGs for years? Have you ever wondered about its origin story? If so Game Wizards is for you. From the origins in more conventional wargaming to the rise of the company that would eventually be purchased by Wizards of the Coast this book has all of the details.

Game Wizards is obviously well researched and approached with a genuine interest in the business behind D&D. Beyond the historical particulars the book also demonstrates how memories can change when something that we thought would be insignificant later turns out to be groundbreaking.

With that said this book is not for someone just getting into Nonfiction reading or without an interest in business or financial writing. While extremely informative the content can be dry. Though this is a hallmark of corporate and business writing in general rather than an issue with this particular book. It is hard to make a balance sheet interesting to the general reader.

As an enthusiastic teenage dungeon master, I enjoyed this history of the development, marketing, and growth of the game. The main thread here is the tale of Dave Arneson as co-creator with Gary Gygax of the game and the many years Arneson invested in claiming royalties for publications based on his original work. Mostly, this legal wrangling is tedious. However, it was interesting to learn that copyright relates to written works, but not ideas and concepts:

The Copyright Office factsheet on games explains exactly this: Copyright does not protect the idea for game, its name or title, or the method or methods for playing it. Nor does copyright protect any idea, system, method, device, or trademark material involved in developing, merchandising, or playing a game.


- "It's How You Play the Game", americanbar.org

Despite these apparent obstacles to a meaningful claim, did not seem to substantially deter Arneson from appreciable success over those years.

Gygax himself, a Christian cobbler arising from humble means, comes across as dictatorial, petty, and later outmaneuvered in the boardroom. Apparently anxiety-induced illnesses cripple him at the highpoint of his success and his adultery upsets his home life. Home life was basically part of work life, too, since the nepotism of the Gygax and his business partner Brian Blume. Maybe these dynamics were at least part to blame for the mishandling of the company's success. I can be no judge of that and even the human failings are more banal than salacious.

For me the most interesting part of was the choppy waters of the Satanic panic era. I myself saw my afterschool D&D group disbanded due to a clamorous few as recounted here in a case in Utah. The other D&D controversies had been dimmer memories to me. For instance, I recall book editions having content removed, which was both for trademark (Tolkien,) and controversy ("demigods") reasons. At the time I found it merely amusing.

It was more interesting the whole D&D in tunnels thing which apparently was less real than I thought at the time. This book sort out the mystery of Dallas Egbert from the flamboyant, publicity hound detective William Dear. (This story connects the Michigan I was born in to the Louisiana I now live in.) From this much-ado-about-nothing, came the Mazes and Monsters and all the waters were muddied by the roiling of folk devils and moral panics.

Game Wizards is a super interesting history of Dungeons & Dragons. The controversies along the way and dispelling some rumors about the games creators.
The narrator did an excellent job of making this long book interesting throughout. Parts that could have been exhausting remained exciting. If you're a fan of dungeons and dragons or just a fan of history, this is definitely worth picking up!

I'm a fan of D&D and learning about company histories. So obviously I had to listen to this one. As the book prefaces this isn't about how the game has evolved, it's rather more about who and what was behind the scenes and how the company grew. This is a very factual book and it is quite dense, while it was interesting it was hard to get through some sections. It is however very well researched and I think the audio format made it a lot more manageable. The narrator does a fine job of delivering the topic as well.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for a chance to review this advanced listening copy.