Posted in: Books, Dungeons & Dragons, Pop Culture | Tagged: d&d, MIT Press

MIT Press Announces Two Dungeons & Dragons Books

MIT Press revealed two new books coming out this Summer, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons in different ways.

MIT Press announced two new books coming out this year as they celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. Both of these books look at the game more as an introspection piece rather than content that just celebrates the anniversary. The first one is Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons, set to be released on May 14; this book is a collection of essays that explores and captures the essence of the game from multiple points of view. The second is Playing at the World, 2E: The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons, coming out on July 30; this is the first volume of two in an updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which explored the history of role-playing titles. We have more info on both books for you below.

Playing at the World, 2E: The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons ($30)

This new edition of Playing at the World is the first of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This first volume is The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons, which explores the publication of that iconic game. (The second volume is The Three Pillars of Role-Playing Games, a deeper dive into the history of the setting, system, and character creation of D&D.) In this first volume, Jon Peterson distills the story of how the wargaming clubs and fanzines circulating around the upper Midwest in the 1970s culminated in Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson's seminal role-playing game, D&D. It augments the research of the original edition with new insights into the crucial period in 1972–1973 when D&D began to take shape.

Drawing from primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to modern hobbyists, Playing at the World explores the origins of wargames and roleplaying through the history of conflict simulations and the eccentric characters who drove the creation of a signature cultural innovation in the late twentieth century. Filled with unparalleled archival research (from obscure fanzines to letters, drafts, and other ephemera), this new edition of Playing at the World is the ultimate geek's guide to the original RPG. As such, it is an indispensable resource for academics and game fans exploring the origins of the hobby.

Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons ($35)

In 2024, the enormously influential tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons—also known as D&D—celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. To mark the occasion, editors Premeet Sidhu, Marcus Carter, and José Zagal have assembled an edited collection that celebrates and reflects on important parts of the game's past, present, and future. Each chapter in Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons explores why the non-digital game is more popular than ever—with sales increasing 33 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite worldwide lockdowns—and offers readers the opportunity to critically reflect on their own experiences, perceptions, and play of D&D.

Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons draws on fascinating research and insight from expert scholars in the field, including Gary Alan Fine, whose 1983 book Shared Fantasy remains a canonical text in game studies; Jon Peterson, celebrated D&D historian; Daniel Justice, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Literature and Expressive Culture; and numerous leading and emerging scholars from the growing discipline of game studies, including Amanda Cote, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, and Aaron Trammell. The chapters cover a diverse range of topics—from D&D's adoption in local contexts and classrooms and by queer communities to speculative interpretations of what D&D might look like in one hundred years—that aim to deepen readers' understanding of the game.

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