Dungeons & Dragons

One of the first game engines was made of pen, paper, dice and conversation.

Created in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the original Dungeons & Dragons was based on popular tabletop wargame Chainmail (1971).

Inspired by the fantasy worlds of books like The Lord of the Rings, D&D adds an element of creative storytelling to the gaming world. Players design their own characters and work together to go on adventures, led by a game leader called the Dungeon Master. And where a game of Chainmail was decided by strategy alone, D&D players roll a dice to play their next move, adding danger and chance. It feels more like acting out a story than playing a regular board game.

Fifty years later, D&D, now in its fifth official version, is one of the most popular games in the world. From official videogames like Pool of Radiance (1988), Baldur’s Gate (1998–) and the Neverwinter Nights series (2002–06) to the common design of a character creation screen, you can see how much it has shaped modern games.

In Dungeons & Dragons (1974), players work together to tell stories and solve problems, with a focus on characters and social interaction.

Soon after the game was released in the mid-1970s, conventions and community-run groups sprang up all over the world. These conventions were also hotbeds for early hobbyist videogame makers, who sold their homebrewed videogames alongside fan art and custom-built tabletop modules. Homebrewed games were independently created, built without official tools for existing consoles and systems.

Events like Phantastacon, CanCon and TrekCon were established in Australia. The longest-running local convention is Arcanacon, founded in Melbourne in 1983. With its do-it-yourself spirit and famous monster mascot, ‘Syd’, Arcanacon created a space where tabletop fans could participate in game tournaments, cosplay championships and parties with others who shared their interests.