Game Wizards

Series Foreword ix
Preface xi
I From a Club to a Company
Opening Moves 5
Gygax and Arneson 15
The $300 Idea 33
II Adventurers in Business
1975: Sage Street, Goodbye 55
1976: Stab 79
1977: The Great War 103
1978: Stolen Glory 125
III The Everfull Purse
1979: Treasure in the Steam Tunnels 151
1980: The Spotlight 175
1981: Identity Crisis 199
1982: Extravagance 223
IV Disjunction
1983: Splitting the Party 251
1984: Cursed 273
1985: The Ambush at Sheridan Springs 289
Epilogue: Endgame 313
Sources and Acknowledgments 319
Index 353

Jon Peterson, a leading expert on Dungeons & Dragons and role-playing games, is the author of Playing at the World, Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana (a Hugo Award finalist), the New York Times bestseller Heroes' Feast, and The Elusive Shift: How Role-Playing Games Forged Their Identity (MIT Press).

"The battle Over Dungeons & Dragons was the ultimate geek war."
Wired

"In Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons, historian Jon Peterson hopes to lay to rest the rumors and speculation that have plagued the early history of D&D. At the center of this new book is the feud between co-creators Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. His work relies on a treasure trove of firsthand interviews and primary documentation, as well as remnants from the lost archives of D&D s original publisher, TSR."
Polygon

"A deep dive into a significant controversy in the gaming world: who deserves credit for the meteoric rise of Dungeons & Dragons and blame for the subsequent avalanche of public spats, lawsuits, and business bungling...A good dungeon crawl... treasures abound for experienced adventurers."
Kirkus Reviews

'Jon Peterson s Game Wizards is an in-depth history and I really do mean in-depth of the creation of Dungeons and Dragons and in particular the ugly struggle for control of TSR. It s vivid and incredibly well-researched, although this particular niche is well, it s very niche.'
Tim Harford

"A lively and readable history of the game, its first owners, and their fumbling attempts to run a business."
ZDNet

"Game Wizards makes a fascinating reading. We have never, ever seen such a level of detail and documentation regarding the inner workings of TSR down to board meetings and executives' plans and ideas. The book shines a really strong light on the 'secret history' of the company"
Dungeon Master Magazine