Dungeons & Dragons
The world's most popular tabletop role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). Updates to the game have been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997.
History of Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons was derived from popular miniature war games of the 1960s and 1970s, most notably the 1971 game Chainmail, created by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Instead of playing as a military formation, players create individual characters who interact with a fantasy world, while the Dungeon Master takes the role of the world in which the characters play, managing the setting and portraying the inhabitants of the world the characters encounter (also known as non-player characters, or NPCs).
In 1977 the game split between the rules-light Original D&D and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, with a 2nd edition of AD&D published in 1989. A 3rd edition of the game was released in 2000, with an updated 3.5 edition following in 2003. Dedicated players largely disregard the 4th edition of the game released in 2008, preferring the modern 5th edition, released in 2014 and popularized by actual-play productions such as Critical Role, Dimension 20, The Adventure Zone, Acquisitions Inc., and many, many more. An updated 5.5 edition was released in 2024.
For a more detailed and nuanced history of Dungeons & Dragons, visit the D&D Wikipedia page.