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Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground: A Guide to Tabletop Roleplaying Games from D&D to Mothership
A richly illustrated, encyclopedic deep dive into the history of roleplaying games.
When Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson released Dungeons & Dragons in 1974, they created the first roleplaying game of all time. Little did they know that their humble box set of three small digest-sized booklets would spawn an entire industry practically overnight. In Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground , Stu Horvath explores how the hobby of roleplaying games, commonly known as RPGs, blossomed out of an unlikely pop culture phenomenon and became a dominant gaming form by the 2010s. Going far beyond D&D , this heavily illustrated tome covers more than three hundred different RPGs that have been published in the last five decades.
Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground features (among other things) bunnies, ghostbusters, soap operas, criminal bears, space monsters, political intrigue, vampires, romance, and, of course, some dungeons and dragons. In a decade-by-decade breakdown, Horvath chronicles how RPGs have evolved in the time between their inception and the present day, offering a deep and gratifying glimpse into a hobby that has changed the way we think about games and play.
When Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson released Dungeons & Dragons in 1974, they created the first roleplaying game of all time. Little did they know that their humble box set of three small digest-sized booklets would spawn an entire industry practically overnight. In Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground , Stu Horvath explores how the hobby of roleplaying games, commonly known as RPGs, blossomed out of an unlikely pop culture phenomenon and became a dominant gaming form by the 2010s. Going far beyond D&D , this heavily illustrated tome covers more than three hundred different RPGs that have been published in the last five decades.
Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground features (among other things) bunnies, ghostbusters, soap operas, criminal bears, space monsters, political intrigue, vampires, romance, and, of course, some dungeons and dragons. In a decade-by-decade breakdown, Horvath chronicles how RPGs have evolved in the time between their inception and the present day, offering a deep and gratifying glimpse into a hobby that has changed the way we think about games and play.
456 pages, Hardcover
First published October 10, 2023
33 people are currently reading
2058 people want to read
About the author
Stu Horvath
6 books54 followersFounder, Publisher of Unwinnable
Tabletop RPGs: VintageRPG on Instagram
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 13, 2023
A treasure trove — if you have any fondness for the RPGs of yore, this book is a must. Horvath has an encyclopedic knowledge of the hobby (or is it an art?), a warm and learned prose style, and a sense of humor; he's a terrific photographer to boot. It's a necessary companion to ARTS & ARCANA; if the names Gamma World, Traveler, Runequest, or Call of the Cthulhu make your heartbeat quicken, stop reading this review and go order!
October 23, 2023
A dense, erudite, and fun encyclopedia of TTRPGs through the years, Stu Horvath's book covers the birth and evolution of the hobby in a very comprehensive manner, with an eye towards what made the games work, and what held them back from a wider audience in some ways (read: heteronormative, white-male oriented POVs). While not totally exhaustive (I'm scratching my head as to why the 4th Edition of D&D isn't included here), this is one of the best, if not the best book of it's kind so far, and I hope we get a sequel at some point!
August 11, 2024
An amazing collection of reviews of different role-playing games from the start of the hobby to the present. Covers rules, modules, zines, and boxed sets from most of the major publishers over the past forty plus years. With photos of the art and including a recommended reading/watching/listening list of books, movies and music to accompany RPG’ing. An absolutely enjoyable read from beginning to end.
July 22, 2025
Stu Hovarth presents us with a volume of more than 400 colour pages, with a multitude of photos, in which he tells the story of role-playing games, from their birth with D&D to 2019.
Stu tackles this monumental task from the perspective of games and products, reviewing hundreds of them. As is logical, the list of products cannot be exhaustive, as he devotes a generous amount of space to each game, but he does provide a very comprehensive overview of everything that has been influential in the development of future games, gradually tracing a history in which various branches divide, reach dead ends, expand or contract.
Hovarth's research is that of a passionate academic, making for an absolutely delightful read in which we see his passion for this hobby. From time to time, he sprinkles the reviews with little personal stories and anecdotes that give the book a more personal and authentic touch.
It is also the perfect complement to the work Designers and Dragons, since while the latter focused on publishers, this one focuses on products, games and game systems. It also covers 10 years more than the first, so we can continue to follow the gaming and market trends that have emerged since then.
In short, this is an essential book for anyone interested in the fascinating history of pen-and-paper role-playing games.
Stu tackles this monumental task from the perspective of games and products, reviewing hundreds of them. As is logical, the list of products cannot be exhaustive, as he devotes a generous amount of space to each game, but he does provide a very comprehensive overview of everything that has been influential in the development of future games, gradually tracing a history in which various branches divide, reach dead ends, expand or contract.
Hovarth's research is that of a passionate academic, making for an absolutely delightful read in which we see his passion for this hobby. From time to time, he sprinkles the reviews with little personal stories and anecdotes that give the book a more personal and authentic touch.
It is also the perfect complement to the work Designers and Dragons, since while the latter focused on publishers, this one focuses on products, games and game systems. It also covers 10 years more than the first, so we can continue to follow the gaming and market trends that have emerged since then.
In short, this is an essential book for anyone interested in the fascinating history of pen-and-paper role-playing games.
April 23, 2024
I was slightly worried when I first opened Stu Horvath’s Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground (Monsters from here) that what I had gotten all excited for was essentially an encyclopedia. Not that the existence of an encyclopedia of tabletop RPGs would be a bad thing, but they tend to be incredibly dry reading and I wasn’t excited to tackle one from cover to cover. Thankfully, while the format resembles an encyclopedia the contents are distinctly their own thing. The feeling that Monsters most closely evokes is that of having been invited into the basement of a genial but intense RPG aficionado to be walked through his collection one item at a time. The book oozes a sense of familiarity and enthusiasm that make coverage of even the driest, or most bizarre, RPG supplements a fascinating trip down a branch of the hobby’s history.
Monsters doesn’t just focus on main series books or the advent of a new system or edition of a beloved classic. The coverage devotes just as much time to individual adventures as it does to entire systems and is determined to capture a more holistic view of how the hobby has developed than just leaping between names most of the readers will have already heard of. In particular, I really enjoyed the attention in the early sections devoted to the development of the published RPG adventure as a concept, with the emphasis on how TSR initially neglected this by now standard part of the hobby and how other companies filled that void. Generally, this wide focus allows Horvath to pay attention to many of the smaller names that nevertheless made the RPG hobby what it is today rather than dwelling overlong on Gygax, Arneson, et al, who are arguably better covered in other monographs.
The book’s contents are grouped by decade and within those sections further grouped by year of publication. RPGs from the 1970s through the 2010s, with a few cheeky 2020 games, are covered within its covers. The distribution is far from even across those decades, with the 1980s being by far the largest section and the 2000s the shortest. Each decade has something of a theme drawn out of the many items covered within. The 1970s are the wild west when experimentation and attempts to “fix” original D&D are the order of the day. The 1980s are an extension of this early experimentation, with entirely new systems of RPGs being developed and a shift in how games are played taking place – slowly codifying into an RPG scene one might recognize even if, theoretically, they weren’t even born when it happened. The 1990s emphasizes the edgy punk/goth aesthetics and a new focus on storytelling and experimentation that produced some wondrous (and potentially unplayable) games. The 2000s is given the shortest time and both represents something of a fallow period in RPGs and the beginning of something new, which sets the stage for the wild experimentation and innovation of the 2010s.
Not every RPG is included in the book – how could it be – and readers may note some few absences. For example, the 2000s section lumps the many OGL games that spawned off of D&D 3.0’s open license into one group and does not really dig deep into any one of them (sorry Dragonmech fans). It provides a similar treatment to the early retroclones, grouping many of them into a single heading and considering them more for what they share than for their individual aspects. This structure makes sense and avoids Horvath overly repeating himself, but I’m sure devotees of 2000s RPGs might be disappointed that their favorite obscure title is absent.
I admit I was a little surprised to not see any sections for the Burning Wheel system, although Torchbearer receives passing mention in discussions of other games, nor are there any examples of Modiphius 2d20 systems. The scope of Monsters is also limited to books that were published in English. When non-English systems are mentioned, it is either because they were translated into English later or because an English-language system was developed based on an earlier non-English ancestor (for example, Mutant Year-Zero). In both cases the books are placed in the timeframe linked to their English language publication, not their design origin.
It is worth reiterating that far from being a comprehensive listing of every RPG from the last five decades – the reading of which would be incredibly tedious – this is the author’s tour through his own collection and as such it is inherently his personal view of the RPG scene during that time and how it has developed. In that manner it is almost an oral history of the last five decades of tabletop roleplaying rather than a comprehensive academic survey.
Unfortunately, there are some some small errors in the writing, although these ultimately come down to an editorial error rather than an authorial one. I found a dozen or so instances of run on sentences, words that were probably meant to be deleted but were overlooked, and missing punctuation. Fortunately, the meaning of the text is never lost by these errors and the writing in general is smooth and easy to follow, with the overall effect (errors included) once again evoking the sense of someone spilling out their deep personal knowledge of the topic to you in person rather than in the form of a formal academic text. Similarly, while there is a lot here that historians of tabletop RPGs will benefit from, it is also not a purely academic book. There is a list of sources the author consulted, and a bibliography of games mentioned, but no foot/endnotes for individual entries. It is more a source unto itself, a primary account from someone who has lived through the development of RPGs, than it is an attempt at an objective account of that time.
I don’t want t sound overly critical – all of these elements are but minor nitpicks that I mention mostly to make clear what the scope of the book is and what it is not. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground and I expect I will be consulting it for many years to come. It significantly expanded my wish list of games I want to own and play (so be warned all who enter) but I can’t think of the last time I had this much fun reading an encyclopedic overview of a subject. I would gladly spend another book’s amount of time listening to Horvath’s opinions on yet more RPGs – but first could he point me to the stairs because I think I’ve been underground long enough and I’m not sure when I last saw the sun.
This review originally appeared on my website at: https://www.stuartellisgorman.com/blo...
Monsters doesn’t just focus on main series books or the advent of a new system or edition of a beloved classic. The coverage devotes just as much time to individual adventures as it does to entire systems and is determined to capture a more holistic view of how the hobby has developed than just leaping between names most of the readers will have already heard of. In particular, I really enjoyed the attention in the early sections devoted to the development of the published RPG adventure as a concept, with the emphasis on how TSR initially neglected this by now standard part of the hobby and how other companies filled that void. Generally, this wide focus allows Horvath to pay attention to many of the smaller names that nevertheless made the RPG hobby what it is today rather than dwelling overlong on Gygax, Arneson, et al, who are arguably better covered in other monographs.
The book’s contents are grouped by decade and within those sections further grouped by year of publication. RPGs from the 1970s through the 2010s, with a few cheeky 2020 games, are covered within its covers. The distribution is far from even across those decades, with the 1980s being by far the largest section and the 2000s the shortest. Each decade has something of a theme drawn out of the many items covered within. The 1970s are the wild west when experimentation and attempts to “fix” original D&D are the order of the day. The 1980s are an extension of this early experimentation, with entirely new systems of RPGs being developed and a shift in how games are played taking place – slowly codifying into an RPG scene one might recognize even if, theoretically, they weren’t even born when it happened. The 1990s emphasizes the edgy punk/goth aesthetics and a new focus on storytelling and experimentation that produced some wondrous (and potentially unplayable) games. The 2000s is given the shortest time and both represents something of a fallow period in RPGs and the beginning of something new, which sets the stage for the wild experimentation and innovation of the 2010s.
Not every RPG is included in the book – how could it be – and readers may note some few absences. For example, the 2000s section lumps the many OGL games that spawned off of D&D 3.0’s open license into one group and does not really dig deep into any one of them (sorry Dragonmech fans). It provides a similar treatment to the early retroclones, grouping many of them into a single heading and considering them more for what they share than for their individual aspects. This structure makes sense and avoids Horvath overly repeating himself, but I’m sure devotees of 2000s RPGs might be disappointed that their favorite obscure title is absent.
I admit I was a little surprised to not see any sections for the Burning Wheel system, although Torchbearer receives passing mention in discussions of other games, nor are there any examples of Modiphius 2d20 systems. The scope of Monsters is also limited to books that were published in English. When non-English systems are mentioned, it is either because they were translated into English later or because an English-language system was developed based on an earlier non-English ancestor (for example, Mutant Year-Zero). In both cases the books are placed in the timeframe linked to their English language publication, not their design origin.
It is worth reiterating that far from being a comprehensive listing of every RPG from the last five decades – the reading of which would be incredibly tedious – this is the author’s tour through his own collection and as such it is inherently his personal view of the RPG scene during that time and how it has developed. In that manner it is almost an oral history of the last five decades of tabletop roleplaying rather than a comprehensive academic survey.
Unfortunately, there are some some small errors in the writing, although these ultimately come down to an editorial error rather than an authorial one. I found a dozen or so instances of run on sentences, words that were probably meant to be deleted but were overlooked, and missing punctuation. Fortunately, the meaning of the text is never lost by these errors and the writing in general is smooth and easy to follow, with the overall effect (errors included) once again evoking the sense of someone spilling out their deep personal knowledge of the topic to you in person rather than in the form of a formal academic text. Similarly, while there is a lot here that historians of tabletop RPGs will benefit from, it is also not a purely academic book. There is a list of sources the author consulted, and a bibliography of games mentioned, but no foot/endnotes for individual entries. It is more a source unto itself, a primary account from someone who has lived through the development of RPGs, than it is an attempt at an objective account of that time.
I don’t want t sound overly critical – all of these elements are but minor nitpicks that I mention mostly to make clear what the scope of the book is and what it is not. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground and I expect I will be consulting it for many years to come. It significantly expanded my wish list of games I want to own and play (so be warned all who enter) but I can’t think of the last time I had this much fun reading an encyclopedic overview of a subject. I would gladly spend another book’s amount of time listening to Horvath’s opinions on yet more RPGs – but first could he point me to the stairs because I think I’ve been underground long enough and I’m not sure when I last saw the sun.
This review originally appeared on my website at: https://www.stuartellisgorman.com/blo...
March 21, 2024
I knew I wanted to read this book as soon as I learned it existed. Partly, because I love RPGs (tabletop and otherwise), and this sort of geek history is always of interest, but also because of the times in which we're living. If you're reading this in the future, and the mounting controversies stemming from Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast have long blown over, I'll do my best to summarize.
As I'm writing this, it's been a bit over a year now, since the company that owns Dungeons & Dragons has started doing seemingly everything it can to shoot itself in the foot. Everything from trying to rewrite licensing agreements, to laying off sizable portions of its creative staff, to releasing incomplete products (looking at you, Spelljammer), to trying to push the hobby further and further towards being primarily digital, they haven't been doing much to endear a discerning gamer to D&D as a brand. To the extent that there's even a Facebook group called "I'm Begging You To Play Another RPG," focused on offering suggestions for alternatives, depending on what themes/mechanics a player is looking for. So, when I discovered a book was being written that ostensibly chronicles the expansive world of tabletop RPG offerings throughout history, I was thrilled.
Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground largely delivers on that, though there are an awful lot of pages devoted to D&D-related content, until about the middle of the 2000s. And yes, D&D was formative to the hobby, and the various editions are worthy of discussion--but I question if we needed quite so much time devoted to various and sundry individual adventure modules. It's one of the only downsides to this book. Thankfully, thing get a lot more diverse from that point onward, highlighting a ton of RPGs I'd never even heard of before. Including some I might very well check out.
The only other downside is that Horvath is at times a bit reactionary. Some of his points are decent ones, like mentioning how Chaosium has taken measures to circumvent H.P. Lovecraft's by now largely-recognized racism in the Call of Cthulhu game, but other times it feels like he's trying too hard to virtue-signal. He stops short of the ludicrous "orcs are black people" claim from a few years back, but he goes so far as to imply that a Street Samurai character class in Shadowrun is somehow "troublesome." It just sometimes feels like he's searching for problems when he doesn't need to.
Still, this is a very enjoyable book, and a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the history of the hobby, and where it might be going. It isn't an exhaustive list, but I doubt any liftable book could be. Well worth a read for anyone who's ever sat down with friends and had a good time rolling dice.
As I'm writing this, it's been a bit over a year now, since the company that owns Dungeons & Dragons has started doing seemingly everything it can to shoot itself in the foot. Everything from trying to rewrite licensing agreements, to laying off sizable portions of its creative staff, to releasing incomplete products (looking at you, Spelljammer), to trying to push the hobby further and further towards being primarily digital, they haven't been doing much to endear a discerning gamer to D&D as a brand. To the extent that there's even a Facebook group called "I'm Begging You To Play Another RPG," focused on offering suggestions for alternatives, depending on what themes/mechanics a player is looking for. So, when I discovered a book was being written that ostensibly chronicles the expansive world of tabletop RPG offerings throughout history, I was thrilled.
Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground largely delivers on that, though there are an awful lot of pages devoted to D&D-related content, until about the middle of the 2000s. And yes, D&D was formative to the hobby, and the various editions are worthy of discussion--but I question if we needed quite so much time devoted to various and sundry individual adventure modules. It's one of the only downsides to this book. Thankfully, thing get a lot more diverse from that point onward, highlighting a ton of RPGs I'd never even heard of before. Including some I might very well check out.
The only other downside is that Horvath is at times a bit reactionary. Some of his points are decent ones, like mentioning how Chaosium has taken measures to circumvent H.P. Lovecraft's by now largely-recognized racism in the Call of Cthulhu game, but other times it feels like he's trying too hard to virtue-signal. He stops short of the ludicrous "orcs are black people" claim from a few years back, but he goes so far as to imply that a Street Samurai character class in Shadowrun is somehow "troublesome." It just sometimes feels like he's searching for problems when he doesn't need to.
Still, this is a very enjoyable book, and a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the history of the hobby, and where it might be going. It isn't an exhaustive list, but I doubt any liftable book could be. Well worth a read for anyone who's ever sat down with friends and had a good time rolling dice.
May 6, 2024
There hasn't been an overall history of Table Top Roleplaying games since Lawrence Schick's Heroic World back in 1991 so the subject was in dire need of an update. This tome is well presented covering the evolution of the hobby, addressing notable controversies and also highlight landmark releases and when new innovations in game mechanics were introduced and which system introduced them. To me an eye opening aspect is the coverage given to games from non-english speaking countries who often have a very different style of story telling to the traditions I'm used to(I knew the Scandnavians love Death Metal, but I had no idea they applied it to their RPG systems, although in hindsight it seem totally obvious that they would). As well as the easy to follow format, the book is lavishly illustrated with colour photos from the author's collection and custom art separating each decade giving the reader an idea of what the overall themes and development of that decade are going to be. Not every game system is covered, the hobby has grown so much over the last thirty years cataloguing them all would be a nearly impossible task, and one notable system is deliberately left out because it's author went on to get involved in far right/neo nazi politics (See the book's introduction for the details), but Horvath does an excellent job of picking out the products that are milestones in the development of the hobby and explaining why they are important to the reader.
This book is a must have for any serious fan of the hobby and would be very useful in helping a new comer chose a system that would suit their style of play although this book is probably a bit on the pricey side for this.
While the appeal of this book is very specialised, it does a first class job of catering for it's intended audience.
This book is a must have for any serious fan of the hobby and would be very useful in helping a new comer chose a system that would suit their style of play although this book is probably a bit on the pricey side for this.
While the appeal of this book is very specialised, it does a first class job of catering for it's intended audience.
January 12, 2024
As a long time fan of TTRPGs this book was almost everything I wanted it to be.
- Incredible production values. A sturdy and beautiful volume that can certainly double as a coffee table book.
- Photographic images of all product discussed with credits for each. A nice added touch as you see creators and artists appear again and again and can chart their influence in the hobby.
- Organized by decade. Gives a great sense of evolution of the hobby as a whole and an idea of the expansion of the audience and rules systems over time. From a loose system of rules, to more clearly defined and rendered systems, to more story driven approaches to play.
- A clear and thoughtful acknowledgment of ideas being presented in the 1970s-1990s in terms of race, gender, stereotypes, and various tropes and themes, that have seen a stark change as the genre evolved (and continues to evolve) into the 2000s.
- Fantastic appendices and indices. Easy to reference works that were influential to the author as well as the option of finding the exact product you were looking for.
My one personal nitpick, as an old grognard who has played far fewer games than Mr. Horvath, was the exclusions of the Paranoia and Hackmaster RPG. Mr. Horvath does an incredible job chronicling the evolution of games design within the pages of this book and I thought these might be an oversight.
This is well worth your money and time invested in reading it if you have any interest in the hobby or have aspirations to work in the hobby as a designer or creator. Thank you for this incredible contribution.
- Incredible production values. A sturdy and beautiful volume that can certainly double as a coffee table book.
- Photographic images of all product discussed with credits for each. A nice added touch as you see creators and artists appear again and again and can chart their influence in the hobby.
- Organized by decade. Gives a great sense of evolution of the hobby as a whole and an idea of the expansion of the audience and rules systems over time. From a loose system of rules, to more clearly defined and rendered systems, to more story driven approaches to play.
- A clear and thoughtful acknowledgment of ideas being presented in the 1970s-1990s in terms of race, gender, stereotypes, and various tropes and themes, that have seen a stark change as the genre evolved (and continues to evolve) into the 2000s.
- Fantastic appendices and indices. Easy to reference works that were influential to the author as well as the option of finding the exact product you were looking for.
My one personal nitpick, as an old grognard who has played far fewer games than Mr. Horvath, was the exclusions of the Paranoia and Hackmaster RPG. Mr. Horvath does an incredible job chronicling the evolution of games design within the pages of this book and I thought these might be an oversight.
This is well worth your money and time invested in reading it if you have any interest in the hobby or have aspirations to work in the hobby as a designer or creator. Thank you for this incredible contribution.
February 7, 2025
First, I must say what this book is not, and it is NOT an encyclopedia of RPG's. Do not purchase it with that in mind!
What it IS, however, is a series of hundreds (thousands?) of small essay-like reviews and discussions from author Stu Horvath exploring his incredibly extensive collection of RPG's. Taken altogether it becomes a history lesson in the ebb and flow of the hobby and its industries, the strange fads that took over during certain decades, explanations for those fads, and the compelling answers to the question of "Well, what happened next?"
Again, this is not an encyclopedia. One will inevitably find some things missing, like D&D 4th edition. It would be beyond one man's ability to own EVERY RPG that exists, and this is, after all, an exploration of Stu Horvath's collection. But it is an incredibly big collection, and the book features wonderful photographs of book covers for every single entry. Arranged by decade, every 'chapter' begins with a lovely illustration that just oozes of rpg flavor and mood. Reading this book will certainly make you want to do SOMETHING involving RPG's, whether it's go play one, GM one, or make one yourself.
Alas, I dinged the review a single star (and I'd make it .5 of a star if I could) because I couldn't help but start to feel a very specific, editorial mood creep into the text as I got into '2010'. Increasingly, discussion of more modern RPG's felt like opportunities to take shots at old ones, proselytizing on the virtues of strange, experimental rpg's that make boasts such as 'This game is only a single page long, has no GM, requires no set-up-time, and doesn't incorporate any colonialist agenda at all!'
What it IS, however, is a series of hundreds (thousands?) of small essay-like reviews and discussions from author Stu Horvath exploring his incredibly extensive collection of RPG's. Taken altogether it becomes a history lesson in the ebb and flow of the hobby and its industries, the strange fads that took over during certain decades, explanations for those fads, and the compelling answers to the question of "Well, what happened next?"
Again, this is not an encyclopedia. One will inevitably find some things missing, like D&D 4th edition. It would be beyond one man's ability to own EVERY RPG that exists, and this is, after all, an exploration of Stu Horvath's collection. But it is an incredibly big collection, and the book features wonderful photographs of book covers for every single entry. Arranged by decade, every 'chapter' begins with a lovely illustration that just oozes of rpg flavor and mood. Reading this book will certainly make you want to do SOMETHING involving RPG's, whether it's go play one, GM one, or make one yourself.
Alas, I dinged the review a single star (and I'd make it .5 of a star if I could) because I couldn't help but start to feel a very specific, editorial mood creep into the text as I got into '2010'. Increasingly, discussion of more modern RPG's felt like opportunities to take shots at old ones, proselytizing on the virtues of strange, experimental rpg's that make boasts such as 'This game is only a single page long, has no GM, requires no set-up-time, and doesn't incorporate any colonialist agenda at all!'
January 16, 2024
This is truly a "tome" (which means if you drop it on your foot, you are in trouble).
As a person who was first introduced to Dungeons and Dragons by my older stepbrother around 1979, I've been fascinated with RPG's and their wonderful polyhedral dice for decades now. This book was both a chance to revisit fun memories of games from my youth in the 80's (D&D, Star Frontiers, Champions, Toon!, and Star Wars) as well as a chance to "fill in the gaps" about games and books I saw at the hobby store but did not purchase (there were SO MANY times I looked at that Traveller box, but I never took the leap).
All that being said, I'm also a follower and fan of Stu Horvath's "Vintage RPG" podcast, so it is hard for me not to love this work.
Recommended for anyone who wants a peruse the history of the RPG hobby by taking a look at example games that developed from the 1970's on. Also recommended for "Grognards" like me who enjoyed the hobby in their youth and would like to revisit those games they played, in a larger context, as an adult.
As a person who was first introduced to Dungeons and Dragons by my older stepbrother around 1979, I've been fascinated with RPG's and their wonderful polyhedral dice for decades now. This book was both a chance to revisit fun memories of games from my youth in the 80's (D&D, Star Frontiers, Champions, Toon!, and Star Wars) as well as a chance to "fill in the gaps" about games and books I saw at the hobby store but did not purchase (there were SO MANY times I looked at that Traveller box, but I never took the leap).
All that being said, I'm also a follower and fan of Stu Horvath's "Vintage RPG" podcast, so it is hard for me not to love this work.
Recommended for anyone who wants a peruse the history of the RPG hobby by taking a look at example games that developed from the 1970's on. Also recommended for "Grognards" like me who enjoyed the hobby in their youth and would like to revisit those games they played, in a larger context, as an adult.
October 10, 2024
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. There’s a lot of great information within. The layout and images are really well done. I’m happy to have it on my shelf. I will undoubtedly pull it down now and again for years to come.
What was bothersome is that the book is so very much a product of the early 2020s. The author is constantly jumping in with non-sequitors seemingly with no purpose but to convince you, the reader, that he is a “Good White Man” (see Freddie deBoer). He does this with constant throat-clearing about how some piece of RPG work is problematic for this irrelevant reason or that.
A good example is the amount of space he dedicates to reminding us that HP Lovecraft was a bad person and racist. Yup… we know. It really isn’t particularly relevant to the subject at hand. It comes off as desperate virtue signaling. It’s a shame because it mars an otherwise great resource on RPG history.
What was bothersome is that the book is so very much a product of the early 2020s. The author is constantly jumping in with non-sequitors seemingly with no purpose but to convince you, the reader, that he is a “Good White Man” (see Freddie deBoer). He does this with constant throat-clearing about how some piece of RPG work is problematic for this irrelevant reason or that.
A good example is the amount of space he dedicates to reminding us that HP Lovecraft was a bad person and racist. Yup… we know. It really isn’t particularly relevant to the subject at hand. It comes off as desperate virtue signaling. It’s a shame because it mars an otherwise great resource on RPG history.
December 19, 2023
My local radio station has a slogan that fits this guide aptly -- 'curated no encoded.' In an age of algorithm driven homogenized corporate entertainment here is one man's walk through the forest of Tabletop Roleplaying and a report on what he has seen of interest; the stones turned over, the unique mushroom growing under a branch, a hidden pool behind the ferns. This dive into Tabletop Roleplaying is personal, historical, extensive, explorative, and written in the voice of someone wholly passionate about the nooks and crannies of an imaginative space that includes so very much more than 'The World's Greatest RPG." It is a wonderful resource, a joyous catalog of easily missed inventions, a beautifully curated bounty.
November 18, 2023
Required reading for anyone interested in these games. Blends history and an articulation of the continually evolving definition of what a table top role-playing game is without being pedantic. I believe this has everything to do with Horvath’s enthusiasm for the subject, which is evidenced by the obvious breadth and depth of his research but also in his personable, conversational tone. The reader feels like they’re listening to a friend who’s excited to talk about something they’ve just learned, and it’s super-infectious.
January 29, 2024
A big, fun, eminently readable history of the evolution of design philosophy in tabletop RPGs, from the 70s through today. In contrast to Shannon Appelcline's DESIGNERS AND DRAGONS series (also excellent! also highly recommended!), Horvath isn't aiming at a comprehensive, objective history of every major game. Horvath is distinctly opinionated, writing with an eye toward gameplay trends. He slots each game into the TTRPG marketplace of its time, rather than treating it as a property in isolation.
Definite recommendation for hobbyists, designers, and the curious.
Definite recommendation for hobbyists, designers, and the curious.
December 7, 2023
This is a dreambook, one I wish I'd had growing up, the ultimate guide to roleplaying games from their inception to present. Horvath has compiled the most comprehensive collection of profiles of the games, and it's beautifully illustrated by Kyle Patterson. MIT Press did an exemplary job with book design and putting out a quality book with full-color art on every page. I'm so happy this book exists and commend everybody who made it possible.
March 20, 2024
Yes, I read the whole thing. This book is both the most in-depth history of the development of ttrpgs I've ever read, and a remarkable snapshot of the particular interests of the community right now, fractured and opposed to each other as they are. If you're at all interested in that sort of thing, this book is the best thing on the market, and probably will be for quite some time
March 27, 2024
I consider myself pretty well-versed in terms of RPG history and the range of games that are out there, but this taught me things I didn't know about games I was already familiar with as well as highlighting products I'd never, ever heard of. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
May 1, 2024
This was a really great read. As a longtime fan of TTRPGs who's also a historian and a librarian, I suppose this was up several of my alleys. But even the more casual reader will find a lot to like here. Horvath's writing on these games is insightful, sensitive, and very well-informed. It's frequently wry and witty, too. Plus the book's art is delightful. Highly recommended!
December 29, 2023
Like Horvath's Instagram VintageRPG page, this is an essential and superb addition to every rpgers library.
May 11, 2025
A good look at the old school rpgs released in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The converage after that was not as detailed. I was surprised that Ptolus only got one sentence in the entire book.
October 1, 2025
What a great Book about RPGs. This one has so much lore - there is no comparable book!
October 30, 2023
Absolutely brilliant and delightful. A must read for all rpg fans.
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