A Tale of Dungeons and Dragons and the Origins of the Game Platform
Published in Analog Game Studies, 2019
Recommended citation: LaLone, Nicolas. "A Tale of Dungeons & Dragons and the Origins of the Game Platform." Analog Game Studies 3.6 (2019). http://analoggamestudies.org/2019/09/a-tale-of-dungeons-dragons-and-the-origins-of-the-game-platform/
This essay narrows the gap between analog1 and digital games by connecting Dungeons and Dragons (1974) or D&D to the origins of the video game industry. Despite its analog status, D&D is a video gaming platform much like a Nintendo Switch, Mattel Intellivision, or the Atari Lynx. In fact, it is the first platform, or environment that programming can be performed on2. D&D was formed of the same military logic as programming languages and shared a release date with the first computers available for public use.3
LaLone, Nicolas. “A Tale of Dungeons & Dragons and the Origins of the Game Platform.” Analog Game Studies 3.6 (2019).