Shane’s Take — Game Wizards

With the popularity of the game today, it’s hard to imagine a time before Dungeons & Dragons. The fact that the game ever gained a following to begin with is incredible. ​This book details the history of not only the men that helped to create the game, but the company that they formed. What started as a hobby grew to a tiny business with an expected worth of $300. Within a few years, through a lot of luck, the game took off to define a new segment in the hobby of games, growing to a company that employed hundreds and had revenues of tens of millions of dollars. There’s an amazing story here, involving a lot of drama about the rights to the game, royalties, stock options, and a group of people who were gamers and were never really very good at business. As someone who came upon the game at a young age when much of this was going on behind the scenes, it was fascinating to read about. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves RPGs or wants to learn about some of the pitfalls of a hobby growing into a business faster than you can manage it.