Description
Explore the conceptual origins of wargames and role-playing games in
this unprecedented history of simulating the real and the impossible. From a
vast survey of primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to
modern hobbyists, Playing at the World distills the story of how gamers first
decided fictional battles with boards and dice, and how they moved from
simulating wars to simulating people. The invention of role-playing games
serves as a touchstone for exploring the ways that the literary concept of
character, the lure of fantastic adventure and the principles of gaming
combined into the signature cultural innovation of the late twentieth century.
