LAKE GENEVA — It's the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic games in the world, and it all started in a small Lake Geneva home.
The globally famous role playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, was published 50 years ago by Gary Gygax from his Walworth County home.
The game was created at 330 Center Street in Lake Geneva with the help of Gygax's co-creator Dave Arneson. Since 1974, the game has been played by millions across the world and inspired books, TV shows, and movies. It was even part of the 'Satanic Panic' in the 1980s. People falsely believed Dungeons & Dragons was a guise for satanic worship and was being used as a cult recruitment tool.
50 years since the game's publication, Dungeons & Dragons, also known as D&D, has become a part of our modern culture. Words and phrases have transitioned from only being used while playing the game to common speech.
"People talk about leveling up, they talk about critical hits, and, you know, I made my save and death save, and there's a whole bunch of things about characters and non-player characters (NPCs) that are in the lingo of humanity, but they all started with this game, Dungeons & Dragons," Paul Stormberg, the president of the Gygax Memorial Fund said.
The Gygax Memorial Fund's goal is to commemorate the life and contributions of Gary Gygax. The organization wants to build a statue of Gygax and a table where people can play D&D.
Stormberg has been playing D&D since the 1980s. Dungeons & Dragons was one of the first-ever role-playing games that inspired countless spin-offs and revolutionized the fantasy
and gaming industries. It offered people a new genre of game to play.
"So, it's actually becoming part of the fabric of humanity, which is a big deal. It's just a game, but that's like saying chess is just a game."
Gygax moved to Lake Geneva in 1946, 28 years before publishing Dungeons & Dragons. He moved into the home on 330 Center Street in 1966. In that house, D&D was created. The first-ever game was played in a small office. The second game was in the dining room.
Dungeons & Dragons 50th Anniversary: How Lake Geneva changed the fantasy world...
Contrary to popular belief, the first game was not played in the famous War Games room, which was the basement. However, the War Games room does have the DNA of D&D. It's where the first ideas of fireballs, lightning bolts, and dragons were realized.
Dungeons & Dragons quickly took off. It made Gygax a multi-millionaire fast. Along with Dungeons & Dragons, the parent company Gygax created, TSR, published hundreds of fantasy novels. Instead of moving TSR to a big city, the company brought hundreds of people to Lake Geneva to work.
The house at 330 Center Street has since been turned into a museum called 'The Birthplace of DnD'. People travel across the world to play there. You can stay in the neighboring house and play games at the museum. The owner calls it an 'AirDnD'.
"(It's) a pilgrimage to be able to say I spent some time in the home, I was able to visit, or I was able to play at the table," Yolanda Frontany, the owner of the home, said.
She didn’t know the home was a famous house when she bought it 20 years ago.
"Absolutely no idea," she said.
But she has since embraced its significance.
"We’re doing tours and having gaming sessions at the table."
Celebrities have traveled here to play, like actor Vince Vaughn, famous WWE wrestler Big Show, and renowned Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello.
Along with the home, there’s an exhibit at the Geneva Lake Museum chronicling Gygax’s life. It's called Wizard of Lake Geneva. The exhibit focuses on his personal life, history in Lake Geneva, and contributions to the town. While it does detail the history of the game, it is more focused on the man behind the game.
"Gary wrote it here, he grew up here, he raised his family here, so we felt that connection, that personal connection from the museum to the community," Sonja Akright, the director of administration with the Geneva Lake Museum, said.
There is also a Lake Geneva Convention dedicated to Gygax called Gary Con. Furthermore, while not specifically honoring Gygax, there is a Renaissance Faire-esque festival called Dragon Days in Lake Geneva that also pays homage to the Dungeons & Dragons creator.
Beyond D&D, Gygax created GenCon (Geneva Convention). It has become the world’s largest tabletop game convention. It started in Lake Geneva, moved to Milwaukee, and now operates in Indianapolis. It attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year.
Dungeons & Dragons has grown from a small idea to a global phenomenon. It revolutionized fantasy and gaming. And it all started in a small lake town that at the time had just about 5,000 people.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
