Gygax, Ernest Gary
Ernest Gary Gygax 2007.
Ernest Gary Gygax
American entrepreneur
Quick Facts
- Born:
- July 27, 1938, Chicago, Ill., U.S.
- Died:
- March 4, 2008, Lake Geneva, Wis. (aged 69)
- Inventions:
- “Dungeons & Dragons”
Ernest Gary Gygax (born July 27, 1938, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—died March 4, 2008, Lake Geneva, Wis.) was an American entrepreneur who in 1974, together with his war-gaming friend David Arneson, created the world’s first fantasy role-playing game (RPG), Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), and ultimately paved the way for modern electronic RPGs.
Dungeons & Dragons, explainedThe fantasy tabletop role-playing game has given players the ability to write their own stories since it was first published in 1974.
See all videos for this articleIn 1971 Gygax introduced the game Chainmail, the predecessor of D&D, and in 1973 he cofounded, with his boyhood friend Donald Kaye, the company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), which produced the first edition of D&D the following year. In 1983 Gygax and Arneson wrote and produced the animated television series Dungeons & Dragons. After leaving TSR in 1985, Gygax continued to develop new fantasy games and novels.