Gary Gygax
Overview
 
Ernest Gary Gygax was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

 (D&D) with Dave Arneson
Dave Arneson
David Lance "Dave" Arneson was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game , Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s...

. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games.

In the 1960s, Gygax created an organization of wargaming clubs and founded the Gen Con
Gen Con
Gen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...

 gaming convention
Gaming convention
A gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...

. In 1971, he helped develop Chainmail
Chainmail (game)
Chainmail is a medieval miniatures wargame created by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Gygax developed the game with fellow Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association member Perren, a hobby-shop owner with whom he had become friendly, and the game was first published in 1971...

, a miniatures wargame based on medieval warfare. He co-founded the company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR, Inc.) with childhood friend Don Kaye
Don Kaye
Donald R. Kaye , co-founder of TSR, Inc., was the childhood friend of Gary Gygax, and shared an interest in war games and tabletop miniatures with him during their youth...

 in 1973.
Quotations

Hello Fry, it's a ... [stops mid-sentence, throws two ten sided dice] pleasure to meet you.

Voicing himself in "Anthology of Interest I|Anthology of Interest I" on Futurama (21 May 2000)

The idea that a game is anything more than a game… You know, there are people who are basically unbalanced who are going to misuse a game and have bad results. If a golfer who insists on playing during a lightning storm gets hit by a stroke of lightning and is killed nobody says, 'There's golfers dying by the droves being hit by lightning!' You can overdo what you really like, and if you're unbalanced you go overboard.

GameSpy interview, Pt. 1 (15 August 2004)

The books I write because I want to read them, the games because I want to play them, and stories I tell because I find them exciting personally.

GameSpy interview, Pt. 2 (16 August 2004)

I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.

GameSpy interview, Pt. 2 (16 August 2004)

 
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