The Codex Recommended Reading List
A regularly updated list of some of the best sources I've consulted on RPGs, game design, and more.
Researching RPG history isn’t particularly easy. Both video games and pen-and-paper role-playing have largely received coverage from a purely hobbyist perspective. Whether looking online or in print, sources that dig into these topics from a more historical or academic perspective, or even with a more critical eye than the average gaming blog, are few and far between.
Thankfully I have managed to find quite a few great outlets for information for this project. Below is the official The Codex Recommended Reading List, split into specific topics. I will continue adding to this list as I work on The Codex, so feel free to bookmark this page and check back in to see what else I’ve uncovered.
Please note: I will also be including a citations list in each individual entry. Not every source cited in individual entries will be included on the Recommended Reading List, and not everything featured on the Recommended Reading List is guaranteed to show up as a citation in individual entries. This list is for more broadly recommended reading related to the topics I’m covering, the kind of things that I suspect readers of this Substack would enjoy reading as much as I have.
Recommended Reading
Recommended reading on wargaming and the origins of role-playing games before Dungeons & Dragons:
Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People and Fantastic Adventures, from Chess to Role-Playing Games by Jon Peterson
The Complete Wargames Handbook: How to Play, Design, and Find Them by James F. Dunnigan
Recommended reading on the history of Dungeons & Dragons:
Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It by David M. Ewalt
Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons by Michael Witwer
30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons published by Wizards of the Coast
Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People and Fantastic Adventures, from Chess to Role-Playing Games by Jon Peterson
Recommended reading on the history of pen-and-paper role-playing games beyond Dungeons & Dragons:
Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games by Lawrence Schick
Recommended reading on the history of role-playing video games:
Designing Virtual Worlds by Richard A. Bartle
Dungeons and Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games by Matt Barton
The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games (Expanded Edition) published by Bitmap Books
A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games published by Bitmap Books
The CRPG Addict by Chester Bolingbroke
Recommended reading on video game history in general:
The writing of Jeremy Parish, including the NES Works and Super NES Works books, the GameSpite collections, and more
Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984 by Van Burnham, as well as its sequel, Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1985-2001
The Friendly Orange Glow: The Untold Story of the Rise of Cyberculture by Brian Dear
The entire collection of gorgeous hardcover volumes from Bitmap Books, including The Secret History of Mac Gaming, SNES/Super Famicom: A Visual Compendium, Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups, and many more
The Digital Antiquarian by Jimmy Maher
Hardcore Gaming 101, both the website and the many books it has published, such as Hardcoregaming101.net Presents: The Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures, Hardcore Gaming 101 Presents: The Unofficial Guide to Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, and many more