Dungeon! Adventure Board Game 1981 Newspaper Advertisement

December 9, 1981. If there’s a book that I should write and design one of these days, it is a title all about how the world saw TSR’s Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game in the early eighties. A series of events and coverage by the press led to a boom in D&D sales and awareness in those early years of the eighties, and it is possible that the game has never been as widespread and popular as it was back then.

Sales of the game were so strong that it was even advertised in newspapers across the U.S., though today’s ad is not about the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game but instead all about the Dungeon boardgame. There’s even a recent version* on the market, but I’ll never forget my first time playing this game when staying over with a friend one night. Dungeon may feel dated these days, but I’ll always have a soft spot for this classic and fun design.