It’s hard to avoid the cultural impact of Dungeons and Dragons. The tabletop roleplaying game has a long history dating back to the release of the first edition back in 1974. Since then, it’s been the subject of video games, books, and movies. It has also been included as a cameo or inspiration for various TV shows, the most recent probably being “Stranger Things.” So, I am not writing this to tell you why Dungeons and Dragons is good or important. I think most people know that. Despite its increasing popularity, I have found that people are still wary to give the game, or tabletop RPGS in general, a try. I understand the hesitance to get into it. The books can be pricey, especially if you are buying Dungeons and Dragons fifth edition. It can cost hundreds of dollars if you also want to experience the game with miniatures or physical maps. Finding a group can be intimidating at best and nigh impossible at worst. People are busy and time is at a premium in 2026. Happy New Year by the way! It’s just so much setup and then you have to find time that you and others can play together. Again, I understand why people might not put in that effort to give it a try. I would argue the fun you can have with tabletop is worth the effort. All the learning of rules and struggling through scheduling issues – all the trouble – is worth the joy of finally getting to sit down with friends and play a game together.

The rules and prep might seem like a problem, and they definitely can be. Learning the game takes time and effort. I would say that the friction is worth it though. For me, there is something special about being able to sit down at a table in person with friends or acquaintances. I love video games. I am used to chatting over Discord while playing a co-op game or exploring an MMO with friends. I am by no means disparaging playing digital tabletops either. Some of my favorite experiences have been over voice-chat and I have hurt my stomach laughing more times than I can count. I am going to try to explain why sitting down in front of people and playing a tabletop game is different. It’s important to say that I am more extroverted than a lot of my friends. I do well in person and my social battery never really runs out, so that could be one reason why I prefer in-person play. Beyond my own preferences, I feel like there is just something special about having everyone in one place. There is no screen or interface between you and your friends. Everyone can see rolls take place. See the expression when a good or bad result comes up. These elements coming together can make it easier to get into character, even if you aren’t the type of player to do silly impressions or speak in an accent. Becoming the character on your sheet just comes more naturally when I am looking at my party’s eyes compared to playing over a call. You can feel the emotions in the room. I recently played a haunted house themed campaign. Our GM described the ghosts and how their cold influence crept into the bones of our characters. He did it so well that everyone around the table was holding their breath and looking at each other. The emotion and nervous tension at the table had set into all of us. It felt exactly like reading a good horror novel but with friends to share the experience with. I want to make sure to note that this might not be your experience with your first campaign. You might not start playing in massive constructed campaigns with deep stories and massive worlds. At first playing a character can be a bit awkward and might lead to more laughing at how silly you sound rather than how well you spoke as a character. You might forget rules or portions of your class. This is all okay, while you might be tempted to think a video game would do this better, having everyone together and trying can still make for fun and memorable moments. You will get better at making a good story and world as you play. Writing is like a muscle, you have to work at it to make it stronger.

It would be easier to sit down and play Baldur’s Gate or Skyrim. You can get the experience of playing a character and exploring a world. It will always be partially made for you though. Video games have their limitations and we are a long way off of a game engine being able to fully express a player’s imagination. If you want to do something that the game won’t allow, you can’t exactly ask the game developer for more games. Tabletop games let you expand the game based on your imagination. Your Game Master, I’d say Dungeon Master but I don’t want to limit this to just Dungeons and Dragons, can always try to adapt things to what you’d like to try. It depends on the game system you are playing but most things you can dream up are possible in some way. You can do anything so long as it doesn’t break the fiction and the world you are playing in. The game and the story are up to you. Your GM can create something that belongs to just you and your group. You create a story that is uniquely yours with moments that were shared with others. It is yours even if playing can be a little silly sometimes.

Time to talk about stories. I again have to acknowledge that not everyone plays these games for the same reason as me. I enjoy playing other games besides Dungeons and Dragons because I think they are better for storytelling. In fact it’s pretty likely if you trust in the game and commit to it, you will have your own moments similar to this, where the emotion or excitement gets to its peak and your party will overcome or fall in their stories. The game is designed to let you have these moments if you play it and just go along with what it wants. For some parties, the story of their campaign is more of an afterthought. This is why I don’t play Dungeons and Dragons as much anymore, however that is what most people will play and be comfortable with. Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop fantasy simulator and roleplaying game, so it is great for telling stories about heroes and villains – fantasy tales filled with adventure. Some parties may not even care about their story and fittingly will play a simpler character. For instance, just a typical paladin trying to fight evil and kill the bad guy. There is nothing wrong with that in the slightest. If that is what you enjoy, you just want to defeat a bad guy or kill some monsters, save the village and get rewarded or find some loot in a dungeon, do it! The best thing about Tabletop is that the game is a sandbox. You can really make the experience whatever you want. Genre, themes and mechanics are all up to you. I prefer to use Table Top as a group storytelling experience but that doesn’t need to be your experience. Take what you want from your game and leave behind what you don’t. That’s the joy of such an open experience.

I hope this gets some people to move past the initial learning curve and try playing some tabletop RPGs in person. I understand if digital works better for you. It’s a good way to play and can often be cheaper than buying physical books. This can be made even cheaper with certain discounts and trials that may be found around the internet. I do not want to try to pull people away from Dungeons and Dragons as that is what a lot of people enjoy the most, but I also will say that other Tabletop RPGs tend to be on the cheaper side compared to DnD. For instance, my latest obsession is Daggerheart, which has only one core set needed to play and costs about fifty or sixty dollars. This is a steal compared to the three books you need to run DnD that cost about one hundred and fifty all together. So if this article has inspired you, just know that there are cheaper ways to start dipping your toes into this hobby. I would really recommend it in person, as I said, the feeling of seeing other people around a table is unique and special. In my opinion it’s better and more immersive, not to mention making rolls with physical dice and scratching on a paper character sheet with a pen or pencil feels good. The sound of the clacks as you go for an attack and get a critical, or mark down notes for a mystery campaign can’t really compare to digital alternatives for me.

So please give tabletop a try, whether you go with Dungeon and Dragons or some other system. It doesn’t matter. Get some friends, hopefully find a day you can all play, and write some stories. They will stick with you in a way that books and movies can never do. Because they are yours. They were made for you and by you, with people you shared them with. That’s why tabletop is worth it and that’s why I think you should get into it.