Tabletop games, more specifically tabletop Role Play Games, have been around for a while, but recently, there’s been a huge boom in their popularity. Tabletop RPGs, games like Dungeons & Dragons, Shadowrun, Pathfinder, and Call of Cthulhu have all been making a comeback, or at least that’s what it looks like. True nerds will notice that these games have still been around and have had a fair amount of popularity, but what’s happening is that they’re now really hitting mainstream culture.

There is so much out there now that encourages tabletop RPGs, online applications and websites that help people set up their games like Roll20 or D&D Beyond, the increase of tabletop podcasts and live shows like Critical Role, Acquisitions Incorporated, and Dimension 20, even Cyberpunk 2077 is based off its tabletop predecessor, Cyberpunk 2020, and if you’ve seen Stranger Things, Dungeons & Dragons is littered through that show. Tabletop RPGs are everywhere now, with most people at least knowing the name Dungeons and Dragons.

But so what? Why should you care?

Well, tabletop RPGs can be beneficial for you. They fuel your imagination so you’re not a boring sack of bricks, they make you think with having you add up the dice being rolled, adding up your modifiers, and just trying to remember what is all happening in the storyline. But the main way tabletop RPGs are beneficial is that they’re just a whole lot of fun.

I’ve been in my D&D campaign since about February of 2018 with some of my friends, and I have to say it has been a blast. It gives me and my friends a reason to hang out together and just come up with this amazing world together, something that we created, something that we explored, and it’s honestly given me some of my favorite memories. Even if you’re the tiniest bit interested in tabletop RPGs, don’t wait, go try and convince your friends to play, go set up a game online or in person, you could even check out WHS’ LAIR club, set up by Mr. Hibbetts in room J203 if you need a place to start a campaign or maybe even join an existing one.