Is Dungeons and Dragons a Video Game?

No, at least not in the sense most people would mean the question. Dungeons and Dragons (DD) is a tabletop roleplaying game that has been around since the 1970s. It started the entire phenomenon of tabletop roleplaying games, with an extremely high overlap with the burgeoning software development community.

Origins and Popularity

DD quickly proved to be quite popular among the geek set, who also had a high overlap with early software developers. As these developers gained access to university servers, they began to use technology to reproduce the experience of playing DD. One of these early efforts, MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons), eventually led to the creation of Zork, which became one of the first commercially produced RPG-esque computer games.

The Evolution of RPG Video Games

With the explosion of the PC revolution, there was an increasing interest in using these devices for entertainment, and DD certainly jumped in with a few licensed products. However, none of these licensed products fully captured the experience of sitting around a table with friends and playing DD. One of the most compelling such games, Planescape: Torment, was a breathtaking experience, but it still misses a significant portion of what the table-top experience truly offers.

The Distinction between DD and Video Games

The single most satisfying such game in my opinion, Planescape: Torment, was a breathtaking experience but still misses much of what sitting around a table with friends really is. This was also true for CRPGs (Computer Role-Playing Games) and later MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games).

Licensed DD video games have existed, but no one who’s ever picked up a physical d20 would ever confuse those experiences with rolling that die. Each of these licensed products was never the full experience of playing DD.

Thus, DD and every tabletop RPG is not a video game. It's far more than that.

Conclusion

Is DD a video game? It is certainly related, but in essence, it is a tabletop roleplaying game. There are many DD video games, but they do not capture the complete experience of the original game. Over the past four decades, DD has been at the forefront of the fantasy role-playing genre, influencing countless other games and storytelling.