In the list of most famous D&D products of all time this would come somewhere near the top, in terms of sales it is probably the most sold of all D&D products, going into the millions of units sold during its print run, so it is interesting to note that mechanically it isn’t really any kind of “new” game, this is a repackaging of the rules from the Modlvay set which had come out only two years earlier.

So, how to explain the success of this edition? It’s easy to figure it out even without opening the box and reading its content, the iconic design of the bright red cover with an amazing illustration by Larry Elmore of a warrior fighting a Dragon has a much more direct impact than the previous version with its great but stranger and visually busier Erol Otus cover illustration, which did not have the same direct impact. Then you open the pack and inside you get the two booklets for player and DM as well as the dice you need to play it with.

When you open the booklets, although much of the information you get is functionally the same as the previous version of the game, you will notice that it’s set out in a very different way. Here’s the brilliance of it, first it has a voice more appealing to younger readers and then it teaches you to play while playing. It includes three adventures, two of which are for solo play, and good enough to have memorable characters such as poor Aleena and the nefarious Bargle and one in the DM booklet for your first group game. It’s extremely engaging, throws players immediately into hands-on gaming before having to memorize any rules and is just a magical piece of product and game design. A true classic.