Dallas: The Television Role-Playing Game is a role-playing game created by the wargame publisher Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1980 based on the popular television soap opera Dallas . The game was an attempt by debt-ridden SPI to find a new audience, but it was "a massive failure, one of the biggest in the history of RPGs" and also succeeded in alienating SPI's wargaming clientele.
Dallas, the second licensed role-playing game (after Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier (1978) from Heritage Models), [1] : 11 is a TV soap-opera/crime system in which the players take on the roles of major characters from the Dallas TV series, and interact with each other in "plots." [2] Character abilities include power, persuasion, coercion, seduction, investigation, and luck; ability scores are compared and dice are rolled to determine the results of actions. [2]
The game box contains: [3]
In addition to a player's main character, the player is dealt cards to give them control of a certain number of secondary characters and organizations. During the Conflict phase of each scene, players can attempt to take control of more secondary characters and organizations, using their powers of Power, Persuasion, Coercion, Seduction, Investigation and Chance. [3]
Three scenarios are included with the game; each is divided into "scenes" that each have three phases: [3]
Unlike other role-playing games of the time, Victory Conditions are outlined in each script, and the player who has the most at the end of the scenario is the winner.
In serious debt in 1980, SPI made an attempt to expand its customer base beyond its "hobbyist" core of wargamers by entering into a much-publicized arrangement with Lorimar Productions to produce the Dallas role-playing game. [4] Dallas was designed by James F. Dunnigan, with art by Redmond A. Simonsen, and was published by SPI in October 1980 at the height of the "Who Shot J.R." craze. [2]
Despite the popularity of the television show, the game proved to be an infamous failure, and art director Redmond Simonsen later remarked that the 80,000 copies printed "was about 79,999 more than anyone wanted. Anyone who is wired on Dallas (the TV show) is not also wired on games." [5]
Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games, noted that not only did SPI fail to develop a new audience of gamers with Dallas, but the game also alienated SPI's traditional wargaming clientele: "As much a card game as a role-playing game, it was widely loathed by SPI's devoted following of wargamers." [2]
In Issue 42 of The Space Gamer (August 1981), David Ladyman wasn't sure this game would find an audience, saying, "Is Dallas a useful bridge between gaming and your 'real world' friends? That might depend on how many Dallas freaks you know that you would want to introduce to gaming. Hard core RPGers will probably want to add the game to their collection; characters' attributes and the conflict resolution system are novel enough, even if you have no interest in the television series. I wouldn't suggest it, though, if you buy your games for long-term playability - Dallas just doesn't have lasting entertainment value." [6]
The March 1981 edition of Games commented, "Surprisingly, this intro-level game could stand on its merits even without the popular theme. The game provides a simple, realistic mechanism for recreating and inventing the high-rolling exploits of the Ewing family ... Watch out, primetime, we've found something else to do." [7]
The French games magazine Jeux & stratégie commented "We are able to put ourselves in the character's shoes quite well. In addition, the composition of the game is more reminiscent of making a film than of a game." The review concluded, "All you have to do is blackmail, scheme and corrupt at your leisure, in order to achieve your objectives! Nothing stops you from being kind and honest; but, if you want to win..." [8]
In the 2016 book Television: The Medium and Its Manners, Peter Conrad called the game "a ludic Dallas do-it-yourself kit. Dallas: The Television Role-Playing Game disassembles the series and parcels it up as sociological poker." Conrad noted, "When you tire of the scripts in the box, you can rig up your own. Since it's all a matter of shuffling and combining formulae, the possibilities are infinite." [9]
In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground, RPG historian Stu Horvath noted that sales of the game had been "a massive failure, one of the biggest in the history of RPGs." However, while Dallas failed to find an audience, Horvath thought the game itself broke new ground, saying, "playing the game properly delivers an experience not unlike the events of an episode of Dallas. For RPGs in 1980, this focus on emergent narratives is really different and exciting — competitive troupe play (rather than swordplay) was the path to victory ... There was nothing else remotely like it on the market." [5]
A copy of Dallas is held in the collection of the Strong National Museum of Play (object 110.3209). [10]
Moves was a wargaming magazine originally published by SPI, which also published manual wargames. Their flagship magazine Strategy & Tactics (S&T), was a military history magazine featuring a new wargame in each issue. While S&T was devoted to historical articles, Moves focused on the play of the games. Each issue carried articles dealing with strategies for different wargames, tactical tips, and many variants and scenarios for existing games. As time passed, reviews of new games also became an important feature. While the majority of the articles dealt with SPI games, the magazine was open to and published many articles on games by other companies.
Conquistador, originally subtitled "The Age of Exploration: 1495–1600", is a board game published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the exploration of the New World in the 16th century. Players take on the role of European countries sending expeditions to find gold and establish colonies. Although the design uses the trappings of board wargames such as a hex map, combat is not a major part of the game.
Redmond Aksel Simonsen was an American graphic artist and game designer best known for his work at the board wargame company Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in the 1970s and early 1980s. Simonsen was considered an innovator in game information graphics, and is credited with creating the term "game designer".
A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby developed in 1954 following the publication and commercial success of Tactics. The board wargaming hobby continues to enjoy a sizeable following, with a number of game publishers and gaming conventions dedicated to the hobby both in the English-speaking world and further afield.
Dreadnought, subtitled "Surface Combat in the Battleship Era, 1906-45", is a naval board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1975.
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The Sword and the Stars is a science fiction board game of empire building published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1981 that is based on the rules from the previously published medieval wargame Empires of the Middle Ages (EOTMA).
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The Battle of Nations, subtitled "The Encirclement at Leipzig, 16–19 October 1813", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. It was one of four games that were published as part of the "quadrigame" titled Napoleon at War, but was also released as a "folio game", packaged in a shrinkwrapped cardboard folio. It was popular in a 1976 poll of favorite wargames, and critics also gave it favorable reviews.
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