How Dungeons & Dragons went from 'satanic panic' to pop culture fixture

Dungeons & Dragons is everywhere, from blockbuster movies to popular TV shows and even Lego sets. It's cool now. 

But that wasn't the case when Rui Albino of Toronto started playing the popular tabletop role-playing game, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. 

"It was almost a secret society because it was, I mean, nerd was not cool back then. And playing D&D wasn't cool," said Albino, 56, who first played the game in the 1980s.

Since its creation, millions have played the game, and it's become a fixture of popular culture. The Netflix show Stranger Things heavily references the show. A blockbuster movie starring Chris Pine, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, grossed $274 million worldwide in 2023. 

"It's not just nerds playing the game anymore. A lot of people from all sorts of different aspects of life have been drawn to the game," John Dempsey, who runs games of Dungeons & Dragons in Toronto, told The Current host Matt Galloway.

And while the game is flourishing now, for many years it was unpopular, considered a game for nerds, and even branded by some as a gateway to satanic worship and murder. 

Dungeons & Dragons was created by game designers Gary Gygax and David Arneson in 1974. The pair enjoyed playing historical war games, and wanted to make a system of their own.

So they developed a tabletop role-playing game set in their own universe populated by humans, elves, halflings and dwarves for players to explore. 

The rules of the game have changed over the years — including a major update this year — but the core idea remains the same. 

Players start by creating their characters, including choosing their class such as noble fighter or studious wizard.

A separate player called the dungeon master narrates the story for the others, determining success and failure along the way with the help of a 20-sided die.

Want to swing your sword at the goblin? Roll for it. Want to pickpocket the shopkeeper? Roll for it. 

"It was definitely a place where my imagination ran wild and we could experience being someone else in another time," said Albino, who started playing when he was in Grade 8.

The game started to become popular in the late 1970s. Most people, like Albino, were introduced by a friend, and as friends told friends, the game picked up steam.