Page "Gary Gygax" Paragraph 5

During his childhood and teen years, he developed a love of games and an appreciation for fantasy and science fiction literature.

When he was five, he played card games such as pinochle and then chess.

At the age of ten, he and his friends played the sort of games that eventually came to be called " live action role-playing games " with one of them acting as a referee.

His father introduced him to science fiction and fantasy through pulp novels.

His interest in games, combined with an appreciation of history, eventually led Gygax to begin playing miniature war games in 1953 with his best friend Don Kaye.

As teenagers Gygax and Kaye designed their own miniatures rules for toy soldiers with a large collection of and figures, and they used " ladyfingers " ( small firecrackers ) to simulate explosions.