''Outdoor Survival'' was a board game published by

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company' ...

in 1972.

Rules

''Outdoor Survival'' is a hex-based board game played on three interlocking maps.

Publication history

''Outdoor Survival'' was designed by

Jim Dunnigan James F. Dunnigan (born 8 August 1943) is an author, military-political analyst, Defense and State Department consultant, and wargame designer currently living in New York City. Career Dunnigan was born in Rockland County, New York. After hig ...

, and published by

in 1972. It comes with three full-color interlocking, folding maps; some cards; and rules. The game became one of Avalon Hill's perennial bestsellers, with its success attributed chiefly to the fact that it was sold outside regular channels — in outdoor equipment shops and the like.

Legacy

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...

made use of ''Outdoor Survival'' in ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

'', even listing the game on the "Equipment" list in Volume I of the original 1974 edition of ''

''.

Reception

In a retrospective review of ''Outdoor Survival'' in '' Black Gate'', John ONeill said "over time it became one of Avalon Hill's perennial bestsellers. Its success is attributed chiefly to the fact that it was sold outside regular channels — in outdoor equipment shops and the like — and because a whole generation of ''D&D'' players apparently thought of it as an essential component of any great wilderness adventure."

References

{{Avalon Hill Avalon Hill games Board games introduced in 1972 Jim Dunnigan games