For Wakefield residents John and Danielle Neary, Dungeons & Dragons is more than a game. �The big joke in my family,� Danielle Neary said, �[is] that D&D saved our marriage.�

For Wakefield residents John and Danielle Neary, Dungeons & Dragons is more than a game.

�The big joke in my family,� Danielle Neary said, �[is] that D&D saved our marriage.�

Neary discovered the game 22 years ago at the age of 12.

�It was under the bleachers at summer camp, second edition, and I was the only girl,� Neary said. �So it actually wasn�t the best first D&D experience, but it had me hooked.�

Seven years ago, she convinced her husband to try the game. Now, the two have three children and play D&D three times a week to relieve stress.

But in 2008, the pair stopped buying new D&D products. Pawtucket-based Hasbro acquired the D&D brand when it bought Wizards of the Coast in 1999. In 2008, it released the fourth edition of the game�s rules, the first developed under Hasbro�s ownership.

The new rules included a change in direction that upset many longtime fans.

�If you look at the Amazon.com reviews of [fourth edition], people either loved it, or they were really unhappy with it,� said Mike Mearls, senior manager of D&D research and development. �What we found was we were really catering to people who liked battling monsters � but for people who were more into D&D for the storytelling aspect � they weren�t anywhere near as happy.�

D&D is a role-playing game, which is different from other Hasbro game products like Monopoly or Scrabble. Players take the role of characters in a world orchestrated by a game master. Each player�s actions are restricted only by a loose set of rules. It�s a little like improvisational acting.

Mearls compared the game�s rules to an Xbox or PlayStation video game console. The D&D rules aren�t a game themselves, but they provide the tools to play one. Fourth edition, then, was like an Xbox that only played first-person shooters.

Players who wanted to play other kinds of games rejected the fourth edition. The Nearys continued playing an earlier edition of D&D and bought used books on the secondary market. Many other players left for a rival game called Pathfinder.

In 2011, Pathfinder surpassed D&D as the best-selling role playing game in the United States, according to pop culture website ICv2. In 2012, D&D slipped to third place.

For Hasbro, this exodus posed a bigger problem than lost sales. Since D&D�s introduction 40 years ago, it had grown into a brand that spans books, movies, board games and comic books, among other products.

�When D&D started, fantasy was really a niche genre,� Mearls said. �Now fantasy is everywhere. �Game of Thrones� being one of the most popular TV shows, the �Lord of the Rings� movies and �The Hobbit� and Harry Potter topping the bestseller list and the box office charts. So, in looking at fantasy as a whole and looking at D&D, what we�re really looking to do is expand into those areas.�

But that requires people to care about D&D. So, the company needed to bring back D&D fans, and it acted quickly to do so.

In 2012, Hasbro announced that it was working on a fifth edition that would return D&D to its roots. The company published beta rules online and promised to consider players� feedback.

�The process of developing a fifth edition, it was kind of like going on a quest with the adventuring party being everybody who plays D&D,� Mearls said. �We had about 175,000 people take part.�

Last week, Mearls and Hasbro learned how their quest turned out. The company shipped the first fifth edition rulebook to game stores nationwide, and accompanied its release with a launch event at the 2014 Gen Con game convention in Indianapolis.

The annual convention draws tens of thousands of gamers � including Danielle and John Neary � from across the country.

The Nearys used the opportunity to play Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition for the first time. Danielle called it �awesome� and said she planned to convince her game groups back home to use it.

�I have a new invigoration for it,� she said.

And the Nearys aren�t alone. Conference goers in general said they were happy, even excited, by the new edition.

�The reaction so far has been great,� Mearls said. �People use the word elegant, which to me is the best thing you can say about a game.�

And those players� renewed interest could keep the Dungeons and Dragons brand alive for another 40 years.

Matt M. Casey is a freelance writer and the founder of CleverMoveGames.com.