Video games are amazing. There’s absolutely no denying that. They’ve come a long way since the Atari 2600 I started out with as a kid. The rapid advances in modern technology, combined with the gazillions of dollars the gaming industry puts into development, have allowed todays games to reach far beyond what anyone would have dreamed possible a couple of decades ago.

With all these fantastic games available, why the hell would anyone want to sit around a table rolling plastic dice and doing math like a bunch of prehistoric nerds?

There are actually a number of pretty good reasons.

Video games can’t compete with human imagination.

In a video game, your options are limited to whatever a team of programmers chooses to make available. Let’s say there’s a sword you really want, but it’s fiercely guarded by a mighty red dragon. In a video game, you might be able to go into its lair and fight it directly with whatever weapons or spells your character has. In a game like World of Warcraft, you can even assemble a team of people to go in there with you.

But what if you wanted to take a more creative approach?

Maybe you’re playing a dwarf character with years of mining experience, and you think you can exploit some weaknesses in the lair’s structural integrity with a few strategically placed fireballs from your sorcerer pal.

Or perhaps there’s a powerful wizard nearby who you’d also like to take down. You could kill two birds with one stone by planting evidence that the dragon killed the wizard’s daughter. Let those two duke it out, then finish off whichever one survives.

Or you might decide not to kill the dragon at all. Maybe you strike up a conversation and find you have a lot in common. Not a likely option in a video game because…

You’re not really role-playing.

Much like my first point, your interactions with NPCs are pretty much limited to whatever lines of dialogue the programmers decided to include.

You could offer a dungeon guard enough gold to set him and his family up for life. But if he’s not programmed to accept a bribe, you’re not getting out of that cell until you find the conveniently loose stone in the wall where the secret key is hidden.

You can explain to the weapon shop owner that the fate of the entire realm hinges on you using the Sword of Asskicking to take down the Great Demon Lord until you’re blue in the face. His home, his shop, his entire family will be smoldering piles of ash unless you and your team of heroes put an end to this cruel monster’s reign of terror. But if you’re one gold piece short of being able to afford his asking price, you’re not walking out of that store with any Swords of Asskicking.

Video games have come a long way in many respects, but I don’t think I’ll live to see the day that I get a satisfying role-playing experience out of one.

There’s no replicating the feeling of rolling a natural 20.

Yes, a multitude of video games allow for critical hits, and that’s cool. But there’s nothing quite like seeing the 20 side of a die show face up when you really really needed it to. Likewise, there’s nothing quite like seeing the 1 side of a die show face up when you really really needed it to be a 20.

These are the highs and lows you and your group still talk about years after they happen. Every tabletop gamer reading this is recalling one such moment right now.

It’s just a different experience.

I’m not trying to shit on anyone’s love of video games. I love video games. They can do a lot of things that would almost certainly not be as fun with paper and dice. I can’t imagine getting quite the same thrills from a tabletop version of Mario Kart.

But video games don’t scratch my tabletop gaming itch anymore than they satisfy my craving for a bacon cheeseburger. It’s an entirely different experience. It’s more than just a game. It’s an exercise in collaborative storytelling.

Once viewed as a hobby for only nerds, weirdos, and Satanists, Dungeons & Dragons is more popular now than it’s ever been. Celebrities are getting in on the action. There are innumerous YouTube channels and podcasts dedicated to watching or listening to people play.

In short, Dungeons & Dragons isn’t going anywhere.