The Name of the Game

The Name of the Game is the sixth novel in TSR's Greyhawk Adventures series and the fourth to follow Mika, shaman of the Wolf Nomads, after Gary Gygax's founding volumes. In this entry, a bewitching board game has taken hold of the kingdom of Perrenland: its king has gambled away his crown, Princess Linnea is left without a suitor, and the neighboring realm of Tusman is poised to invade while its rival is distracted.

Mika's magic gemstone and unpredictable demon hand draw him into the intrigue, transforming him into a griffon and, through a case of mistaken identity, into a prince of Perrenland. Deserted by his bonded wolf companion, TamTur, and thrown naked behind enemy lines, Mika must survive hippogriffs, stone giants, trolls, gnolls, orcs, and harpies to expose the game as a scheme engineered by Tusman to destabilize its neighbor — and to save both the kingdom and himself.

Rose Estes continued the Greyhawk Adventures line after Gary Gygax's departure from TSR, and this adventure is largely self-contained from the rest of the series.