Tomes and Tombs: Toward a Phenomenology of Interiors in Dungeons & Dragons

This article examines the evolution of immersive spatial design in Dungeons & Dragons through phenomenological analysis of interiors in Tomb of Horrors , the only module recurrent for all the game's major editions. Drawing on game studies, phenomenology, and historiography, I compare the module's textual and visual assets to assess how spatial immersion is constructed, disrupted, and reimagined. The analysis shows that the first edition's visual–textual dissonance produces interpretive ambiguity that might enhance embodied player engagement. Later editions increasingly removed visual assets, but the rise of mixed-media platforming via virtual tabletops (VTTs) brings the visuality of spatial immersion back into focus. By reading the dissonance of visual and textual assets through Heideggerian and Merleau-Pontian models of space, I argue that VTT designers can benefit from intentional ambiguities to enrich experiential depth. Tomb of Horrors thus becomes a key site for understanding how tabletop and digital design practices shape ludic interiority.