It was developed from Metagaming's Melee and Wizard Microgames into a three book role-playing game. These books are [Advanced Melee]?, [Advanced Wizard]? and [Into the Labyrinthe]?.
An extensive set of solitary adventures were publised for the Fantasy Trip as Microgames.
When Steve Jackson left Metagaming he was able to negotiate the rights for most of his games but the price asked for The Fantasy Trip was beyond what he was prepared to pay. After Steve Jackson left the owner of Metagaming disappeared leaving this role-playing as an orphan game without any contactable copyright owner.
Later Steve Jackson created GURPS, a system that is obviously inspired by his first role-playing game.