The Desert Environment was written by William H. Keith Jr. and was published in 1984 by Gamelords as a digest-sized 56-page book.

"[1] Steve Nutt reviewed The Desert Environment for Imagine magazine, and stated that "The supplement is well researched, but it must be emphasised that some of the rules systems in the book are deadly.

I would advise referees to allow players full access to the book before putting them in a desert situation; in such places quite trivial actions can mean life or death.

"[3] In the May 1988 edition of Dragon (Issue #133), Ken Rolston called the book an exceptional treatment of nature "as the antagonist in role-playing campaigns."

He noted that the information could be transferred to any role-playing game, saying that this book and two companion volumes were "my standard references when designing wilderness encounters or adventure elements for any RPG.