"Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" was first played at the Origins II convention in 1976, where it was used to introduce "Dungeons & Dragons" players to the science fiction game "Metamorphosis Alpha". In 1980, TSR published the adventure, updated for first edition "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" rules. The adventure was not updated for later rules systems, but a Wizards.com article did provide a conversion to "Future Tech". It included a separate booklet of illustrations, in both color and black and white. The adventure is an old-time favorite of many "Dungeons & Dragons" fans, including Stephen Colbert. It was ranked the fifth-best "Dungeons & Dragons" adventure of all time by "Dungeon" magazine in 2004, and received positive reviews from "White Dwarf" and "The Space Gamer" magazines. The other adventures in the "S" series include S1 "Tomb of Horrors", S2 "White Plume Mountain", and S4 "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth".