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A play-by-mail game is a game played through postal mail, email or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go were among the first PBM games. Diplomacy has been played by mail since 1963, introducing a multi-player aspect to PBM games. Flying Buffalo Inc. pioneered the first commercially available PBM game in 1970. A small number of PBM companies followed in the 1970s, with an explosion of hundreds of startup PBM companies in the 1980s at the peak of PBM gaming popularity, many of them small hobby companies—more than 90 percent of which eventually folded. A number of independent PBM magazines also started in the 1980s, including The Nuts & Bolts of PBM, Gaming Universal, Paper Mayhem and Flagship. These magazines eventually went out of print, replaced in the 21st century by the online PBM journal Suspense and Decision.
Starweb is a closed-end, space-based, play-by-mail (PBM) game. First published by Flying Buffalo Inc. in 1976, it was the company's second PBM game after Nuclear Destruction, the game that started the PBM industry in 1970. Players today can choose a postal mail or email format. Fifteen players per game assume one of six available roles and explore and conquer planets within a universe comprising 225 worlds. The object of the game is to attain a predetermined number of points which are generated by various actions during gameplay. Multiple game variants are available. Starweb is still available for play as of 2021 through the company Rick Loomis PBM Games.
Legends is a turn-based, role-playing game with a medieval setting. It is currently published in English by Harlequin Games. Jim Landes—owner of Midnight Games, the game's first publisher—began developing the game in 1984, eventually publishing it in December 1989 as a play-by-mail (PBM) game after over a year of playtesting. The initial game comprised a module and game system built on the publisher's existing game, Epic, and was run briefly as Swords of Pelarn before publication as Legends. The first of multiple game modules was Crown of Avalon, which allowed up to 200 players per game. Demand by 1991 was "incredible" according to Bruce R. Daniel in White Wolf. Games could be lengthy, initially between three and ten years of play, settling into an average of three years by 2002.
Hyborian War is a play-by-mail game published by Reality Simulations, Inc. It takes place during the Hyborian Age in the world of Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. The game has been continuously available for worldwide play since its inception in 1985 and has changed little in its overall format. It uses a computer program to adjudicate player orders. Although it relies on postal mail or email and has turnaround times which are relatively long for the digital age of video games, Hyborian War has remained active into the 21st century.
Midgard is an open-end, medieval fantasy play-by-mail game. It was published in 1984 by Time Space Simulations. Through 1996, the game passed through more than four different publishers, including Midgard USA. As of 2022, Talisman Games is the publisher. At initial publication, Midgard was computer moderated with partial human moderation.
CTF 2187 is a closed-end, computer-moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) game that was published by Advanced Gaming Enterprises in the 1980s. It involved teams of robots, of varying size and capabilities, battling on a hex-grid arena with the purpose of defeating the opposing team or their command post. Players assumed the role of a battle robot pilot. The game was tactically-focused, with combat action beginning on the first turn. Games lasted 5–10 turns, or about six months. Players began at the rank of cadet but could spend experience points earned from a completed game to increase in rank for future games, up to the rank of General.
Forgotten Realms, subtitled "War of the Avatars", was a computer-moderated play-by-mail game (PBM) published by Reality Simulations that was set in the Savage Frontier of the Forgotten Realms.
Victory! The Battle for Europe is a closed-end, military strategy, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame. The game was first published by Rolling Thunder Games, Inc. in 1991 after a period of initial growth in the PBM industry. The game centers on Europe while including parts of North Africa, the Middle East, the United States, and Canada. Forty players start each game with equal resources among countries, although geography causes differences between starting positions. Games last for about three years each. The game received positive reviews and rankings in the PBM magazine Paper Mayhem in the 1990s, including tying for second place in its Best PBM Game of 1995 list.
Quest is an open-end, fantasy, play-by-mail (PBM) role-playing game. Initially released in the United Kingdom in 1991, by Adventures by Mail, it later became available for play in the United States, Australia, and other countries in Europe. The game has a First and Second Age, initially comprising about twenty worlds of up to 1,000 parties controlled by players. After the year 2000, the worlds consolidated into four. The current publisher is KJC Games.
Krahlizek is a closed-ended, computer moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.
Epic is a computer-moderated, fantasy play-by-mail (PBM) game.
Balance of Power was a closed-end and mixed-moderated play by mail (PBM) wargame. It was published by Jolly Goblin Games in Canada and Whitegold Games in the United Kingdom. Twenty players competed in this moderately complicated game to control a third of the game map. Technology was pre-World War I era. The game received generally positive reviews in various publications in the 1980s.
Austerlitz is a closed-ended, computer moderated, play-by-email (PBM) wargame. It is published by Supersonic Games.
Venom is a closed-end, computer-moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame. It was published by Game Systems, Inc. in 1989. Twenty players role-played demigods battling for supremacyby developing their position and winning a final battle. Demigod characters were highly customizable in the manner of spaceships for space-based PBM games. The game received generally poor reviews before the publisher revised the game in 1990 which improved the game according to one reviewer.
Starglobe is a space-based play-by-mail (PBM) role-playing game. It was open-ended and both computer and human moderated. Time Patterns began publishing the game in the United Kingdom in 1983. U.S. licensees included Superior Simulations and Dragonbyte. Time Patterns stopped publishing in 2000. The game's setting is a cluster of 2,000 stars. Gameplay begins at the player's homeworld called Monde. Expansion to other worlds and systems is central, led by the ambitious, morally questionable, Monde-based "Company". Players have a variety of roles they can play as starship captains. Lacking a rulebook or list of orders, players had significant leeway in gameplay and could obtain further game information through text modules obtained during gameplay. The game adhered closely to the theory of relativity, limiting the speed of travel and other aspects of gameplay.
Spiral Arm is a closed-end, computer-moderated, space-based play-by-mail (PBM) game. Designed in 1983 and launched afterward by Kevin Flynn of Australian Wizard, the game was also offered for play by Graaf Simulations in the United States and Canada and Spellbinder Games in the United Kingdom. 50 positions, one run by computer, began in a spiral-shaped galaxy with up to 49 players per game vying for control of more than half of the galaxy's industrial wealth. Combat, economics, diplomacy, and technological advancement were elements of gameplay. The game received generally positive reviews in Flagship in the 1980s. Over time, publishers began running an improved Version II which outscored Version I in the 1989 Flagship Ratings.
Delenda est Carthago is an open-end, mixed-moderated, play-by-mail game. It was designed by Judith Proctor and published by her company, Waveney Games, in the United Kingdom beginning in 1986. By 1992, the game had spread to the United States. The game is set in the fantasy world of Linden in an age approximating earth's medieval age. Players role-play families with wide latitude in actions. The game received multiple positive reviews in gaming magazines in the 1980s and 1990s with reviewer Dirk Dahmann stating that it was ""unquestionably the best PBM game I have ever played". U.S. Flagship editor Bob Bost said that it was "the best role-playing game I have found".
Lands of Elvaria is a hand moderated, fantasy play-by-mail (PBM) game.
Cosmic Crusaders is a play-by-mail (PBM) game of tactical space combat that was published by Genesis Games Design beginning in 1993. The game was closed-end and computer-moderated. One reviewer described it as a science fiction analogue to Heroic Fantasy. By 1996, Madhouse was publishing the game in the United Kingdom. The game was set in a space station where players explored with customizable squads of six fighters. There were 15–20 players per game. The purpose was to find three station control keys or defeat all other squads. Various items were available to pick up during exploration and station interfaces allowed additional actions such as teleporting or healing. The game was reviewed in various gaming magazines in the 1990s, receiving generally positive reviews that noted it was simple and fun.
References
- ↑ Spencer 1996. p. 4.
- ↑ Editors 1996. p. 43.
- ↑ Spencer 1996. p. 43.
- ↑ Editors 1997. p. 4.
- 1 2 3 Dougherty 1995. p. 44.
- ↑ Spencer 1997. p. 40.
- ↑ Tabor 1995. p. 16.