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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.
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.
Empyrean Challenge is a strategic science fiction play-by-mail (PBM) game. Published by Superior Simulations in 1978, its introduction was important to the nascent PBM industry. 150 players per game strove to dominate a cluster of star systems. Diplomacy, combat, economics, technological development, colonization, and other factors were important aspects of gameplay. Detailed work was required in all aspects of the game, requiring a significant investment in time for players. Reviewer Jim Townsend stated in 1988 that Empyrean Challenge was "the most complex game system on Earth".
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.
Ad Astra is a closed-end, computer-moderated play-by-mail (PBM) game that was published by Superior Simulations. It was a turn-based space fantasy game designed by John M. Ess.
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.
Lords of the Earth (LOTE) is a play-by-email game, first published by Thomas Harlan in 1983 during a growing era of PBM games. Initially played by postal mail, the game featured mixed moderation—computer moderated with some human assistance. By 2002, the publisher processed turns by email (PBeM). Lords of the Earth comprises multiple campaigns, each one a separate game. Campaign 1 is the oldest, set in the mid-1800s in the "Age of Air and Steam". Other campaigns begin from 2000 BCE to 1400 CE. Settings were global in scale, with one campaign featuring an outer space setting.
Galac-Tac is a closed-end, science fiction, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame. It was first published by Phoenix Publications in 1982. By 1990, the publisher had changed its name to Delta Games, and then later to Talisman Games. In 2010, Talisman Games changed ownership and transitioned Galac-Tac to a web-based game. It is still available for play by postal mail or email for those with web access challenges. The game has been updated as well as reviewed multiple times in its 40 years of active play. Various reviews in the 1980s and 1990s provided both positive and negative comments as well as potential areas for the game to improve. The game has been featured numerous times in the modern PBM magazine, Suspense & Decision.
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.
Feudal Lords is a closed-end, computer moderated, play-by-mail game set in medieval England. Starting as a game run through a magazine in 1977, it was first published by Graaf Simulations, later run by Flying Buffalo, Inc, and is today published by Rick Loomis PBM Games.
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.
The Next Empire is a closed-end, computer moderated, space-based play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.
Mobius I is a closed-end, space-based play-by-mail (PBM) wargame of space conquest. The game was first published in 1984 by Mobius Games and was subsequently published by Flying Buffalo, Inc. and Rick Loomis PBM Games.
Takamo is a open-ended, computer moderated, space-based play-by-email (PBeM) game. Advent Games launched it as a play-by-mail game in 1982 with a subsequent game, Takamo II, in 1990. Takamo saw a break in play in 1996–1997, after which it restarted as a PBEM game in 1998. By 2001, Aleator Games was publishing the game for play online. The game remains available for play online for free as of December 2023.
Continental Rails is a closed-end, computer moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) railroad game. Published in 1987 by Graaf Simulations, it was eventually licensed overseas in the United Kingdom and Australia. As of 2023, Epistoludisme & Cie publishes the game as the revised Continental Rails II.
Vorcon Wars is an closed-ended, computer moderated, space-based play-by-mail game. It was published by Vorcon Games and running as early as 1981. 16 players vie for control of the planet Vorcon. Gameplay occurred on a hex map with over 1,000 hexes of varying types and resources. Players strived for expansion through combat and other means. By 1986, the publisher launched an additional version for play called Super Vorcon Wars. In 1989, Vorcon Wars placed second in the non-fantasy wargames section of Flagship's Spring 1989 Award Winners.
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 was a cluster of 2,000 stars. Gameplay began at the player's homeworld called Monde. Expansion to other worlds and systems was central, led by the ambitious, morally questionable, Monde-based "Company". Players had 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.
New Order is a space-based, science fiction play-by-mail (PBM) game run by C2 Simulations. The game was closed-end and computer-moderated. Playtest began in 1987. 30 players vied for control of a galaxy comprising 210 star systems in a game of space exploration centering on colonies. Games lasted about 35 turns, ending when a player achieved about 2,000 victory points. The game received generally positive reviews in gamer magazines in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Editors 1989 p. 17.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Stock 1989 p. 25.
- ↑ Helley 1989 p. 17.