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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.
Starmaster is a computer-moderated play-by-mail game that was published and administered by Schubel & Son.
The Tribes of Crane is a play-by-mail game that was published by Schubel & Son. According to Jim Townsend, the game was launched in "roughly" 1976.
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".
Pellic Quest was a computer-moderated science fiction play-by-mail (PBM) game appearing as early as 1978. Conflict Interaction Associates published it as a spinoff of Flying Buffalo's game Starweb. In the game, 10–15 players competed to dominate a universe strewn with artifacts left by a super-race, the Pellics. Players role-played one of six character types with options to develop their position, expand through conquest, conduct diplomacy, and other actions. The game received generally positive reviews in gaming magazines in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The publisher appeared to close the game by 1988.
Zorphwar is a play-by-mail game that was published by Zorph Enterprises.
The Nuts & Bolts of PBM was a magazine dedicated to play-by-mail games, first published in June 1980 as Nuts and Bolts of Starweb, and edited by Richard J. Buda. The magazine incorporated in 1983 to Bolt Publications. Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo Games stated in 1985 that the Nuts & Bolts of PBM was the first PBM magazine not published by a PBM company. He stated that "It was a fun magazine, but somewhat ahead of its time, and it had no financial backing." Afterward, the name changed to Nuts & Bolts of Gaming.
Starlord is an open-ended, computer moderated, space-based play-by-mail game. Designed and moderated by Mike Singleton, gameplay began initially in the United Kingdom, with Flying Buffalo launching a version in the United States in 1983. Gameplay is limited to 50 players roleplaying as Starlords with the goal of becoming emperor by conquering the Throne Star. Starlord was reviewed multiple times in magazines such as Dragon and The Space Gamer in the early 1980s, receiving generally positive reviews, with one reviewer noting the possibility of the game lasting for years.
Heroic Fantasy is a computer-moderated, dungeon crawl play-by-mail game. It has been active since 1982 when it was published by Flying Buffalo. The initial edition involved nine dungeon levels. Flying Buffalo published subsequent editions due to challenging gameplay initially, eventually limiting the game to four dungeon levels with a fifth outdoors level where players can assemble an army and capture one or more castles. The game is open-ended; gameplay continues until players decide to stop.
Catacombs of Chaos is a play-by-mail game that was published by Schubel & Son.
Galactic Conflict is a space-based, computer-moderated, play-by-mail game originally published by Flying Buffalo in 1982. As August 2021, Rick Loomis PBM Games took over as game publisher. During gameplay, six to fifteen players expand across the galaxy, building industrial capacity and pursuing Civilian Projects through various means. Some player diplomacy is typical. The game received multiple reviews in the early 1980s, receiving generally positive comments.
Star Venture is a play-by-mail game begun by Schubel & Son in 1982. The game was open-ended and computer moderated.
Strategic Conflict is a play-by-mail game by Schubel & Son begun in 1983.
Gaming Universal was a magazine dedicated to play-by-mail games. The magazine was published between 1983 and 1988, in two separate print runs with Bob McLain as editor of both editions. Its first print run was published by Imagascape Industries between November 1983 and 1985. The first issue was called PBM Universal, with a name change by the second issue. The second edition ran between 1987 and 1988, published by Aftershock Publishing. The magazine received average to positive reviews from other magazine editors and reviewers.
Warboid World is a play-by-mail game originally published and moderated by Adventures by Mail in 1983 in which players build up armies of robots and send them to destroy other players' robot factories.
Schubel & Son was a hobby and gaming company that published play-by-mail (PBM) games. The company began in 1974 and expanded to large-scale PBM games in August 1978. It also published the game The Tribes of Crane in 1978, followed by StarMaster in 1980 and Global Supremacy in 1982.
Silverdawn is a fantasy role-playing play-by-mail game (PBM). The human-moderated, open-ended game was designed by Jim Dutton and published by Entertainment Concepts, Inc. in 1981. Players selected characters with classes such as cleric, fighter, ranger, thief, along with races and various attributes. Additional starting variables included spells and weapons. Diplomacy was not part of Silverdawn, gameplay was solo without interaction with other players. The setting was the world of Nyarna. The game's flexible narrative gaming system allowed players to choose good or evil paths. Silverdawn received two generally positive reviews in the early 1980s with one reviewer noting some drawbacks to the game.
Galactic Empires is a space-based open-end, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.