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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.
Universe II is a computer-moderated, science fiction, play-by-mail game designed by Jon Clemens and published by Clemens and Associates, Inc. in 1979.
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".
Zorphwar is a closed-end play-by-mail game that was published in 1980. The game was designed by Mike Shefler and published under Zorph Enterprises. Shefler coded the game beginning in 1974 and drew from multiple sources in game design including magazine articles and other games. In the game, eight players constructed space fleets and battled on a 256 × 256 grid map. Players scored points per enemy ship destroyed, with the highest total winning the game. Zorphwar received fair reviews in various gaming magazines in the early 1980s, with reviewers noting it as a challenging game.
Chronicles of Osgorth: The Shattered Alliance is a 1981 computer wargame published by Strategic Simulations in January 1982 for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family. Programmed by John Lyon, it relies on a new game engine, called RapidFire, intended to make faster and easier access to wargames published by the studio. During a turn, the program selects the units each in turn and the player only has to order them to move, attack or cast a spell. The order is then executed immediately before the program selects another unit. The game offers two categories of scenarios. The first is composed of medieval-fantasy confrontation, including a free adaptation of the Battle of Gondor against the Mordor forces in the Lord of the Rings. The second is composed of historical battles of antiquity.
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 was 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.
Catacombs of Chaos is a play-by-mail game that was published by Schubel & Son.
Star Trek: The Correspondence Game is a play-by-mail game that was published by Entertainment Concepts, Inc.
Warp Force Empires is a play-by-mail game that was published by Emprise Game Systems. The game was previously called Warp Force One, but renamed in 1984 by its publisher.
Beyond the Stellar Empire is a play-by-email (PBM) game. Originally published by Adventures By Mail, BSE was an open-ended "space opera" with a single available game that began in playtesting in 1981. According to Stephen Marte, during the mid-1980s, like "Tribes of Crane and Midgard, BSE [was] the stomping ground of many of PBM's best power gamers". The game had two variants, one monitored by Game Masters who imposed artificial constraints, and another without constraints. Gameplay took place on a vast space stage where mega-corporations formed the dominant organizing framework, alongside various other groups that players could join to pursue tasks to advance, collaborate with other players, and progress to more senior positions such as space colony governors. Beyond the Stellar Empire placed #5 and #11 for Best PBM Game of the Year in 1987 and 1988, respectively, in Paper Mayhem, a magazine for play-by-mail games. In subsequent years, the game did not score well in Paper Mayhem reader ratings for playability, use, and product understanding. Beyond the Stellar Empire: The New System won the Origins Award for Best New Play-By-Mail Game of 1989.
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.
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.
Tactical Assault Group is a closed-ended, computer-moderated, role-playing strategy play-by-mail (PBM) game. The game was set in the future. There were 20–60 players per game in a seven-story building who operated in Tactical Assault Groups.
Fleet Maneuvers is a closed-end, space-based play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.
The Weapon is a closed-ended, science fiction, play-by-mail (PBM) game.
Galactic Empires is a space-based open-end, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.
References
- ↑ Orzoff 1981. p. 11.
- ↑ Editors 1983. p. 8.
- 1 2 3 Bolduc 1980. pp. 14–15.
- 1 2 Levin 1981. p. 8.
- ↑ Levin 1981. pp. 8, 10.