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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.
Saturnalia is a play by mail (PBM) game with a fantasy setting that was first played by students at the University of Southampton before becoming a commercial enterprise in the United Kingdom.
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.
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.
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.
Conquest is a play-by-mail game that was published by Earnshaw Enterprises.
Fall of Rome is a play-by-mail strategy wargame that was published by Enlightened Age Entertainment. Set in the period after Roman times, it involved covert action and combat. The game won the Origins Award for Best Play-By-Mail Game of 2004.
The Weapon is a closed-ended, science fiction, play-by-mail (PBM) game.
Epic is a computer-moderated, fantasy play-by-mail (PBM) game.
The Next Empire is a closed-end, computer moderated, space-based play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.
Balance of Power was a closed-ended play by mail 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.
Dawn of the Ancients is a closed-ended, computer moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame. It was published by Game Systems Inc., in August 1984 as its second offering after Earthwood. In 1988, KJC Games began offering the game in the United Kingdom.
Warlord is a closed-ended, computer moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.
Galactic Empires is a space-based open-end, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame.
War of the Dark God is a closed-end, computer-moderated, play-by-mail fantasy wargame.
State of War is a closed-end, computer-moderated, play-by-mail (PBM) wargame. It was published by Game Systems, Inc.
Galactic Power is a closed-end, play-by-mail game. It was published by Vigard Simulations.
References
- ↑ Coulshed 1985. p. 38.
- ↑ Flagship Editors 1985. p. 47.
- 1 2 3 Kavanaugh 1986.
- 1 2 3 4 Lewis and McCarthy 1984. p. 11.
- 1 2 Raymond 1985. p. 16.
- ↑ Flagship Editors 1989. p. 21.