Play-by-mail game

The earliest play-by-mail games developed as a way for geographically separated gamers to compete with each other using postal mail. Chess and Go are among the oldest examples of this. In these two-player games, players sent moves directly to each other. Multi-player games emerged later: Diplomacy is an early example of this type, emerging in 1963, in which a central game master manages the game, receiving moves and publishing adjudications. According to Shannon Appelcline, there was some PBM play in the 1960s, but not much. For example, some wargamers began playing Stalingrad by mail in this period. these included games such as Nuclear Destruction, which launched in 1970. This began the professional PBM industry in the United States. Professional game moderation started in 1971 at Flying Buffalo which added games such as Battleplan, Heroic Fantasy, Starweb, and others, which by the late 1980s were all computer moderated. For approximately five years, Flying Buffalo was the single dominant company in the US PBM industry until Schubel & Son entered the field in roughly 1976 with the human-moderated Tribes of Crane. After Harvey played Flying Buffalo's Nuclear Destruction game in the United States in approximately 1971, Rick Loomis suggested that he run the game in the UK with Flying Buffalo providing the computer moderation. Individual PBM game moderators were plentiful in 1980. However, the PBM industry in 1980 was still nascent: there were still only two sizable commercial PBM companies, and only a few small ones. The most popular PBM games of 1980 were Starweb and Tribes of Crane. W.G. Armintrout wrote a 1982 article in The Space Gamer magazine warning those thinking of entering the professional PBM field of the importance of playtesting games to mitigate the risk of failure. By the late 1980s, of the more than one hundred play-by-mail companies operating, the majority were hobbies, not run as businesses to make money. Townsend estimated that, in 1988, there were about a dozen profitable PBM companies in the United States—with an additional few in the United Kingdom and the same in Australia. In 1993, the founder of Flagship magazine, Nick Palmer, stated that "recently there has been a rapid diffusion throughout continental Europe where now there are now thousands of players". In 1992, Jon Tindall stated that the number of Australian players was growing, but limited by a relatively small market base. In a 2002 listing of 182 primarily European PBM game publishers and Zines, Flagship listed ten non-UK entries, to include one each from Austria and France, six from Germany, one from Greece, and one from the Netherlands. PBM games up to the 1980s came from multiple sources: some were adapted from existing games and others were designed solely for postal play. In 1985, Pete Tamlyn stated that most popular games had already been attempted in postal play, noting that none had succeeded as well as Diplomacy. Tamlyn added that there was significant experimentation in adapting games to postal play at the time and that most games could be played by mail. Thus they tended to be more complicated and gravitated toward requiring computer assistance. Flagship began publication in the United Kingdom in October 1983, the month before ''Gaming Universal's first issue was published in the United States. In the early 1990s, Martin Popp also began publishing a quarterly PBM magazine in Sulzberg, Germany called Postspielbote''. The PBM genre's two preeminent magazines of the period were Flagship and Paper Mayhem. In 1984, the PBM industry created a Play-by-Mail Association. This organization had multiple charter members by early 1985 and was holding elections for key positions. Flying Buffalo Inc. conducted a survey of 167 of its players in 1984. It indicated that 96% of its players were male with most in their 20s and 30s. Nearly half were white collar workers, 28% were students, and the remainder engineers and military. The 1990s brought changes to the PBM world. In the early 1990s, trending PBM games increased in complexity. In this period, email also became an option to transmit turn orders and results. These are called play-by-email (PBEM) games. Flagship reported in 1992 that they knew of 40 PBM gamemasters on Compuserve. One publisher in 2002 called PBM games "Interactive Strategy Games". Turn around time ranges for modern PBM games are wide enough that PBM magazine editors now use the term "turn-based games". Flagship stated in 2005 that "play-by-mail games are often called turn-based games now that most of them are played via the internet". In the 2023 issues of Suspense & Decision, the publisher used the term "Turn Based Distance Gaming". In the early 1990s, the PBM industry still maintained some of the player momentum from the 1980s. For example, in 1993, Flagship listed 185 active play-by-mail games. Patrick M. Rodgers also stated in Shadis magazine that the United States had over 300 PBM games. And in 1993, the Journal of the PBM Gamer stated that "For the past several years, PBM gaming has increased in popularity." That year, there were a few hundred PBM games available for play globally. However, in 1994, David Webber, ''Paper Mayhem's'' editor in chief expressed concern about disappointing growth in the PBM community and a reduction in play by established gamers. At the same time, he noted that his analysis indicated that more PBM gamers were playing less, giving the example of an average drop from 5–6 games per player to 2–3 games, suggesting it could be due to financial reasons. In early 1997, David Webber stated that multiple PBM game moderators had noted a drop in players over the previous year. By the end of the 1990s, the number of PBM publications had also declined. ''Gaming Universal's final publication run ended in 1988. Paper Mayhem'' ceased publication unexpectedly in 1998 after Webber's death. Flagship also later ceased publication. The Internet affected the PBM world in various ways. Rick Loomis stated in 1999 that, "With the growth of the Internet, [PBM] seems to have shrunk and a lot of companies dropped out of the business in the last 4 or 5 years." Shannon Appelcline agreed, noting in 2014 that, "The advent of the Internet knocked most PBM publishers out of business." The Internet also enabled PBM to globalize between the 1990s and 2000s. Early PBM professional gaming typically occurred within single countries. By 2014 the PBM community had shrunk compared to previous decades. A single PBM magazine exists—Suspense and Decision—which began publication in November 2013. The PBM genre has also morphed from its original postal mail format with the onset of the digital age. In 2010, Carol Mulholland—the editor of Flagship—stated that "most turn-based games are now available by email and online". The online Suspense & Decision Games Index, as of June 2021, listed 72 active PBM, PBEM, and turn-based games. In a multiple-article examination of various online turn-based games in 2004 titled "Turning Digital", Colin Forbes concluded that "the number and diversity of these games has been enough to convince me that turn-based gaming is far from dead". ==Advantages and disadvantages of PBM gaming==

Judith Proctor noted that play-by-mail games have a number of advantages. These include (1) plenty of time—potentially days—to plan a move, (2) never lacking players to face who have "new tactics and ideas", (3) the ability to play an "incredibly complex" game against live opponents, (4) meeting diverse gamers from far-away locations, and (5) relatively low costs. In 2019, Rick McDowell, designer of Alamaze, compared PBM costs favorably with the high cost of board games at Barnes & Noble, with many of the latter going for about $70, and a top-rated game, Nemesis, costing $189. Andrew Greenberg pointed to the high number of players possible in a PBM game, comparing it to his past failure at attempting once to host a live eleven-player Dungeons & Dragons Game. Flagship noted in 2005 that "It's normal to play these ... games with international firms and a global player base. Games have been designed that can involve large numbers of players – much larger than can gather for face-to-face gaming." Finally, some PBM games can be played for years, if desired. Greenberg identified a number of drawbacks for play-by-mail games. He stated that the clearest was the cost, because most games require a setup cost and a fee per turn, and some games can become expensive. Another drawback is the lack of face-to-face interaction inherent in play-by-mail games. Finally, game complexity in some cases and occasional turn processing delays can be negatives in the genre. ==Description==

PBM games can include combat, diplomacy, politics, exploration, economics, and role-playing, with combat a usual feature and open-ended games typically the most comprehensive. Jim Townsend identifies the two key figures in PBM games as the players and the moderators, the latter of which are companies that charge "turn fees" to players—the cost for each game turn. The earliest PBM games were played using the postal services of the respective countries. In 1990, the average turn-around time for a turn was 2–3 weeks. This was known as play-by-email (PBEM). Some games used email solely, while others, such as Hyborian War, used email as options for a portion of turn transmittal, with postal service for the remainder. Other games use digital media or web applications to allow players to make turns at speeds faster than postal mail. Given these changes, the term "turn-based games" is now being used by some commentators. Complexity Jim Townsend stated in a 1990 issue of White Wolf Magazine that the complexity of PBM games is much higher than other types on the average. He noted that PBM games at the extreme high end can have a thousand or more players as well as thousands of units to manage, while turn printouts can range from a simple one-page result to hundreds of pages (with three to seven as the average). According to John Kevin Loth, "Novices should appreciate that some games are best played by veterans." Reviewer Jim Townsend asserted that Empyrean Challenge was "the most complex game system on Earth". Diplomacy According to Paper Mayhem assistant editor Jim Townsend, "The most important aspect of PBM games is the diplomacy. If you don't communicate with the other players you will be labeled a 'loner', 'mute', or just plain 'dead meat'. You must talk with the others to survive". The editors of Paper Mayhem add that "The interaction with other players is what makes PBM enjoyable." Commentator Rob Chapman in a 1983 Flagship article echoed this advice, recommending that players get to know their opponents. He also recommended asking direct questions of opponents on their future intentions, as their responses, true or false, provide useful information. He suggested considering the following diplomatic points during gameplay: In 1993, Steve Pritchard described PBM game types as ancient wargames, diplomacy games, fantasy wargames, power games, roleplaying games, and sports games. Some PBM games defy easy categorization, such as Firebreather, which Joey Browning, the editor of the U.S. Flagship described as a "Fantasy Exploration" game. Play-by-mail games also provide a wide array of possible roles to play. These include "trader, fighter, explorer, [and] diplomat". Roles range from pirates to space characters to "previously unknown creatures". In the game Monster Island, players assume the role of a monster which explores a massive island (see image). And the title of the PBM game ''You're An Amoeba, GO! indicates an unusual role as players struggle "in a 3D pool of primordial ooze [directing] the evolution of a legion of micro-organisms". Loth advises that closer identification with a role increases enjoyment, but prioritizing this aspect requires more time searching for the right PBM game. and Townsend echoes that open-ended games are similar to long-term RPG campaigns. Monster Island, and SuperNova: Rise of the Empire''. Townsend noted in 1990 that some open-ended games had been in play for up to a decade. Companies in the early 1990s also offered games with both open- and closed-ended versions. Additionally, games could have elements of both versions; for example, in Kingdom, an open-ended PBM game published by Graaf Simulations, a player could win by accumulating 50,000 points. Computer versus human moderated In the 1980s, PBM companies began using computers to moderate games. This was in part for economic reasons, as computers allowed the processing of more turns than humans, but with less of a human touch in the prose of a turn result. According to John Kevin Loth III, one hundred percent computer-moderated games would also kill a player's character or empire emotionlessly, regardless of the effort invested. In 1984, there was a shift toward mixed moderation—human moderated games with computer-moderated aspects such as combat. Examples included Delenda est Carthago, Star Empires, and Starglobe. In 1990, the editors of Paper Mayhem noted that there were games with a mix of computer and hand moderation, where games "would have the numbers run by the computer and special actions in the game would receive attention from the game master". ==Cost and turn processing time==

Loth noted that, in 1986, $3–5 per turn was the most prevalent cost. At the time, some games were free, while others cost as much as $100 per turn. In 1986, play-by-email was a nascent service only being offered by the largest PBM companies. In the 21st century, many games of this genre are called turn-based games and are played via the Internet. Game turns can be processed simultaneously or serially. In simultaneously processed games, the publisher processes turns from all players together according to an established sequence. In serial-processed games, turns are processed when received within the determined turn processing window. ==Information sources==

'' Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo Games stated in 1985 that the Nuts & Bolts of PBM (first called Nuts & Bolts of Starweb) was the first PBM magazine not published by a PBM company. The name changed to Nuts & Bolts of Gaming and it eventually went out of print. By 1985, Nuts & Bolts of Gaming and Gaming Universal in the U.S. were out of print. John Kevin Loth identified that, in 1986, the "three major information sources in PBM" were Paper Mayhem, Flagship, and the Play By Mail Association. For example, White Wolf Magazine began a regular PBM column beginning in issue #11 as well as publishing an annual PBM issue beginning with issue #16. The Space Gamer also carried PBM articles and reviews. Gaming magazine Micro Adventurer, which closed in 1985, also featured PBM games. Other PBM magazines in the late 1980s in the UK included Thrust, and Warped Sense of Humour. In the early 1990s, Martin Popp also began publishing a quarterly PBM magazine in Sulzberg, Germany called Postspielbote. In its March 1992 issue, Flagship stated that it checked Simcoarum Bimonthly for PBM news. Shadis magazine stated in 1994 that it had begun carrying a 16-page PBM section. This section, called "Post Marque", was discontinued after the March/April 1995 issue (#18), after which PBM coverage was integrated into other magazine sections. In its January–February 1995 issue, ''Flagship's editor noted that their "main European competitor" PBM Scroll'' had gone out of print. Flagship ran into the 21st century, but ceased publication in 2010. In November 2013, online PBM journal Suspense & Decision, began publication. ==Fiction==

Besides articles and reviews on PBM games, authors have also published PBM fiction articles according to Shannon Muir. An early example is "Scapegoat" by Mike Horn, which appeared in the May–June 1984 issue of Paper Mayhem magazine. Other examples include "A Loaf of Bread" by Suzanna Y. Snow about the game A Duel of a Different Color, "Dark Beginnings" by Dave Bennett about Darkness of Silverfall, and Chris Harvey's "It Was the Only Thing He Could Do..." about a conglomeration of PBM games. Simon Williams, the gamemaster of the PBM game Chaos Trail in 2004, also wrote an article in Flagship about the possibility of writing a PBM fiction novel. The main character of John Darnielle's 2014 novel Wolf in White Van runs a play-by-mail role-playing game. ==See also==