PBM List (long) From: gl8f@fermi.clas.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) Date: Thu, 01 Feb 1996 00:00:00 +0000 PLAY BY MAIL GAMES LIST This is a list of Play-By-Mail magazines, games, and ftp sites. There is a PBM WWW homepage at: http://fermi.clas.virginia.edu/~gl8f/pbm.html Index * Contributions And Credits * FTP Sites * Totally free games + Wargames o Age of Discovery o Atlantis 2.0 o Battle o Celestial Empire o Galactic Conqueror (german language) o Galaxy o Global Diplomacy o Imperium o Judgment Day o Legacy o Star Empires o Tecky o Warp War + Sports games o Experimental Electronic Baseball League (EEBL) o Experimental Electronic Football League (EEFL) o Formula 1 Pick 6 o Ladder Electronic Football League (LEFL) o Strategic Postal Australian Rules Football (SPARF) o Sugar Ray (German language & English language) o Turbo 2000 (German language) o Ultra Cricket o United 3 (Soccer) (German Language) o United Electro Football League (UEFL) o World eMail Hockey Association (WeHA) o World Rec.Gambling Poker Tournament (WRGPT) + Other games o Richard Rognlie's Abstract Games Server o Double Quotes (German language) o Core Wars (King of the Hill Tournament) o Dividende et Impera (German language) o Food Chain o Nomic o Poetry Master (german language) o Rich Man / Poor Man o C++ Robots o Vox Populi (german language) * Free moderation of commercial/shareware games + Capture the Flag! (shareware) + Diplomacy (board game) + Empire Deluxe (commercial) + En Garde! (board game) + Hammer of the Gods (commercial, gui) + Machiavelli (commercial, gui) + Medieval War (shareware) + Plateau + Republic of Rome (board game) + Spaceward Ho! (commercial) + Stars! v1.0 (shareware) + VGA Planets 3.0 (shareware) + World at War series (commercial) * Email/Snail Mail Magazines + DIPLOMAT + Flagship + Paper Mayhem + Play By Email (PBEM) + Postspillion (german language fanzine) + Ride the Lightning (german language fanzine) + Shadis + Suisse P. (german language fanzine) + White Dwarf * Commercial games + Adventurer's Guild + Adventurer Kings + Alamaze + Ancient Empires + Arena + Armed Forces Commander + Black Empire + Capitol II + Conquest and Destiny + CTF2187 + Duelmasters + A Duel of a Different Color + Elder Lords + Fantasy BlitzBall League (Swedish language) + Feudal Lords + Galactic Anarchy + Hyborian War + Island Takeover + Isle of Crowns + It's A Crime! + Kingdoms + Legacy Of The Panther + Legends + Lords of Destiny + Lords of the Earth - Campaign 1 + Lords of the Earth - Campaign 4 + Lords of the Earth - Campaign 13 + Mat Masters + Middle-Earth Play-By-Mail (ME-PBM) + Mobius I + Monster Island + Odyssey + Olympia + Omega Squad + One True Faith + Out Time Days + Pandemonium Circus + Phoenix + Ragnaroek - Empire (german language) + Riftlords + Roadkill 2115 + Smuggler's Run + Sol III + St. Valentines Day Massacre (United States Version) + Stargazer + Starlord + Starweb + Stellar Knights + Svartfolk (Swedish language) + Swords of the Gods + TAKAMO + Throne of Rhianon + Timelapse + Xarian Adventures + You Rule! + Warriors and Wizards + World War II Simulation * Galactic View --- Flagship hasn't sent me an update since March, 1994, so I've removed this section _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) PBM GAMES LIST -- MISC _________________________________________________________________ Contributions And Credits If you have any additions or corrections, please send them to me at gl8f@virginia.edu. Some of the information on this list is probably out of date, namely the commercial bits. I actively attempt to keep the information about the free magazines, games, and ftp sites up-to-date, but I depend on my readers to keep an eye on the commercial information. Thanks to Bryan McDonald for compiling the first edition of this list Thanks also to Flagship magazine for providing the Galactic View, a comprehensive list of just about every existing commercial game and GM. Legal Crap: This posting, other than the Galactic View, may be redistributed freely. The Galactic View is Copyright 1994 by Flagship Magazine and may not be reprinted without their explicit permission. _________________________________________________________________ FTP Sites _________________________________________________________________ There is a centralized archive which is mirrored at several sites. The home for the archive is at pbm.com, but that machine is on a slow line and should not be used. The two major mirrors are identical to the main archive, and are: ftp.mirago.com:/pub/pbm ftp.funet.fi:/pub/doc/games/play-by-mail Please use the ftp site closer to you: the .fi site is in Finland, while the .com site is in the USA. If you wish to upload something to the archive, and just about anything is welcome, please upload it to ftp.mirago.com:/pub/INCOMING/pbm and send email to gl8f@virginia.edu to let me know it's there. _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) PBM GAMES LIST -- FREE WARGAMES Game: Age of Discovery Type: strategic, economic/military, 19th century setting GM: slang@royalroads.ca (Steve Lang) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Age of Discovery uses the same basic rules as Global Diplomacy (see below). The main differences are: (1) there is a new map for each game, (2) all players start the game with equal size forces and (3) players do not know the layout of the entire map, but must explore to discover it. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Atlantis 2.0 Type: strategic economic/military, fantasy setting Duration: open-ended Turns: one per week GM: atlantis@rahul.net Status: running; NOT accepting new players WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Atlantis 2.0 is a vastly expanded version of Russell Wallace's original Atlantis 1.0 system. Atlantis features multiple faction types, a mostly player-run economy, simple economics, and a simple combat system. The rules are available from ftp.rahul.net:/pub/atlantis. As of September 19, 1995, there are 391 players in the game. The GM expects that the next version of the game will be a low-cost commercial game. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Battle Type: Tactical combat simulation Duration: ~ 30 turns Turns: Twice weekly Status: Two games with 12 players each going. Contact the GM about new games. GM: battle@ecafe.org (Mark Cheverton) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Players control units on a playing field composed of hexagons. Each player has a base which can build new units, and improve old units. The turn results include a postscript map. The rules may be ftped from the ftp sites. Right now the turns are processed by hand, but Mark is working on an adjudication program. Last Checked: 14Nov94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Celestial Empire Type: strategic economic/military space-opera Duration: close-ended, 30+ turns Turns: one per week GM: dwagon@aaii.oz.au (Dougal Scott) Status: occasionally starting new games Description: Players compete to capture worlds which produce many different types of resources, of which different amounts are needed to manufacture various items. The author, Dougal Scott, is running several games, and he periodically starts new ones. The rules can be ftped from the ftp sites. After you have read them, if you still want to join a game, send your name to Dougal at the address above. He is also looking for a new moderator to take over running his games, because he doesn't have much time to run them. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Galactic Conqueror (German language) Type: strategic, economic/military, space opera setting Duration: typically 25-30 turns Turns: typically 1 per week GM: hz@zardoz.ping.de (Harry Zimmermann) Description: Galactic Conqueror is strategic SF-PBeM-Game for up to 50 players. Each player starts the game with a small fleet of starships and is the owner of one of several hundred planets. The winner is determined by an point system which gives points for specific actions each turn. The first player who reaches a pre-set winning score will be the winner of the game. Since there are almost no trade options in the game, player interaction mostly concerns negotiations about borders and coordination of attacks or defense. Players can: o invest in science o build industrial facilities and strongholds on planets o build ships (26 different classes) o attack enemy or neutral planets o engage in espionage or corruption o and much more... At the start of the game, each player can see only 4-10 planets, whose coordinates are given relative to his own starting-planet. Every time a new planet is conquered, all planets up to a given distance from this new one are revealed. The rules and an Atari ST and PC Clone client can be ftped from the ftp sites. The clients are graphical point-and-click interfaces to the game. You could play without a client, but this is not recommended. An X11 client is in the works, as is an eventual translation of the rules into English. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Galaxy Type: strategic, economic/military, space opera setting Duration: typically 50-80 turns Turns: typically 1 or 2 per week Waiting List: rvovak@indyramp.com (Rob Novak) [ all kinds, waiting list ] GM: bampton@cs.utk.edu (Howard Bampton) [ blind galaxy only ] GM: balrog@gelegost.mit.edu (Roger Dingledine) [ blind galaxy ] GM: rwallace@vax1.tcd.ie (Russell Wallace) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: The game typically takes place on a 100x100 2D map, with a few hundred planets and 20 to 50 players. Players compete to capture planets, which can be used for economic expansion. You can purchase technology in several different areas, allowing your ships to fight harder and move faster. Galaxy turns range in size from 10kbytes early in the game to 100-200kbytes late in the game. The rules and source code are available for ftp. You can write to humans who run games; they start games occasionally and also have standby positions. The main contact is: graeme@abekrd.co.uk (Graeme Griffiths) In addition, there are a few GM's who were running games before Graeme volunteered to run a master waiting list. If you can't contact Graeme, you can contact them directly: bampton@cs.utk.edu [ blind galaxy only ] roger@bimcore.emory.edu [ blind galaxy only ] rwallace@vax1.tcd.ie Howard Bampton has a variant called "blind" galaxy. It features a wraparound map, a double-blind mail-forwarding system, and you received only limited information about other players other than what you can observe at systems where you have ships. GM's WANTED: There are always players interested in starting new games. If you have enough clue to operate a mail-server, you can be a Galaxy GM. Contact graeme@abekrd.co.uk for details. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Global Diplomacy Type: strategic, economic/military, 19th century setting GM: slang@royalroads.ca (Steve Lang) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: In Global Diplomacy each player guides the destiny of one of the Great Powers of the late nineteenth century (Austria, China, England France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Ottoman Empire, Russia, Spain and the USA). Players must use thier politcal skill and cunning as well as their military might (armies, corps, fleets and squadrons) to become the dominant global power. This is a low complexity, introductory game usually requiring 30 minutes to do a turn. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Imperium Type: strategic, economic/military, 19th century setting GM: slang@royalroads.ca (Steve Lang) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: The Galactic Emperor has just died and as one of the ruling Major Houses, you are seeking to become the new Emperor. Use your starships, armies, leaders and undercover agents to increase the standing of your House in the Imperium. Employ your forces, diplomacy, treachery and guile to expand your House's standing so you are choisen as the next Emperor. This is a moderately complex game and takes about 1-4 hours to do a turn. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Judgment Day Type: strategic economic/military, present day setting Turns: one per week GM: rwallace@vax1.tcd.ie (Russell Wallace) Status: beta-test finished, looking for a moderator Description: Judgment Day is a game for up to 25 players. Each player controls an empire which can build weapons and attack each other. When the nukes start flying, remember to duck and cover. The source code is available at the ftp sites or from Russell. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Legacy Type: Medieval strategy game with GUI interface Turns: weekly or bi-monthly GM: legacy@io.org (Alan Hopkinson) Status: accepting new players WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Legacy is a strategy wargame set in medieval northern Europe. Players control one of nine rival Barons vying for supremecy. The game requires GUI software, available of Windows and Mac, to prepare the moves and display the game situation. All aspects of the game, including software and turn processing, are free of charge. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Star Empires Type: strategic empire-building, space setting Turns: one per week, 60+ turns per game GM: rhl@jambo.mitre.org (Roger Lincoln) Status: occasionally starting games; watch rec.games.pbm Description: Star Empires is a very simple game which is very addictive. Players compete to control planets, which produce resources which can be used to build various types of ships. There is generally a large amount of diplomacy, and the GM encourages humorous player press releases. The rules are available for ftp. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Tecky (Only a working title) Type: Futuristic (based on the Historical game En Garde!) Duration: Open Ended Turns: weekly Status: Open, contact GM GM: Mark Forsyth (tecky@forsyth.demon.co.uk) NOTE: temporarily on hold, looking for new GM. Description: Tecky is a game based on En Garde. It is set in the furture; characters fight for positions and seniority within a city. The game is only in it's playtest stage but since it is closely based on Enguard there should be very few problems. A copy of the rules can be found in the misc subdirectory at the ftp sites, with the filename Tecky-Rules-18May95.gz. Last checked: 03Aug95 _________________________________________________________________ Game: WarpWar Type: tactical spaceship design and combat GM: str@qdot.qld.gov.au Description: WarpWar is an old Microgame from Metagaming dealing with spaceship combat and interstellar war. It features non-random simultaneous combat and individualized ship design. It is played PBEM with human referees and a number of variant rules, and an email server is in the works. There is an e-zine devoted to discussion of new rules and player contact. Note: Since WarpWar is still owned by Howard Thompson, you MUST own your own copy of the game to play. Last Checked: 20Oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) PBM GAMES LIST -- FREE SPORTS GAMES Game: Experimental Electronic Baseball League (EEBL) Type: sports simulation, american baseball GM: peiper@phoenix.cs.uga.edu Status: closed, but there is a waiting list WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Managers control a team of 25 major league players and up to 25 minor league players. They set the lineupe, rotation, and develop a coaching plan. If you take your division title, then you can try to win the WorldNet Series. EEBL is currently in its third season. Seasons are about 6 months long. Last Checked: 17oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Experimental Electronic Football League (EEFL) Type: sports simulation, soccer GM: prune@teleport.com (Bill 'Prune' Wickart) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Spin-off of the UEFL for playing with rule changes. More detailed control of player positions, wider variety of team resources, matches run by software (you get a nice match chronology; simple-minded, better than a box score). About 11 days per turn, time off around winter holidays, 2 seasons per year. The game is currently full at 120 teams, and there is a waiting list of potential players. The rules can be ftped from ftp.ecs.soton.ac.uk. Last Checked: 17oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Ladder Electronic Football League (LEFL) Type: sports simulation, soccer GM: ingram@u.washington.edu (Doug Ingram) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Only some small technical differences from UEFL in actual game play. The big difference is that managers are placed on a ladder, with ladder position (hence, opponents) based on your success. The best play the best, and the worst play the worst (so, eventually, everyone gets to eat wins and losses). The league structure is an attempt to create a league without the positive feedback problems inherent in the UEFL on a long-term basis. The game is run at a pace of 1 match per week, with newsletter and updated rosters coming out every week. Each week you also get a match result that is more detailed than an EEFL newsletter boxscore but not a minute-by-minute breakdown of the match either. The game currently has 38 managers and a short waiting list. I may expand to add a few new managers or replace any dropouts at the end of any given season. Seasons last about 2/3 of a year, and the first season started in about January of 1994. The rules are available by email from the commissioner, and recent newsletters can be seen on Bob Pack's *EFL Mosaic site which also contains info on other leagues. Last Checked: 17oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Formula 1 Pick 6 Type: Auto racing prediction contest GM: vallee@essi.essi.fr (Thierry Vallee) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: This is a straightforward contest to pick the drivers who will finish in the top 6 of the (real life) Grand Prix Formula 1 races. The best way to play is by using WWW with forms, but you may also mail in your guesses. The Web page is at http://essi.essi.fr/Pick6/pick6.html. The rules are available for FTP from the archive sites as misc/formula_1_pick_6_rules.gz Last Checked: 06Jul94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Strategic Postal Australian Rules Football (SPARF) Type: sports simulation GM: mel@csua.berkeley.edu Description: SPARF is based on the game RAFL, which I wrote in 1985. RAFL was also an Aussie Rules simulation which was intended as a live gaming exercise rather than a PBeM. RAFL had a following of about two dozen players, and died of natural causes around 1987 when I decided I didn't want to run it any more. A few years later, when I got better at UNIX programming, I conceived SPARF and designed it as a RAFL-by-email-with-an-automated server. -- Mel If you'd like to see the rules, send email to munch@soda.berkeley.edu with the subject "help" to receive information about his game. Note that commands to this server go in the Subject: line, not the body of the message. Last Checked: 18oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Sugar Ray (German language & English language) Type: Boxing Simulation Duration: open ended Turns: 5 weekly Status: Down. Coming back up at some point in the future. GM: fkschmid@cip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Frank Schmidt) (english language) GM: gerstnet@informatik.tu-muenchen.de (Thomas Gerstner) (german language) (email) Description: For each of the five rounds of the fight, every boxer writes down a number describing the strength of his attack and a defense number. If one's attack number exceeds the opponent's defense number, the latter loses endurance points. Unfortunately, high attack/defense numbers also cost endurance. A boxer losing all his endurance points is knocked out. Basic knowledge of the German language required for the German version. Most results are published in the fanzine Postspillion, which is only available by snail-mail, but Thomas Gerstner's game is conducted by email. Write the GMs for more details. Last Checked: 03jun94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Turbo 2000 (German language) Type: Formula One Simulation Duration: ca. 24-30 turns Turns: 5 weekly Status: Open. New managers are always welcome, 30+ already enjoy it! GM: rschoen@mathematik.uni-ulm.de (Reinhard Schoen) Description: Each player manages a Formula 1 racing stable. Drivers can be hired for the season (6 turns each). The material needed to attend a race (Formula 1, Formula 2, dragster, rallye, etc) can be built or bought from other players. Basic knowledge of the German language required! Results published in the fanzine Postspillion, which is only available by snail-mail. Opinion: In the Rotarius poll 1989, Turbo 2000 was elected the 3rd best pbm game being played in Germany, beaten only by United and Diplomacy. Last Checked: 17oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Ultra Cricket Type: Sports Simulation Duration: 15 turns/season, seasons start at close of previous season. Turns: 1/week Status: In season 8. GM: ta@ecs.soton.ac.uk WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: This game simulates Tests and one day Cricket Games. Cricket is very common game in those countries of the former British Empire and has almost come to replace religion in some nations. Each person takes on the role of Selector/Manager/Captain. You have a squad of up to 30 players from which you must choose a team for each game, train the players and decide the batting and bowling order and other team tactics. You also have some say in the pitch conditions. Each week you will be asked to select an XI to play in the upcoming matches. This will be called the team. You also decide whether on winning the toss you want them to bat or bowl first, along with the batting and bowling order. This is all fed into the Main programme which plays the match ball by ball. A ball by ball record is made and a scorecard at the end of each innings compiled. Statistics are generated and Man of the Match decided. Those players not in the first XI return to their "clubs" and play for them. Here you get a brief run down on their performance and any injuries suffered by the players during the week. A season lasts for approximately 4 months. The 8th season has 180 teams in 3 competitions and a Super League for the top 12 teams. The rules can be ftped from ftp.ecs.soton.ac.uk. Last Checked: 29Sep95 _________________________________________________________________ Game: United 3 (Soccer) (German language) Type: sports simulation, soccer Turns: typically 1 per 10 days GM: allad000@goofy.zdv.uni-mainz.de Description: United is a soccer simulation in which you play the role of the manager (British style). You are responsible for tactics, financial things, buying new players and so on. Up to now this game is in the german language. If I get enough players in, I'll translate my comments to english, so everyone can read it. If you want to know more about it, try this WWW-page: http://www.uni-mainz.de/~allard/doc/un3.HTML For more information, please send the GM email. There are currently 48 managers and 13 on the waiting list. Last Checked: 18oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: United Electronic Football League (UEFL) Type: sports simulation, soccer GM: billones@digex.com (Jeremy Billones) Description: United Electronic Football -- this is a USer, PBeM version of Alan Parr's game. You create a team of football (soccer) players, each with a position and skill level. Each turn, you pit your lineups against those of your opponents, with relative strengths and random chance determining the final score. If you win, you get more resources for improving your team. You can trade players and other resources, and press wars abound. Honor and glory for the regular- season champion and the winner of the post-season Cup. UEFL is the original league in the States, 30 teams divided among Upper, Lower, and Rookie divisions. About 2 turns per week, time off for academic breaks, 1 season per year. Currently in season 5. Still the original, still the simplest, still the league that got me addicted in the first place. Warning: The waiting list is currently 6+ months long. Last Checked: 17oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: World eMail Hockey Association (WeHA) Type: sports simulation, hockey GM: inb@creare.com (Ian Brown) Orders: weha@creare.com Description: The game is currently on hold due to development work. Inquiries are welcome and I will be happy to place people on the waiting list (at this point, everyone on the list should get a team once the simulator is ready.) To join the mailing list, send mail to majordomo@cee.hw.ac.uk with 'subscribe weha-list' in the message body (the subject line can be blank.) Last Checked: 17oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: World Rec.Gambling Poker Tournament Type: sports simulation, poker GM: duursma+wrgpt4@debubly.scandal.cs.cmu.edu NOTE: Starts October 3, 1994 Description: This is a world-wide poker tournament using "funney money". If you're reading this before October 3, 1994, you can join by mailing the address above. The tournament will take a LONG TIME and isn't expected to end until May, 1995, so if you don't think you'll have a reliable Internet connection for that long, don't sign up. Last Checked: 07Sep94 _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) PBM GAMES LIST -- FREE "OTHER" GAMES Game: Richard Rognlie's Abstract Games Server Type: 2-player Abstract games GM: rrognlie@vtsu.prc.com (Richard Rognlie) Status: continually accepting new players Email Server: pbmserv@vtsu.prc.com (with "help" in subject) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: A generic Play-By-eMail Server has been set up at pbmserv@vtsu.prc.com. It currently supports a variety of games. Game supported are: Abalone Ataxx Backgammon C++Robots Connect4 Connect4x4 Gomoku Hex Jungle Lines-of-Action Neutron Othello Pente Philosopher's Football Plotto Qubic Score4 Survival Tanbo & Tanbo3D Terrace Trax & StdTrax Twixt To get more information send mail to pbmserv@vtsu.prc.com with 'help' as the subject line. Or connect to my WWW page at: http://coyote.vtsu.prc.com:8080/~pbmserv Games Currently Supported Abalone On a hexagonal board (radius 5) two to six players have armies of marbles. Players take turns "pushing" 1, 2 or 3 linearly connected marbles, attempting to push their opponents' marbles off the board. Ataxx On a 7x7 board, the two players of ataxx fight to controll a majority of the board via growth and jumps that flip opponents pieces to their color. Backgammon A classic. Connect4 On a 7x6 board, two players alternate dropping their pieces from the top of the board, down a column, attempting to form four in a row. Connect4x4 On an 8x8 board, two players alternate inserting their pieces from the edges of the board, across a row or up/down a column, attempting to form four in a row. Gomoku On a 15x15 board, the two players of gomoku try to be the first to create a line of 5 or more stones in a row of their color. Hex On a 11x11 diamond board, players take turns placing stones of their color on the board. The object is to connect your sides of the board while preventing your opponent from doing the same. Jungle Jungle is sort of a cross between Chinese chess and Stratego. It's popular in China as a children's "stepping-stone" to Chinese chess. It's also an interesting game in its own right. Lines-of-Action The object of the game is to move all your pieces into a configuration where they are in a single group connected horizontal, vertically, or diagonally. Pieces may move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, but they must move exactly the number of spaces as there are pieces on the row they are moving in. You may not jump over opponent's pieces, nor may you land on your own piece. If you land on an opponent's piece, it is captured and removed from the game. Neutron (Copyright (c) 1978 Charles Wetherell) On a 5x5 board, the two players of neutron fight to either move the neutron to their back row or trap it so the opponent cannot move it. The winner is the player who is able to trap the neutron or gets the neutron to his or her own back row. It does not matter if it is your opponent who moves the neutron to your back row -- you still win. Othello (Copyright (c) 1973,1990 Pressman Toy Co.) On a 8x8 board, the two players of othello fight to control the majority of the board by outflanking and flipping their opponents pieces. Pente On a 19x19 board, the two players of pente try to be the first to create a line of 5 or more stones in a row of their color *or* try to capture 5 pairs of their opponents stones. You capture a pair of stones any time you sandwich the stones between a pair of your stones. Philosopher's Football On a 19x19 board, players take turns either adding men to the field, or moving the football. The football moves by jumping lines of adjacent men (and removing them from the board). The object is to move the football to (or past) your goal line. Plotto (Copyright (c) 1995 David Smith) The players take turns placing one hex shaped piece in turn onto an open space (no board). Pieces are numbered either 1, 2, 3 or 4 and you may play a piece of any number at each turn. The object is to place a pair of pieces with your number in a straight line with two pieces in between. Qubic On a 4x4x4 grid, two players alternate placing their pieces, attempting to form four in a row in any direction. Score4 On a 4x4 grid of pegs, two players alternate dropping their pieces from the top of a peg, down a column, attempting to form four in a row in any direction. Survival (Copyright (c) 1995 David Smith)) Survival is played on a hexagonal board made up of 19 numbered hexagons. Two players take turns placing pieces on the board with the "arrow" of the piece dictating the direction in which the next piece played by that player must be played. The first player who can not move loses the game. Tanbo & Tanbo3d (Copyright (c) 1995 Mark Steere) Played on a Go board, Tanbo crudely models a system of plant roots. Roots which are growing, competing for space, and dying. In beginner play, the roots grow much as the roots in a garden. Over time, the roots become shrewd and calculating. To win, a player must eliminate all eight of his opponent's roots. One player will always win. It's impossible to repeat a board configuration in Tanbo. Therefore a game cannot result in a draw. Tanbo3d extends the game of Tanbo into three dimensions. Terrace (Copyright (c) 1995 by Siler/Siler Ventures. All Rights Reserved) Terrace is played on an 8x8 board consisting of 16 'L' shaped terraces. Two corners of the board are "High" and the other corners are "Low". Each player has pieces of 4 sizes ('A', 'B', 'C' and 'D'). 'A' pieces are the smallest, 'D' pieces are the largest. 'T' pieces are the same size as 'A' pieces and are each player's "key" piece. The object of the game is to capture your opponent's "T" or move your "T" to the lowest square on your opponent's side of the board. Trax & StdTrax (Copyright (c) 1983 David Smith) Trax is a game played with square tiles. Each tile is identical to all other tiles, one side has a white line connecting opposite edges and a black line connecting the other edges, and the other side has a white line connecting 2 adjacent edges and a black line connecting the other edges. The object of the game is to create a loop of your color while preventing your opponent from doing the same. An alternate winning condition is to create a line extending from one edge of the board to the opposite edge of the board when the board is at least 8 tiles wide (or tall). StdTrax limits the board to an 8x8 area. Normal Trax allows to board to grow to whatever size is necessary. Normal Trax is also known as SuperTrax. TwixT (Copyright (c) Avalon Hill) On a 24x24 board, players take turns placing pegs of their color on the board. Any time a peg is placed a "knight's move" from another peg of the same color, a strut is placed, connecting them. A strut can not cross over (through) another strut. The object is to connect your sides of the board while preventing your opponent from doing the same. _________________________________________________________________ Game: DoubleQuotes (German language) Type: Literature game Duration: Open ended Turns: 5 weekly Status: Open. 9 players active. New players are always welcome. GM: martin@mathematik.uni-ulm.de (Martin Hasch) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Given an unordered list of literature quotes players can guess which ones were taken from the same source, and also supply a pair of quotes for the next turn. Individual comments add to the fun. Profound knowledge of the German language recommended! Results are published in the fanzine Postspillion and mirrored on the WWW. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Core Wars (King of the Hill Tournament) Type: battling computer programs Email Server: pizza@ecst.csuchico.edu, subject of "koth help" or "koth faq" WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: The Pizza Server gives you access to the ``King of the Hill'' ongoing Core Wars tournament. Core Wars was invented in 1984 by D. G. Jones and A. K. Dewdney. A May 1984 article in Scientific American discusses it, as does a lovely article in my PBEM fanzine. More information about Core Wars in general may be found in the rec.games.corewar FAQ, available from the email server, or via anonymous ftp from ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/corewar. Most discussion about Core Wars will be found on the Usenet newsgroup rec.games.corewar. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Dividende et Impera (German language) Type: Finance (stocks and bonds) game Duration: Open ended Turns: 5 weekly Status: Open. 19 players active. New players are always welcome. GM: martin@mathematik.uni-ulm.de (Martin Hasch) Description: The players can buy or sell stocks of corporations (or create new corporations). The corporations battle on two product markets. The more stocks of a corporation you hold, the greater is your influence on its policy. Basic knowledge of the German language required! Results are published in the fanzine Postspillion, which is only available by snail-mail. Last checked: 15dec94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Food Chain Type: evolving, competing organisms Duration: open-ended Turns: either 1 or 4 per day GM: Greg Lindahl <gl8f@virginia.edu>. Email server: fchain@pbm.com (one turn per day) fchain-6@pbm.com (4 turns per day) fchain-e@pbm.com (experimental jungle) fchain-n@pbm.com (novice jungle) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: This is a game of evolution: players design organisms, which eat and are eaten, and mutate. To get a copy of the rules, send a message to one of the email servers above with the word "rules" in the body of the message. The subject of your message will be ignored. Authors: Steve Andrewartha <steve@bass.cc.utas.edu.au>, Martin Gregory <marting@qpsx.oz.au> _________________________________________________________________ Game: Nomic GM: several; see the Nomic FAQ for details Status: at least 6 different games available. WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Nomic is an abstract, social game which uniquely demonstrates certain principles of logic, truth, and laws. The initial rules of Nomic are about how to change the rules of Nomic. Players propose new rules and change the structure of the game as it is played. To read more about the basic game, see Douglas Hofstadter's articles in Scientific American, also collected in his book `Metamagical Themas'. [taken from the Nomic WWW homepage.] For more details, see the FAQ for Nomic, which can be found at ftp.cse.unsw.edu.au in the directory /pub/doc/nomic/FAQ. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Poetry Master (german language) Type: Poem writing and guessing competition Duration: Open ended Turns: 3-4 weekly Status: Open. 30 registered players, 20 active. New players are always welcome! GM: Michael Nitsche (micha@first.gmd.de) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Poetry-Master is great fun for anybody who enjoys writing poems of any kind. In each round, four lines of an unknown poem are published by the Game Master. The task of the players is to write another four lines which might be a genuine continuation of the original poem. All contributions together with the original one are listed in arbitrary order (without giving the author's names, of course). The players are asked to guess the original continuation. For a correct guess, a player gets two points. Otherwise that player gets one point whose poem was guesses at. There is a bonus point per round for very funny contributions. And there is a Hall of Fame listing all participants and their points. Unfortunately, the whole game is played in German, but I will be happy to provide help for anybody wanting to start the game in English. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Rich Man / Poor Man Duration: Open-ended Turns: One per week, breaks around major holidays, Status: about 20 players, no waiting, expansion ad lib. GM: Siegrist@elde.epfl.ch Description: Each player has 2 chips moving on a 25x25 board. If you land on another player's chip, you exchange some resources (usually good for the aggressor). If the square is unowned, the aggressor may buy it. Invent a business that helps others play the game, sell your product, and become rich. Each week, the richest player gets bragging rights. The GM provides the playing field, basic movement, and suggestions. Players create businesses that expand on the capabilities of other players. Items which make you a more potent aggressor, defensive items, or items which allow you to move in new and interesting ways can be bought. Lotteries and treasure hunts are organized. The game takes 1 to 2 hours a week to plan moves. Last Checked: 23Oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: C++ Robots Type: Dueling programs written in C++ GM: rrognlie@vtsu.prc.com (Richard Rognlie) Status: continually accepting new players Email Server: pbmserv@vtsu.prc.com (with "help" in subject) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Much like the earlier game C Robots, this game involves programs written in the computer language C++ which control robots fighting a small war in a square arena. For more information, contact the email server for help. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Vox Populi (German language) Type: election campaigns in the Federal Republic of Germany Duration: ca. 15-40 Turns Turns: 5 weekly Status: Occasional replacement positions available GM: nplinder@colossix.mathematik.uni-ulm.de (Pit Linder) Description: Each player leads a political party in the Federal Republic of Germany (before 1990). Election campaigns are held in the Bundeslaender. Because it's unlikely to reach absolute majority in the Bundestag (Federal parliament) or the Landtage (State parliaments), you have to cooperate with other parties to achieve your political goal (which is, of course, rise to power and keep it!). Basic knowledge of the German language required! The political system of the FRG is described in the rules; you don't have to know it beforehand. Results published in the fanzine Postspillion, which is only available by snail-mail. Last Checked: 25jun94 _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) PBM GAMES LIST -- FREE MODERATION Game: Capture the Flag! Ftp from: Description: Capture the Flag is based on the popular out-door game by the same name. The goal of the game is to find and grab the other side's flag before they grab yours. It is played on a large field divided into two equal zones, one for each side. The zones contain a variety of terrains that impact the visibility and movement of the team members. At the start of each game your opponent's zone is black, concealing his terrain, players, and flag. The details are revealed as your team explores his zone. Each person has four ATTRIBUTES. * AGILITY: Determines how well the person is at capturing and escaping capture. * MOVEMENT: How far a person can move in one turn. * STEALTH: How well the person is at being hard to see. * VISION: How well the person is at being able to see others. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Diplomacy Type: email version of Avalon Hill's pure strategy game Turns: frequency varies from one per day to one per 2 weeks for different games. Email Server: judge@morrolan.eff.org HELP in body of message; the subject is ignored. WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: The Diplomacy Adjudicator is a fully computer-moderated gamemaster for Avalon Hill's Diplomacy boardgame. To get more information from the moderator, send email with the word "HELP" in the body of the message (the subject is ignored) to judge@morrolan.eff.org. There are also other judges available, but most games are run on the EFF judge. The diplomacy Hall of Fame is available via ftp from ftp.nda.com, directory /pub/diplomacy/HallOfFame Diplomacy is probably the biggest PBEM game out there, with 279 games going as of March 15, 1995. I'd estimate at least 1,500 players are active in one or more games. Most discussion related to Diplomacy takes place on the newsgroup rec.games.diplomacy. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Empire Deluxe Description: A commercial single or multi-player game with a play-by-mail mode. You are the commander of a country with World World II era combat units and production facilities. Buy it wherever you find software. There are PC and Mac versions probably; I'm not sure if the Atari ST and Amiga "Deluxe" versions were released, and the original didn't have play-by-mail. _________________________________________________________________ Game: En Garde! Type: Historical Duration: Open Ended Turns: fortnightly Status: Open, with waiting list. Contact GM GM: Colin Bell (crb11@cam.ac.uk) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: En Garde! is a semi-historical game/simulation representing many of the situations of an Errol Flynn movie set in the Seventeenth or Eighteenth centuries. In En Garde! a player finds himself born into and educated in a world where social climbing is a way of life, and status is a goal to be perused even over money. There are people to be used, friends in high places to be cultivated, enemies to be humiliated, the Cardinal's guard to be trounced, lackies to be abused, the hand of a fair damsel to be won, and the ear of the King to be gained. Come with us now, to those vibrant, bawdy days of yore... The game has been converted to PBM format from a roleplay system devised by GDW. The game mechanics are simple and reasonably easy to grasp: the main fun is the roleplay and player interaction. The game has now been going for about 4 years. Turn adjudication is done by a program, but the orders still have to be entered by hand. Last Checked: 17oct94 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Hammer of the Gods Publisher: Microprose Developer: Holistic Designs Availability: Retail (no demo available) Description: This game uses the same game engine as the game Machiavelli, except vikings are doing all the trading and fighting. You may play on either a real world map or a random map. Supports SVGA and most sound cards. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Machiavelli, The Prince Publisher: Microprose Developer: Holistic Designs Availability: Retail (demo also available) Description: Set in Renisance Italy where men were men and the doge was as good as dead, Machiavelli, The Prince (with stratagy and theme from the book of the same name) is a comercial trading/war/diplomacy game, of the common breed. The interesting thing about the game are the back-stabbing, under-handed, and briliant methods you can use to cut into the competion. Player interaction is easy and really adds to the game, which has a built in e-mail play feature. Supports SVGA, most soundcards, on both CD and 3.25 disks. For 4 players. There is a demo available. Note that the game "Hammer of the Gods" uses the same game engine as Machiavelli. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Medieval War Ftp from: the 'misc' directory at either ftp site. Description: Very similar to xconq or Empire Deluxe, mentioned above. Can be played single-player, multiple players shaeing the same computer, or play-by-mail; your cities build units and you move them around. In play-by-mail mode, you do one turn, save the game, mail the save-file off to the other players, they play a move, mail it back, and so forth. This means that the game plays somewhat slowly, especially during the initial expansion phase. Requires Windows 3.1. Shareware (US$29.95). _________________________________________________________________ Game: Plateau Ftp from: the 'plateau' dirctory at either ftp site. A 2-player abstract strategy game which can be played by mail. You will have to have access to the utility programs uudecode, uncompress, and tar to read this source, plus a C compiler to compile it. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Republic of Rome Type: Historical (Roman Empire) Turns: player-paced Email Server: DOWN HELP in body of message, the subject is ignored Description: This server is currently down, because the author (Will Walker, ww@csn.org) doesn't have a machine to run it on. Donations welcome. RoR is an email adjudicator for Avalon Hill's game Republic of Rome, a cutthroat game of politics set in ancient Rome. All aspects of play are fully automated; there is no human GM. Players control factions of Senators; each turn they must elect officers and vote to raise and deploy forces to fight the many wars that arise; they work to increase the influence and popularity of their own Senators but must also work together to prevent destruction by war or by popular revolt. If Rome falls everyone loses. To get started, buy a copy of the board game, read the rules, then send email to the address above with the word "help" in the body of the message. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Spaceward Ho! Spaceward Ho! is a commercial game from Delta Tao Software (Mac and PC) in which the player is pitted against computer and human players in a struggle to conquer the galaxy. The game includes a good combination of strategy with sheer enjoyment (a balance not always easily attained). Currently, the Macintosh 3.x.x versions are played through mail by passing the game file from one player to the next. (Essentially, each player plays one turn, compresses and binhexes the game file, and sends the file on to the next player.) For more info on how to play through mail, send mail with the subject of SPHO Info (Case is important) to woodburn@indirect.com. _________________________________________________________________ Game: Stars! v2.0 Ftp: www.webmap.com:/stars WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Stars! is a shareware strategy game for MS-Windows. It allows up to 16 simultaneous players by email, bbs or network. The goal is to be the most powerful race in the Universe. In order to reach this goal, you first choose a race (reg. version allows a high degree of customization) and you start on a home planet. By allocating resources to research you can develop powerful technologies and build better ships to conquer the Universe with. Mineral management is an integral part of the game. It is similar in vein to VGA-Planets and Master of Orion. Works with Windows 3.1, 95, and NT. _________________________________________________________________ Game: VGA Planets 3.0 Ftp from: ftp.ucsc.edu, directory /PC/vgaplanets-3.0 Description: A shareware multi-player strategic space game for PC-Clones. You control a race of beings attempting to conquer the universe. Players use a graphical interface to enter their turns, and then send a binary file to the moderator, who runs them through a program that processes the turn. A review of version 2.1 appears in PBEM volume 92 # 6. Keep in mind that lower ship numbers get to attack first -- this isn't mentioned in the manuals, and it's important to take this into account. _________________________________________________________________ Game: World at War series Publisher: Abalon Hill Developer: Atomic Games Availability: Retail, mail order, directly from publisher. WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: World at War - Operation Crusader A commercial, two-player, operation level wargame. Operation Crusader realistically depicts the North African theatre during WWII. An award winning game, Operation Crusader provides PBEM play via an exchange of binary files. With the patch installed (ftp://atomic.com/pub/patches) cross-platform play is supported. On an IBM PC, Operation Crusader requires 4 meg RAM, SVGA graphics, 80386 or higher processor. On a Color Macintosh, Operation Crusader requires 4 meg RAM, 12" screen or larger. World at War - Stalingrad A commercial, two-player, operation level wargame. Stalingrad realistically depicts the German siege of Stalingrad, and the Russian counter-offensive, during WWII. An award winning game, Stalingrad provides PBEM play via an exchange of binary files. With the patch installed (ftp://atomic.com/pub/patches) cross-platform play is supported. On an IBM PC, Stalingrad requires 8 meg RAM, SVGA graphics, 80386 or higher processor. On a Color Macintosh, Operation Crusader requires 8 meg RAM, 13" screen or larger. Game: World at War - D-Day, America Invades A commercial, two-player, operation level wargame. America Invades realistically depicts the D-Day invasion, Omaha Beach, and Utah Beach, during WWII. Due for release in July 95, America Invades, provides PBEM play via an exchange of binary files. Cross-platform play is supported. On an IBM PC, Stalingrad requires 4 meg RAM, SVGA graphics, 80386 or higher processor. On a Color Macintosh, Operation Crusader requires 4 meg RAM, 13" screen or larger. CD-ROM distribution only. _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) PBM GAMES LIST -- MAGAZINES Magazine: DIPLOMAT Thomas Franke H"ulsenbuschstr. 9-11 D-44229 Dortmund Available on a cost recovery system, contact publisher for subscription details, or see the periodicals file, ftp://ftp.mirago.com/pub/pbm/misc/periodicals.Z. Magazine: Flagship Rte. 3 Box 155-G, Dahlonega, GA 30533 PO Box 1733, handsworth, Birmingham, B20 2PP, UK PO Box 858, Kogarah, NSW 2217 Australia [ free sample available on request ] US - 4 issues $20, 6 issues $28, 12 issues $50 UK - 4 issues UKL11, 6 issues UKL16, 12 issues UKL28 Aus airmail - 4 issues A$40, 6 issues A$60, 12 issues A$100 Aus surface - 4 issues A$25, 6 issues A$37, 12 issues A$62 NZ airmail - 4 issues NZ$50, 6 issues NZ$75, 12 issues NZ$125 NZ surface - 4 issues NZ$35, 6 issues NZ$50, 12 issues NZ$80 WWW page indexed in main PBM page. Magazine: Paper Mayhem 1518 Adams Street Ottawa, IL 61350-4770 Magazine: Play By Email (PBEM) http://fermi.clas.virginia.edu/~gl8f/pbem_magazine.html gl8f@virginia.edu (archived at the ftp sites mentioned above.) Magazine: Postspillion, a german-language PBM fanzine rschoen@mathematik.uni-ulm.de (Reinhard Schoen) Was on issue #95 in June, 1994, with 9 games running. Magazine: Ride The Lightning, german language PBM fanzine son00179@wipool.wifo.uni-mannheim.de (also available on the newsgroup de.alt.games.pbem) Magazine: SHADIS Magazine 17880 Graystone Ave #203 Chino Hills CA 91709 ($21/6 issues & premiums) Shadiseast@aol.com Shadis mostly concentrates on FRP gaming, but has ~ 12 pages on PBM per issue. It seems to have a higher standard of spelling and grammar than most other PBM publications. Magazine: Suisse P. (german language fanzine) Thomas Golser Hubstr. 45 8303 Bassersdorf, Switzerland A PBM fanzine Magazine: White Dwarf (UK) 2.00 pounds / (US) $4.00 per issue UK: Games Workshop Ltd. Chewton Street, Hiltop, EASTWOOD Nottingham, NG16 3HY US: Games Workshop Inc. 3431 Benson Avenue Baltimore, Maryland 21227 _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) PBM GAMES LIST -- COMMERCIAL GAMES 1/2 Game: Adventurer's Guild Type: Combat/Adventuring Duration: Open Ended Turns: Once every two weeks. Option of having a "traveler" status which will fight you in the next guild processed (minimum of two weeks in between each turn). GM: Computer moderated Costs: $9.75 per turn for the first character, $9.00 for each additional character in the same guild. Rules $3.50. Description: AG is sort of like a D&D game. You have numerous races to choose from for characters. You can fight in the guild which will put you in a group of eight with a round-robin format. You may then fight an extra fight (no additional cost) versus a single opponent or many (for both sides). Team fights happen frequently. If you prefer not to fight in the guild you can go adventuring with a party (1 to 8 people) to the numerous adventure sites. Travel between the guilds is possible if you wish a change of scenery. Gods play a role in the AG realm and you may swear devotion to the God of your choice. The turns are laser printed (15 to 20 pages single-sided) and include a newsletter. Opinion: AG is everything that Duelmasters kept promising to add for the three years I played (adventuring, team fights, etc). You have total control of your character and his/her design. The customer service is outstanding. If you send in questions with your turn, you receive them with your results. The GM is constantly adding additions to the game to make it even better. If you like Duelmasters or the concept, AG is for you. -- burgesmw@cnsvax.uwec.edu Company: Entertainment Plus More, Inc. P.O. Box 2578 Appleton, WI 54913-2578 HughBayer@aol.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Adventurer Kings Type: Fantasy War Game Duration: 15-25 turns Turns: Weekly for email on CIS, 2 weeks/turn for snailmail GM: computer-moderated Description: A completely computer-moderated game of world conquest. One of its nicest features is SAGA: the turn input/output program. You can either download your turns from Compuserve, or receive diskmailers. It also helps you avoid many errors. Opinion: An excellent game, with a lot of factors which work well together. The SAGA program makes any entry errors your own, and Dave Snell seems to really work hard to make playing an enjoyable experience. Highly recommended. - minnotte@rice.edu (Michael Minnotte) [ed. note: Dave Snell has sold the game to Lucky Lama] Not terribly complicated, but a good fun game, made more so by the ease of Saga. - ry@attunix.att.com (Ryerson Schwark) An excellent game, much deeper than it first appears. Dave Snell (the GM) is one of the best in the business - joey.browning@datadim.com (Joey Browning) Another Opinion: There is too much luck in this game for my liking, especially in combat between characters. Magic rules, but if you muff your first spell (which can happen to anyone) and your opponent doesn't, you're toast. If you lose a few characters this way, you just can't do anything. -- Keith Wignall (ECON100@cantva.canterbury.ac.nz) Company: Llucky Llama Games 80-Q N. Cabrillo Hwy, #226-I Half Moon Bay, CA 94019-1667 Phone: 415-712-0283 Fax: 415-712-0284 Internet address: llucky@crl.com Compuserve address: 74044,325 Alternates: England: Ventura Games PO Box 14 Aldershot, Hants GU12 4XN Holland/Germany: The PBM Express PO Box 885 3300 AW Dordrecht The Netherlands Australia: Roma Games PO Box 1957 Toowoomba QLD 4350 Italy: Strategia e Tattica Via del Colosseo 5, 00184 Roma mc3547@mclink.it _________________________________________________________________ Game: Alamaze Type: Global conquest - Fantasy Duration: Max 40 turns, usually around 20-25 Turns: Optional 2 or 3 week turnaround - phone & fax turns accepted GM: Computer-moderated Cost: $15.00 rules, setup, first 2 turns. $7.00/turn for basic games, $8.50/turn for advanced games. Deposit (refunded on turn 10) of $15.00 for basic and $25.00 for advanced games Description: Global conquest with roughly 1000 distinct command options. Players are given command of 1 of 15 races (Dragon, Elf, Witchlord) and victory conditions. The player must balance politics, economics, military and magic in order to be successful. Opinions: This is a complex game; the rule book alone is ~50 pages. There is considerable need for player interaction/team games are available. A very good game of its type. RSI does an excellent job at customer service. The games may be pricey for some tastes. - stdaughney@chemical.waterloo.edu (Steve Daughney) Another truly excellent game, especially since Pegasus took steps to increase their efficiency and customer service. Strongly recommended! joey.browning@datadim.com (Joey Browning) Company: Pegasus Productions P.O. Box 248 Waynesville, NC 28786 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Ancient Empires Type: Global conquest - Fantasy Duration: 60 turns Turns: 2-3 per month Cost: $9/turn Description: Ancient Empires is a century-scale ancients wargame for up to 40 players. Company: Northwest Simulations PO Box 5080-274 Fairfield CA 94533 globalgm@aol.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Arena Type: fantasy arena combat Duration: open-ended Turns: run once a day GM: srt@aero.org (Scott Turner) Status: ON HOLD, one more beta-test, then will be commercial Description: Arena burst forth from Scott Turner's fingers after he looked at a Duelmasters' turn. Arena reminds me of the ancient microgame "Melee," designed by Steve Jackson: you begin with a fixed number of points, and spend them to design a gladiator. Unlike Melee, you then send your gladiator off to combat with a set of orders, and the battle is fought without human intervention. Winners grow stronger. The rules are available from ftp://ftp.pbm.com/pub/arena/. Company: Shadow Island Games P.O. Box 6435 Somerset, NJ 08875-6435 (908) 469-1992 info@pbm.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Armed Forces Commander Type: Tactical Wargame Turns: Once every eighteen days. Duration: ? GM: Computer moderated Costs: $20.00 setup - includes rules and 5 turns. $5.00/Turn Rules $2.00. Player orders can be sent by email. Description: Armed Forces Commander is a game of world domination. Based on a hex grid, the maps are laser printed using graphics which depict the individual NATO unit symbols and all terrain. Players can raise the technology levels of their cities in order to build deadlier land, sea, and air units. Units can be "stacked" into more formidable "corps", and both sea and air transports can be used to move units behind enemy lines. The game is of moderate complexity, with little or no diplomacy required. Unit characteristics can be "seen" on the symbols, and well organized tables/charts are used in the turnsheets for ease of play. Company: Anarchy by Mail (AxM) P.O. Box 873 Allen, TX. 75002-4005 (214) 727-8471 gturner@netcom.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Black Empire Type: Fantasy Empire-building Duration: 20 turns Turns: 1 turn/month GM: human Cost: $10.00 setup, $3.00/turn (both cheaper in Tucson) Description: Build an empire in a fantasy world filled with large and interesting armies of various races, personages, artifacts and spells. Create your society to reflect your goals, and build your army from 90 possible unit types! From the mundane Human Archers, Pikemen, and Knights; to Naval units like Galleys and Longships, to Centaur Knights, Ogres, Wind Whales and other flying units like Griffons & Dragons, Dinosaur Knights and Pteranodon scouts, Dwarf Axemen, Elfin War Dogs and Walking Trees, Gnomic Slingers and Talking Stones, Rocs, Storm Giants, Ice Worms and Eskimos Militia, Orcic Spearmen and Wargriders, Amazon Guards, Paladins, Chaos Mutants, Werewolf Legions, Vampire Knights, Morlocks, even Deep Ones, Sea Serpents, Shoggoth, and Dolphin Scouts. 12 terrain types, 22 location types (like Ruined City, Dwarf Mines, Necropolis, Elf Wood, and the standard City), 22 metaspells, 36 ancient artifacts, 30 neutral personages you can hire (like Sardior Dragonlord and Harun the Prophet), and lots more. Great fun. Opinion: This is great. A workable system for fantasy armies at last. The rules set is similar to Lords Of The Earth, the historical empire-building pbm from Wanderer, but simplified to make it more fun. I highly recommend this pbm. -- warden@rt66.com (Scott Micheel) This game has apparently changed hands... the snail mail address below is the old moderator. The new moderator's email address is Thad_Plate@Aol.Com. Company: Wanderer Games 4858 East Second Street Tucson, AZ 85711 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Capitol II Type: Space Opera, strategic Duration: Turns: one per two weeks, generally GM: Computer-moderated Description: Second version of a strategic economic/exploration/combat/diplomatic space game. Opinion: Several players were unhappy with the first version, but we haven't gotten any opinions about the 2nd version yet. Company: Adventures By Mail P. O. Box 436 Cohoes, NY, 12047 (518) 237-4870 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Conquest and Destiny Type: Space Conquest and Economic Duration: Open ended Turns: Twice a week. GM: Computer moderated Costs: $0.50-10.00 depending on number of actions taken Description: Conquest and Destiny is an open-ended role playing game in which every player commands their own race of custom designed beings. The goal is to establish your race within the galaxy and to strive for greatness, sometimes working with other players, sometimes against them. Players control the actions of their race by sending turns through modem or by mail. These turns contain the actions that you wish your race to do. In each turn, you can perform anywhere between 10 and 200 actions. After sending your turns onto the Gamemasters, it is processed in conjunction with every other players turn for that stardate. The results of your actions will then be sent back to you. You may participate as often or as seldom as you wish, for as long as you feel like playing. Company: Alternative Realities Daniel R. Canham PO BOX 498 Brockport, NY 14420-0498 p00791@psilink.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: CTF2187 Type: Tactical robot combat Duration: ~ 20 turns? Turns: two to three weeks per turn, or 5 weeks for a slow game GM: Computer moderated Costs: $3.50 for rules, $3.50 per turn Description: CTF2187 is a robot combat game, somewhat like Battletech. 2 or 4 teams (total 12-18 players) are placed on a grid. The object is to maximize the team score while surviving. Bots range from light/agile gnats to massive death-dealing cyclops. This is a simple game system, but allows for a fair amount of subtlety. Its strong points are ease of learning, and lots of team play. Not incredibly realistic, but that doesn't seem to be a goal. The down side is that random variables matter about as much as differences in skill. -- Ken Arora (kenarora@mipos2.intel.com) Company: Advanced Gaming Enterprises P.O. Box 214949 Sacramento, CA 95821 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Duelmasters Type: Gladiator combat Duration: Completely open-ended w/advancement to higher levels Turns: Optional two or four week turn around - Phone turns accepted GM: Computer moderated Costs: $3.25 + $1.50/warrior up to a max. of 5 in an arena Free initial set-up and rules. Description: Players manage a stable of five gladiators within an arena context against other players. The gladiators are assigned an initial 70 points in 7 areas (strength, wit, etc.) and 14 additional points are allotted to personalize the warrior. Beyond this, managers are responsible for training and strategy. There is also considerable space in the game for role-playing and diplomatic interaction with other players. Opinions: Looks simple, but the game is brilliantly programmed and a continuous learning experience. Results are laser printed. RSI does an excellent job with customer service. Although the game is costly, it is very addictive and well worth the price. - stdaughney@chemical.waterloo.edu (Steve Daughney) Duelmasters is one of the friendliest games I've been involved in. Role-playing is highly encouraged, the Duelmasters Sponsor program can put beginning players ("newbies") in touch with the most experienced and successful managers right away, and Customer Service has taken a definite turnaround. The results are beautifully printed, and always full of surprises. A little on the expensive side (as much as $10.75/turn) but for my money, it's definitely worth it! - dfcleary@ucdavis.edu (Dennis Cleary) Company: Reality Simulations Inc. (RSI) P.O. Box 22400 Tempe, AZ 85285 _________________________________________________________________ Game: A Duel of A Different Color Type: Magical combat simulation Duration: Completely open-ended w/advancement to higher levels Turns: Optional two or four week turn around GM: Computer moderated Costs: $5.00 for 5 students characters Rules $5.00, Initial set-up: Rules and 2 turns for $13.00 Description: Players instruct a team of five students within a duel context against other players for academic advancement. The students are assigned an initial value of 41 points in 4 areas. (strength, dexterity, intelligence, and life points) and additional traits are used to personalize the student. Instructors are responsible for guiding the students development. There is some space in the game for role-playing and diplomatic interaction with other players. The results in this game are very interesting, in that, output is give in a narrative form, rather than, raw statistics. Opinions: This game looks simple, but like Duelmasters, it is brilliantly programmed. FD has taken time with their product and service. The narratives are great and just have to be seen. They claim to use some state-of-the-art story generation system. Also, they claim that their NPCs use Genetic Algorithms and Neural Nets for learning. -- nyctasia@rhostshyl.cit.cornell.edu (Natasha A. Davis) Company: Fractal Dimensions (FD) 17-29 Main Street, Suite 316 Cortland, New York 13045 (607) 753-9246 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Elder Lords Type: Fantasy role-playing Duration: open-ended Turns: GM: Human/Computer moderated Costs: $4.00 rules, $5.00 turns, $15.00 special startup Company: Gamer's Guild P.O. Box 302 Shillington, Pa 19607-0302 RicKrebs@aol.com CIS: 73003,2405 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Fantasy BlitzBall League (Swedish language) Type: Brutal sport in a fantasy environment Duration: open-ended Turns: 2 per month GM: Computer moderated, with some hand moderation Costs: 40 SCr for startup, 18 SCr/turn Description: FBBL lets you take on the role of a manager for a Blitzball-team. The team can be made up by elves, orks, trolls, humans, minotaurs, and many more races. A game of FBBL is divided into about 13 turns per season, in which all teams (72 of'em, in 8 divisions) compete to stay in their division, or, if they are situated in a lower division, try to get into a better division. Cups (championships) are also played, and then of course there's the infamous BlitzBowl; whoever wins the Bowl will play the next season for free. Company: Magnus Cassersjo Box 72 343 21 Almhult Sweden magnuz.aemp@mn.medstroms.se _________________________________________________________________ Game: Feudal Lords Type: Medieval strategy Duration: 6-12 turns. Turns: 2-3 week turn around. Slow (monthly) games probably available. Turns can be sent and received by email. GM: Computer moderated. Description: You are a duke trying to become King Of England after the death of King Arthur. You have a limited number of orders to raise and move your army, build up your castle and fief. Opinion: Okay idea, bad execution. Knowing which actions are good is key. - purtill@dimacs.rutgers.edu Company: Flying Buffalo Inc. P. O. Box 1467 Scottsdale, AZ 85252-1467 (602) 945-6917 MCI: 0001138241 CIS: 70030,240 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Galactic Anarchy Type: Space Opera / Empire building Duration: 20 to 30 turns Turns: Once every eighteen days. GM: Computer moderated Costs: $15.00 setup - includes rules and 5 turns. $3.50/Turn Rules $3.50. $55.00 One Time Fee for entire game. Turns can be sent and received by email. Description: Galactic Anarchy is a PBM/PBEM space game in which up to 30 players compete for galactic supremacy. Six racial types are available: Imperialist, Drone, Merchant, Zealot, Raider, and Xenophobe. Players have 4 types of fleets to use: Combat, Hyper, General Purpose and Dreadnought. Players have several offensive choices: Raid, Stealing, Plunder, Invade, Assaults, Infest, four types of bombs, and system and fleet fire. Many artifacts exist, some of which can be used to assist the players in their quest of galactic supremacy. Private games have been running since 1988, and public games since 1991. Moderate complexity, employing a high level of diplomacy. Company: Anarchy by Mail (AxM) P.O. Box 873 Allen, TX. 75002-4005 Phone: (214) 727-8471 gturner@netcom.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Hyborian War Type: Global conquest - Fantasy Duration: Roughly 30 turns (not sure) Turns: Optional two or four week turn around - Phone turns accepted GM: Computer moderated Costs: Dependent on kingdom size: $4, $6 or $8. Free initial set-up and rules. Description: Global conquest in the world of Conan the Barbarian. Not nearly as complex as Alamaze, but still complete with espionage, magic, trade, politics and war. Player interaction is highly encouraged and addresses are supplied. Opinions: This is a fair but not great game. First-time players are often discouraged because the game can be dominated by veterans who have learned the ropes. Not nearly as enjoyable as Duelmasters. RSI customer service is top-notch and the results are laser printed. - stdaughney@chemical.waterloo.edu (Steve Daughney) Company: Reality Simulations Inc. (RSI) P.O. Box 22400 Tempe, AZ 85285 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Island Takeover Type: Strategic simulation Duration: 20-25 turns Turns: 1/2/3 week turnarounds available, email turns available GM: Costs: $2.50 postal turns, $1.50 email turns. You can purchase a complete game for a fixed amount, $45 postal, $25 email. Description: Island Takeover is a territorial takeover game set on an island. Between 7 and 10 players will vie for ownership of this island. The game will last typically between 20 and 25 turns. Company: Eclipse Consulting Inc. PO Box 969 Yonkers, NY 10703-0969 (914)-965-1986 71441.3144@compuserve.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Isle of Crowns Type: Strategy/Tactics Duration: 20 turns. Turns: Bi-weekly turns. Faxes accepted. GM: Computer Moderated Costs: $4/turn, $60 for the entire game paid in advance. Setup is free. No turn phone-in. Description: Player runs a barony on a 24-barony island. Object is to control more sectors than anyone else by turn 20. Game consists of armies, fortresses, outposts, walls, Captains, wizards, dragons, rogue races, and ships. Game has one winner, with no prizes. Opinions: The balance of the game is excellent - maybe too good. Lucky placement plays a significant role in victory, and this may frustrate players determined to win. Skillful play is still the most significant factor, so players determined to do well should have no problems. It will appeal to UCSD empire players. I highly recommend this game. - griffith@dweeb.fx.com (Jim Griffith) Company: Adventures By Mail P.O. Box 436 Cohoes, NY 12047 (518) 237-4870 _________________________________________________________________ Game: It's A Crime! (Gang vs. Gang) Type: Strategic/modern day Duration: 36 turns or less Turns: Minimum 11 days per turn. Faxes accepted. GM: Computer Moderated Costs: $1.50/turn (4 orders), $3.00/turn for a double order turn (10 orders, competitive players will want to issue double order turns every turn), $1.50 extra for "extended New York Post reports", $1.50 extra for phoned-in orders. Setup is free, first two turns are free. Description: Player is the leader of a 1990's New York street gang. City is a 100x100 grid with 500 initial gangs. Gangs have a number of different orders they can issue to build their strength and hose rival gangs. Opinions: The game parameters are simplistic, because the game was originally intended as a test game. The game does contain "magic numbers" that give an experienced player an advantage over an inexperienced one. The variability of orders makes the game a lot of fun. GAMES Magazine placed it in its top 100 games a few years back. I highly recommend it. - griffith@dweeb.fx.com This is a decent game for people new to the pbm market to cut their teeth on, except for that fact that every time you turn around they have another $1.50 charge to hit you with after advertising that it is an inexpensive game at $1.50 a turn. Being 100% computer moderated also lends an air of sterility to it. - bigmac@erg.sri.com (Bryan McDonald) Company: Adventures By Mail P.O. Box 436 Cohoes, NY 12047 (518) 237-4870 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Kingdoms Type: Strategic fantasy Duration: Open-ended Turns: Once per week GM: human moderated Status: One campaign running presently Costs: $2/turn Description: Players begin as the commander of a mercenary company with ten followers. From that point, the player does what s/he can to gather enough gold and wo/men to found a kingdom. Once in a position of power, the strategic race to rule the map begins... Company: J.A. Giunta P.O. Box 54403 Phoenix, Az. 85032 averon@indirect.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Legacy Of The Panther Type: Wargame Duration: Close ended, victory conditions apply. Turns: Fortnightly. GM: Computer moderated with GM intervention when players need help. Costs: Approx. 1.25 pounds sterling per turn (est.). Description: Player owns an 'area' of land and begins at level 1. The object is to reach level 5 and have as many areas, troops and wealth as possible. A points system exists and is used to determine the winner of more recent games. Multiple characters are permitted. Opinions: Excellent but expensive. Can get a little stale when the ability to recruit new troops is lost (at level 3) and military action becomes more difficult. Ruthlessness is recommended! - sjw@ukc.ac.uk Company: West Pennine Games 15 Carr Bank Drive Ramsbottom Bury Lancashire BL0 9DG England _________________________________________________________________ Game: Legends Type: Fantasy RPG Duration: Depends on existence of victory conditions Turns: 2 turns/month allowed, 1 production turn/month GM: various (multiple games in progress) WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: NOTE: There are four modules: Crowns of Avalon: Fantasy FRP with action occurring from a strategic level to a personal hero level. An interesting world full of high adventure and political intrigue. There are a number of political factions, each with it's own agenda, or it is possible to start your own if you have enough people rallied around your cause. Plenty of monsters to fight, treasure to be won, and NPC's to convert or conquer. Realm of the Immortals: Same as above, but with a theme. The land as it exists is in peril of being conquered by the Overlord who has been laying siege to various cities for a number of years. The Overlord is generally a nasty person, being concerned with raising undead armies and sending them against his enemies. North Island Campaign: In this campaign, the Elves are returning to their ancestral home, the North Island. Unfortunately, the current inhabitants don't like the arrival of invaders... Dark Domain: The island of Tarvan has been ruled for a thousand years by the evil Alkator, who has sent his armies to attack the Kingdoms of the Outer Lands. But, suddenly, Alkator's armies ceased to come across the ocean. Now the Kingdoms are attemping to invade Tarvan, about which nothing is known... Opinion: The game emphasizes flexibility - there are around 200 different orders you can issue, plus "special orders" which let you do non-standard stuff. This is a *lot* of fun to play, especially if you have friends in the same game. Main problem is that Midnight Games' phone line is *always* busy. - griffith@dweeb.fx.com (Jim Griffith) Great concept, not-so-great execution. Rules are hard to understand, and program is notoriously buggy. Midnight is taking steps to correct this in the new Legends II forthcoming. Still, there's nothing else like it out there for sheer size and scope. - joey.browning@datadim.com (Joey Browning) Company: Midnight Games 130 E. Main Street, Suite 305 Medford, OR 97501 (503) 772-7872 Rhann Postal Games P.O. Box 12 Sarisbury Green Southampton ENGLAND S03 6YL rhann@post.aladdin.co.uk SSV Klapf-Bachler OEG Postfach 1205 A-8021 Graz, Austria _________________________________________________________________ Game: Lords of Destiny Type: Sci-fi Duration: 22-34 turns, 12 players per game Turns: once a week (email only), 2 and 3 weeks (postal only) GM: Computer-moderated Costs: flat rate US$4.50 / turn Description: Lords of Destiny is the sci-fi game of galactic empire building, legendary beings, and cataclysmic battles. Players begin the game with 6 fleets at one homeworld. From this humble beginning, they must manuever fleets, recruit and train characters, research technology, invest in production facilities, and produce military units. The players are not alone though for neutral empires ranging from primitive cavemen to god-like elder races also inhabit the galaxy. The galaxy contains special sectors such as black holes, secret societies, training academies, worm holes, and the fabled seven wonders of the universe. Also scattered throughout space are 100 ancient alien artifacts which give their owners special powers. There are many different paths to victory in Lords of Destiny" Your strategy determines how your empire develops and which characters you specialize in. There are 9 character classes with multi-class characters possible. Some empires may even possess legendary characters -- the Lords of Destiny. The influence of these great beings on an empire is significant. Company: Maelstrom Games PO Box B Welch Ave Station Ames, IA 50014 515-233-6484 FAX/PHONE lod@infostructure.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Lords of the Earth - Campaign 1 Type: Historical/Strategic Duration: Open ended. Turns: 4-6 week turn-around. Email turns accepted. GM: Human-moderated (contingency orders accepted). Heavily computer-aided. Costs: $4.00(US)/turn (no additional costs) (discounts if in Tucson) $5.00 mapset (large maps also available) $10.00 Rules Description: Player runs a country in 1650+ AD. Whole world simulation. Excellent maps. This is the original game, started in 1983 and still running. Has switched over to the Rennaissance rules. 45 players and always an opening or two. Company: Thomas Harlan 4858 East Second Street Tucson AZ 85711-1207 (602) 323-8570 71155.1513@compuserve.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Lords of the Earth - Campaign 4 Type: Historical/Strategic Duration: Open ended. Turns: 4-6 week turn-around. Email turns accepted. GM: Human-moderated (contingency orders accepted). Costs: $4.00(US)/turn (no additional costs) $4.00 mapset $3.00 Color Map Update $10.00 Rules $2.00 Rules Supplement (included in $10 Rules) New Player startup set: $20.00 (maps, rules, 2 turns) Description: Player runs a country in 1225+ AD. Whole world simulation. Excellent maps. 50 players currently. Game system has been played continuously since 1983, this game is fairly young yet and there are lots of good positions. Company: Sean Padden 909 S. Fifth Street #253 Champaign Il. 61820 (217) 332-4794 padd@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu _________________________________________________________________ Game: Lords of the Earth - Campaign 13 Type: Historical/Strategic Duration: Open ended. Turns: 6 week turn-around. GM: Human-moderated Costs: $10 rules, $6 startup, $4-5 per turn Description: Player runs a country in 1010+ AD. Countries can follow many paths to greatness: war, diplomacy, evangelism, secret operations, trade, and/or public works. Played on a detailed map of Earth. About 10 openings out of 40 in the Old World, 5 out of 20 in the New World. This campaign is just getting started (turn #3 on 25May94). Opinion: Great game, because of the myriad options available for a nation (you can do anything), and the high level of player interaction. - Peter Morzinski (morzinpl@rosevc.rose-hulman.edu) Company: Martin Stewart 773 Zeiss Ave St. Louis, MO 63125 (314) 638-9604 _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) PBM GAMES LIST -- COMMERCIAL GAMES 2/2 Game: The Mat Masters Type: Fantasy Wrestling Duration: Open-Ended Turns: Twice a month GM: Computer E-Mail Server: ImagnryEnt@aol.com Description: Mat Master has over 250 possible moves, color reports, detailed drawings and full match descriptions. As of September 1994, there were 150 wrestlers being played by players from 4 countries. Company: Imaginary Enterprises P.O. Box 90354 Sioux Falls, SD, 57105 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Middle-Earth Play-By-Mail (ME-PBM) Type: Conquest/Adventure (Fantasy, strategic) Duration: (Averages 25-40 turns) Turns: 2 or 3 week turnaround. Phone turns accepted (+$3) GM: Computer-moderated Costs: $6.50/turn, $25.00/$12.50 for first/following setups (150+ Page Rulebook, 2' * 3' Full Color Map of Middle Earth, 3 Month Subscription to GSI strategy magazine, 2 Free Turns) Description: Conquest and Adventure in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle Earth. In each game, there are 25 players who take on the role of a Dark Servant (10), Free Peoples (10), or a Neutral (5). The goal of the game is for Good to destroy all of Evil (or vice versa). An optional victory is attained by delivering the ONE RING to Mt. Doom or to Sauron. Each player controls a kingdom and individual characters. In many ways similar to Alamaze, but more developed. Opinions: THE BEST PBM I HAVE EVER PLAYED!! Your turns are laser printed and you receive updated kingdom maps every turn w/ updated character sheets for your heroes. If you in in love with Tolkien's books, this is THE GAME for you. ME-PBM has been programmed in consultation with Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.), makers of the Middle Earth Role Playing System. - Zach Harman (zharman@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu) Company: Game Systems Inc. (GSI) P.O. Box 160129 Miami, FL 33116-0129 (305) 274-5559 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Mobius I Type: Science Fiction Duration: 25-35 turns. Turns: 2-3 week turn around. Slow (monthly) turnaround also available. Turns can be sent and received by email. GM: Computer moderated. Costs: $7-10/turn, $5 setup, $3 rules. Description: Fairly complex game involving colonizing other planets and fighting on planets and in space. Also has a role-playing element (you have a bunch of characters to run your empire). Opinions: Too complicated to be playable, not complicated enough to be realistic. - purtill@dimacs.rutgers.edu (Mark Purtill) Having been a long time FBI customer and a Mobius player, I felt that the review for that game was rather unjustified. The game is certainly somewhat more complex than, say Starweb, but considerably simpler that Empyrean Challenge (to stay in the same genre), very well run (FBI's customer service is absolutely the best, their error rate extremely low and their turnaround quite regular) and I would recommend the game heartily. It is interesting for its introduction of some role playing into what is a primarily strategic game. Try it! - Henri_Hayim_Farhi@cup.portal.com Good service, but be prepared to spend a lot of money and a lot of time number crunching. Not bad, but not great either. - minnotte@rice.edu (Mike Minnotte) Company: Flying Buffalo, Inc. P. O. Box 1467 Scottsdale, AZ 85252-1467 (602) 945-6917 MCI: 0001138241 CIS: 70030,240 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Monster Island Type: Fantasy role-playing Duration: Open ended Turns: 8 business days (a week and a half). GM: Computer moderator Costs: $4.00/turn WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Player plays a monster (orc, goblin, elf types) washed up on shore of Monster Island, there to survive, have fun, kick butt, and generally act monsterish. Opinions: Huge mongo game; can accommodate 15,001 monsters in the same game (the map is about the size of Australia). Computer keeps track of over 2100 statistics for each monster, and over 120 for each square. Beautiful custom laser-printed results every turn. - warden@rt66.com (Scott Micheel) There is a mailing list of ~ 150 players on the Internet. Write warden@rt66.com for more information. Back issues of player newsletters are available at the ftp sites. Company: Adventures By Mail P. O. Box 436 Cohoes, NY, 12047 (518) 237-4870 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Out Time Days Type: Role Playing - Fantasy/Science Fiction Duration: Open ended (End World Scenario some years down the road). Turns: Once a week. Excellent turn around. CIS/Phone turns accepted. GM: Human Moderated, Computer Assisted. Costs: $15 Startup (professional manual, 5 free turns). $5.00/position, $3.00 for spin-offs Very limited spin-offs allowed, average player cost $8/week. Description: Players run Time Traveler characters stuck in a world with very different rules. Role Playing amongst players is the emphasis, as is team playing. Opinions: Best RPG I have seen on the market. The GM is highly involved and cares about his game and that his players enjoy it. This game is definitely for people wanting to role play with others, not against the game itself. - bigmac@erg.sri.com (Bryan McDonald) Company: Twin Engine Gaming 3254 Maple Leaf Court San Jose, CA, 95121 (408) 270-2466 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Odyssey Type: strategic and heroic fantasy Duration: 50-75 turns Turns: once a week, or as requested GM: computer moderated Costs: $5.00 per turn WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Odyssey is a multi-player strategic fantasy game of diplomacy, exploration, heroic adventure, and military conquest. It consists of the game system, called Odyssey, and a variety of fantasy modules containing the story-line and backdrop for you gaming. Heroes' Quest is the first module, and it allows 30-50 players to cooperate and compete on a 90x60 provincial map. You create your position complete with characters, items, spells, statuses, and troops when you sign up for a game. Spend your points a few powerful characters or a swarm of novices. Concentrate in arcane disciplines, covert activities, combative strength, pious fervor, or a little of everything. Then pick where you want to set-up in the world, and when the game starts, you will be on your way. As you play, you may pursue heroic quests, amass military might, gain prestige and glory, lay claim to titles and guilds, fight nasty beasts, collect magical items, and carve out your own niche. Work on your own or with a group of players. Your options are virtually limitless in the detailed fantasy world through the combination of hundreds of orders, spells, and features which Odyssey provides. The online documenation for Odyssey is available from the directory ftp://ftp.den.com/pub/odyssey/, and includes the Odyssey Player's Guide, Heroes' Quest module, along with some sample turns and orders. Company: Gamer's Den PO Box 390755 Mt View, CA 94039-0755 Internet Readme: info@den.com Internet Support: support@den.com CIS Readme: INFO.DEN in lib 6 of the PBMGAMES forum CIS Support: 73613,3472 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Olympia Type: epic fantasy Duration: open ended Turns: once per week, email only GM: computer moderated Costs: flat rate US$2.50/turn WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Olympia features a vast map, simultaneous turn execution, magic, combat, skills, rare artifacts, exploration, trade, strange monsters, etc. Rather than ``phases'', Olympia has realistic time. Each turn has 30 days. Orders are rated for how many days they take to complete. Orders which don't finish by the end of the turn simply continue into the next. Most players control 10-15 characters, and receive a 15-25 page report. The size of the report varies depending on whether the player concentrates development in a few characters, or pursues an empire building strategy. Company: Shadow Island Games P.O. Box 6435 Somerset, NJ 08875-6435 (908) 469-1992 info@pbm.com ftp site for rules: ftp.pbm.com:pub/olympia _________________________________________________________________ Game: Omega Squad Type: Science-fiction / Skirmish Duration: closed ended, variable Players: up to 20 per game Turns: weekly by email, fortnightly via postal and email GM: computer moderated Costs: eMail Postal Setup: UKP 3.50 UKP 5.00 Turn: UKP 1.75 UKP 2.50 Rules: FREE UKP 3.00 Can alsoaccept payment in non-UK currency. EMail for details. Description: Omega Squad is a Play-By-Mail (PBM) sci-fi skirmish wargame set in the corridors and rooms of a futuristic research facility. In Omega squad you compete with several other players to be the first to recover an alien specimen and return it to your parent corporation. The other squads all have the same objective as you - seek and recover an alien specimen - all other considerations are secondary. In other words, bring back an alien, destroy all competition, the mission is the only concern. Once this initial mission is complete, further missions await. Postal turns can be submitted either on IBM 3.5in disk or hand- written on paper. If you submit your orders on disk, then the results wil be sent back to you on disk. If you submit your orders on paper, then your results will be sent back on paper. Results consist of large detailed maps of each marine's immediate area - one for each marine - with all visible items, personnel, and Aliens marked. Omega Squad is computer-moderated, so results are available quickly and consistently. The program uses ASCII graphics throughout, so the results can be output on any printer. Company: Bumblebee Games, 17 Carroll Close Newport Pagnell Bucks MK16 8QJ ENGLAND info@bumblbee.demon.co.uk http://www.tightbeam.com/bumblebee _________________________________________________________________ Game: One True Faith Type: dueling deities Duration: ~ 20 turns Turns: one per 25 days Costs: $10/turn WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: One True Faith is a game of competing deities (reviewed in Shadis #14). Players use plagues of locusts, earthquakes, persecution, theological debates, temples, holy wars - all the traditional tools of Divine conflict. Company: Keith Langley 1614 Donovan Pl Longmont CO 80501 (303)776-7987 noon-midnt MST keith.langley@mdcs.com Avalon Rusk (303) 604-2588 arusk@nyx.cs.du.edu _________________________________________________________________ Game: Pandemonium Circus Type: Sci-Fi / Gladatorial Arena combat Duration: Open ended Turns: Once a week, via email GM: computer moderated Costs: setup and 2 turns free, additional turns $1 Description: In Pandemonium Circus, players play the role of the manager of one or more futuristic prisoners fighting in the arena to win their parole and their freedom. Fighters may train in many different fields of hand-to-hand and melee combat in an attempt to become a master of combat against all challengers. Company: Distant Vistas P.O. Box 90993 Industry, CA 91715-0993 Email: dvistas@aol.com _________________________________________________________________ Name: Phoenix Type: space diplomacy, economic, and combat game Duration: 20-40 turns Turns: 1, 2, or 3 times a week, or as requested GM: computer moderated Costs: $2.50 per turn, $15 for 150-page rulebook WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: Phoenix is a PBEM space game of diplomacy, exploration, economic expansion, and military conquest for novice and expert players alike. Each player controls a space empire composed of one of seven different racial types expanding from a single homeworld. The goal is to control over half of the galaxy, either singly or jointly with up to a quarter of the players in the game. The size of the galaxy scales with the number of players. Beginners are encouraged to start in smaller games to become accustomed to the system, and then move to larger games. The Player's Guide is filled with examples and strategy hints. A turn may contain up to 200 orders. Game sizes range from 2 to 20 players. Single player games are available for $1/turn to practice racial strategy, and to help new players learn the rules. The rules may be ftped from ftp.den.com:/pub/phoenix/. A graphical interface for MS-DOS players is available at the same ftp site. Company: Gamer's Den PO Box 390755 Mt View, CA 94039-0755 Internet Readme: info@den.com Internet Support: support@den.com CIS Readme: INFO.DEN in lib 6 of the PBMGAMES forum CIS Support: 73613,3472 _________________________________________________________________ Name: Ragnaroek - Empire (PBM version of the wargame armageddon) Language: German Type: strategic/tactical, economic/wargame, fantasy setting Duration: open-ended Turns: guaranteed 20/year (10 economic, 10 military), snailmail, phone turns accepted Status: continously running since 1990 Costs: 17-19 DM per double turn (one economic, one military, incl. postage) GM: human/computer Description: Play in Empire has several phases. First, players issue orders for exploration, buildings, equipment and new units paying from their treasury. Second, after receiving the exploration reports, they can order their units to conquer new provinces or attack other play- ers. Battle is played out on a grand tactical level with playing pieces according to the fantasy wargame armageddon. (If living near the GM, it is possible to play the battles in person). There are a lot of different terrain, (eg swamp or forest), equipment, (eg siege towers or ballistae), and unit (eg heroes, swords, bows, chariots, mages) types as well as player specific special units (eg guardians, orks, flying castle). After the battle results, the next economic/exploration turn is due. Peter Birkl Hochriesstrr. 13 83043 Bad Aibling, Germany _________________________________________________________________ Game: Riftlords Type: Interstellar commodity trading (basic game) and empire building (advanced game). Duration: Open-ended Turnaround: 2 weeks Cost: $4 per turn for 3 ships; $6 for 6 Description: Riftlords is played on a 2-D map with about 1000 stars. Players start with a small ship and 10,000 credits, and the objective is to make a cool million. Commodity trading is the main source of income, but ships can also carry passengers, smuggle illegal cargoes, or hunt pirates for the bounty. Once the captain has made a million, they can graduate to the advanced game. This allows the player to explore beyond the edges of known space, establish colonies and fight other players. New features are still being added to the game. Opinion: I am finding that there just aren't enough decisions to make each turn to justify the fee. You have so little information at the start of the game that you might as well pick your moves at random. Once you know which planets in your area buy which commodities, it is pretty obvious where the money can be made. Several of my ships are close to the million-credit mark now, and I am hoping that the advanced game will give me more to think about. Flying Buffalo's service is exemplary, as usual. -- Keith Wignall (ECON100@cantva.canterbury.ac.nz) Company: Flying Buffalo, Inc. P. O. Box 1467 Scottsdale, AZ 85252-1467 (602) 945-6917 MCI: 0001138241 CIS: 70030,240 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Roadkill 2115 Type: Science Fiction / post-holocaust / Road Warrior Duration: Open-Ended Turns: Sequential GM: Mixed/Garet Jax E-mail Server: ImagnryEnt@aol.com Description: Set in the far future where anything that moves has a weapon with it, Roadkill 2115 is the first non-sporting PBM game from Imaginary Enterprises. While there are still kinks in the game, the players in it so far have given it good reviews and it looks like it can only go forward. Being of a mixed moderation gives it the fairness of a computer while allowing the flexablitly to do what you want. 3 characters of 5 different races, and 8 different occupations search burned out cities of the U.S. for ways to survive, and become powerful forces where the guy with the biggest guns leads the pack. Heavy on mysteries, the 20+ page rule book only lets you have enough information to start out, leaving you to find out the rest yourself. Company: Imaginary Enterprises P.O. Box 90354 Sioux Falls, SD, 57105 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Smuggler's Run Type: Science Fiction / Space Opera Duration: open-ended Turns: Weekly email GM: computer-moderated Status: Accepting players constantly Costs: setup and 2 turns free, additional turns $2. Independent smugglers ply the galaxy in an attempt to thwart the restrictive Empire and earn riches. Adventure and danger abound. Space pirates, customs inspectors and petty imperial bureaucrats are just some of the many dangers to avoid. A detailed email brochure is available for the asking. Company: Distant Vistas P.O. Box 90993 Industry, CA 91715-0993 Email: dvistas@aol.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Sol III Type: PBEM RPG with 6 separate campaigns Duration: open-ended Turns: Three Business day Turnaround Time (or faster) GM: Varied. Human run. Head GM: soliiigm@aol.com (Sol III GM) Status: Accepting players constantly Costs: First two weeks free. $15 per month per character following that. No turn fees. Sol III is an alternate earth with an alternate history. 6 periods have been chosen to adventure in, and all of them are open-ended with no player cap. We have a full staff of 7 GM's to insure rapid responses, and this is our 5th year as a professional Play By E-Mail company. The 5 Time Frames are: 1203 AD, 1650 AD, 1893 AD, 1988 AD, 2023 AD, and 2603 AD. There are no turn sheets since the game is actually more of a true role-playing game than most, and as such, resembles Interactive Fiction. Players may adventure solo, in teams, open shops, engage in politics, and anything else that they can imagine. Certain character types will allow players to switch between Time Frames. Further information can be found at our FTP site: ftp://users.aol.com/soliiigm/sol3 _________________________________________________________________ Game: St. Valentines Day Massacre (United States Version) Type: Gang lord simulation Duration: Closed, victory conditions apply. Turns: ~4 week turn around. GM: Computer moderated. Description: Gang Lords rise in stature base on gang member power and the financial success of various premises and rackets. The system is new to the United States, but established in Great Britain. Opinions: So far I like it, but only two turns have passed. I will update this report once a few more turns have gone by. (May 9, 1991) - bigmac@erg.sri.com (Bryan McDonald) Company: Vortex Simulations P.O.Box 317 Ft. Meade, Maryland 20755-0317 (301) 621-9561 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Stargazer Type: Galactic Empire Building Duration: 2-3 week turns, 20-30 turns Turns: $5 set-up, $3 per turn Description: Players become the leaders of alien races that have just discovered the secret of StarTravel. The players must race to explore and control the galaxy while having to contend with each other and the unknown of deep space. Players find themselves challenged in many ways as they take on the roles of Diplomat, Politician, Head of Military, and Business Person. Success depends as much on diplomacy and behind the scenes deals as it does on military strategy. Company: Frontier Game Company P.O. Box 601 Mishawaka, IN 46546 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Starlord Type: Space Opera Duration: Open ended. Turns: 2-3 week turn around. GM: Computer moderated. Description: You have a command ship that can move around a 2-D galaxy, and a bunch of ships. You can only move those ships with 7 squares of your command ship, and your goal is to become emperor, and then to stay emperor. Opinion: Easy to play and pretty results, but essentially brainless and dull. - minnotte@rice.edu (Michael Minnotte) Nice color printouts only redeeming feature. - purtill@dimacs.rutgers.edu (Mark Purtill) Company: Flying Buffalo, Inc. P. O. Box 1467 Scottsdale, AZ 85252-1467 (602) 945-6917 MCI: 0001138241 CIS: 70030,240 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Starweb Type: Science Fiction Simulation Duration: 10-15 turns. Turns: 2-3 week turn around. Slow (monthly) and email (weekly) turnaround also available. Turns can be sent and received by email. GM: Computer moderated. WWW page: yes, see main PBM page. Description: As one of six types of position, you try to score points (in a different way for each type), using a limited number of fleets. Each world connects to several others in the "web" and can build ships or industry. Opinion: Classic! Lots of ways to win, for diplomats and generals alike. - minnotte@rice.edu (Michael Minnotte) Lots of diplomacy, game system simple but not trivial. I like it. - purtill@dimacs.rutgers.edu (Mark Purtill) Not just lots of diplomacy but **LOTS** of diplomacy -- but remember, that's usually by phone (FBI also has blind, net, and other variants). My phone bill was too high! - amead@psych.uiuc.edu (Alan Mead) Company: Flying Buffalo, Inc. P. O. Box 1467 Scottsdale, AZ 85252-1467 (602) 945-6917 MCI: 0001138241 CIS: 70030,240 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Stellar Knights Type: Science Fiction Strategy/Role-Playing/Gladiators Duration: open or closed (50 turns) options Turns: 2 turns per month, email or postal mail GM: 99% computer moderation Costs: $3/turn + $1/knight, startup & rules free. Description: Stellar Knights is a fusion of strategy and role-playing. Players may pick stats and skills for their characters, and then use them in strategic (stellar sieges, planetary invasions) or gladitorial ways. Knights may grow in skill over time. There are many choices of starships, weapons, and so forth. Company: Zion Games P.O. Box 1118 Chinook, MT USA 59523-1118 (406) 357-3769 pmv1@aol.com _________________________________________________________________ Game: Svartfolk (Swedish language) Type: Fantasy Wargame Duration: 15-20 turns Turns: 1-2 weeks turnaround GM: Computer moderated. Cost: 40 SCr for startup, 18Scr/turn Description: In Svartfolk you're a lord of an orkizh clan. The aim is to become so powerful that you can claim the crown and thereby unite the black kingdom of the orkz. In each game 20 players start with 2 provinces each. The map contains 273 provinces so at the start all players have plenty of neutrals to conquer. It's very hard to avoid conflicts, even early in the game, and to aid your clan you have armys, commadoz, shamans etc. You can assassinate enemies, kidnap their females (and engage in several other covert operations) or just simply let your armies barge into enemy lands. The prize of winning a game of Svartfolk is a free game of... Svartfolk! Company: Magnus Cassersjo Box 72 343 21 Almhult Sweden magnuz.aemp@mn.medstroms.se _________________________________________________________________ Game: Swords of the Gods Type: Fantasy Simulation (World Conquest and Hunt) Duration: Turns: 2 week turnaround (probably other options as well) GM: Computer Moderated Cost: was $3/turn in 1989 Description: Based on Saberhagen's Book of Swords series, each player is a minor noble trying to capture the twelve swords of power (which will presumably lead to world domination; you don't actually have to conquer everything). Essentially a relatively simple wargame. Things are complicated by the presence of spell-casting wizards, the swords (each with its power), and twelve gods which provide boons for their favorites and problems for their most hated lord. You must also balance soldiers to fight for you with keeping enough peasants in the field producing food and increasing your population. Opinion: An inexpensive, simple, fairly interesting game. Nothing spectacular. - minnotte@rice.edu (Michael Minnotte) Company: Galactic Simulations _________________________________________________________________ Game: TAKAMO Type: Space Empire-Building Duration: Open ended. Turns: From 1/ten days to 1/month, depending on which galaxy. GM: Computer run, human moderator for questions & problems. Costs: $2.50 to $15.00/turn Rules/Setup/2 free turns all for $10.00 Description: Players play empire builders, nomads, pirates, smugglers, traders, agribusinesses, miners, or (ick) cybers in a quest to explore the galaxy and tame it while making lots of bucks and trying to avoid getting into interstellar wars (or perhaps trying to start some). Opinions: Interesting game, not *too* complicated, but full of complex details that may arise during play. Long-running game, the first galaxy started in 1983. There is a closed-ended version too, TAKAMO II. - warden@rt66.com (Scott Michael) Company: Advent Games PO Box 81674 Lincoln NE 68501 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Throne of Rhianon Type: Fantasy War Simulation Duration: ~ 30 turns Turns: two and three week games Costs: $6/turn (no startup fee) Rules: ftp.mirago.com:pub/pbm/misc/throne_of_rhianon.gz also available from us with complete text formating for $10 or startup package for $15 (rules, startup, and 2 free turns) Description: Throne of Rhianon is a game of war between kings and their tools of power: conjuration magic, regional senates, elves, generals, ancient relics, assassins, shrines, undead, quests, double agents, fleets, public opinion, spies, powerful monoliths, diplomats, and much more. Each game is played by 20 players on a new map designed around the kingdoms created by the players. Players decide the size of their kingdoms, the quality of its regions (gold, morale, defenses, etc), their kingdom's strengths and weaknesses, what types of troops they have, and finally, what they must to do to win. There are over 20 different victory conditions, so while one player may be close to taking over the world, perhaps another player has completed her collection of powerful relics and wins! Company: Vorpal Games PO BOX 353 Richland WA 99352 (509) 783-7556 any time, if there isn't an answer, leave message on machine and we'll get back to you _________________________________________________________________ Game: Timelapse Type: Strategic/tribal treasure hunt through 5,000 years of history Duration: Fixed victory conditions Turns: run once a week GM: gsf@ftech.co.uk (Graham McPhee) Status: In playtest (Started 8th February 1995) FTP site: ftp.ftech.co.uk:/pub/games/PBM/tlapse.zip (game rules) Description: Description: Timelapse is a difficult game to categorise as the game can be played over twelve time periods, from the Bronze age to the Space age. But the object of the game is to collect the fifty parts of your spacecraft that have fragmented when you crashed on the Bronze age world. Up to 450 NPC's can be used as allies against the other 49 players of the game. At set points the game will leap 500 years into the future, until one players has assembled their spacecraft and won the game. Players need a PC to run the display/game order program and access to FTP to download/upload their turn. Timelapse currently runs commercially on paper and via play by disk, this is the email playtest and players are playing for free. The rules are available from the ftp site quoted above using anonymous access. Company: Galactic Society Four gsf@ftech.co.uk (Graham McPhee) _________________________________________________________________ Name: Xarian Adventures Type: fantasy role-playing Duration: open-ended GM: human-moderated Costs: One-page turn CDN$6, 2 page turn CDN$9, 3 page turn CDN$12. Startup, rules, initial turn CDN$15. Description: 'Xarian Adventures' is a hand moderated PBM game of the Fantasy genre. The turn results are narrative in style and occasionally include diagrams. Players may choose from 5 'human' tribes or 4 non-human races (Dwarvrim, Elvrim, Knomes and Ogrim). The 8 character professions are: Armswielder, Arcanist (Wizard), Ascetic (Monk), Khemist (Herbalist), Knave (Thief), Merchant, Mystic (Cleric), and Performer. Turn costs are dependent upon turn length. There are no turn deadlines for solo adventurers. A free newsletter is published 4 times yearly. A free introductory package is availlable for those who would like to know more before taking the plunge. Mailing Address: True North Gaming 220 Woodfield Drive Nepean, Ontario Canada K2G 3W8 _________________________________________________________________ Name: You Rule! Type: fantasy strategic war game Duration: 20-30 turns Turns: 1 week and 2 week turnaround time available GM: computer-moderated Costs: rules are $7.50, setup and turn one are $10, snail mail is $5.50/turn, email is $4.50/turn Description: You Rule! is a strategy war game with a sense of humor. There are six races that have a scissors-paper-stone relationship. Each province is inhabited by one of the six races and has one of a variety of special features. Victory is obtained by training forces of different races to conquer other provinces. There are ten different character types that can be trained, including wizards that can cast a variety of spells. Other features include castles, magic items, weapons, magic portals, theft and assassination. Turns are laser- printed and include a personalized map. Opinions: I have been participating in You Rule! as one of the playtesters. I have thoroughly enjoyed the game. For me, it has just the right level of complexity. The combat system has no hidden program features that need to be discovered by the players. All of the applicable formulas are made available in the rules, but you do not need to be a number cruncher to play. It is quite interesting trying to balance the economic factors associated with commodities and gold. It also takes some planning to mount an attack on an opponent since your troops need food every turn requiring either a large stockpile or an adequate supply line. I would highly recommend this game to anyone interested in strategic wargames. Thus far, I have been impressed with Llucky Llama. They have been very responsive to suggestions for improvement and have promptly answered any and all game related questions. The ability to play the game via email is also very convenient. -- David Saville (dsaville@argo.unm.edu) Company: Llucky Llama Games 80-Q N. Cabrillo Hwy. #226-I Half Moon Bay, CA 94019-1667 Phone: (415) 712-0283 Fax: (415) 712-0284 Internet: llucky@crl.com CompuServe: 74044,325 _________________________________________________________________ Game: Warriors and Wizards Type: Fantasy Strategic Duration: Close ended with victory conditions (About 25 turns) Turns: 2 weeks with up to 25 players GM: Computer Costs: $4.50 per turn, no extra costs. Description: Players start with up to 20 characters in their player-designed home territory. Play takes place on a large grid; the winner is first player to earn the rank of King or Queen. You earn rank by capturing territories, winning combats, finding items, etc. Players can choose from 15 magic users and about 20 military types to start the game. During the course of exploration and recruitment players can find over 250 additional units and 350 magic items. Company: Eclipse Consulting Inc. PO Box 969 Yonkers, NY 10703-0969 (914)-965-1986 71441.3144@compuserve.com Game: World War II Simulation Duration: 25-50 turns Turns: 2-3 weeks/ snail mail GM: Human moderated Description: A realistic world war II simulation game of world conquest. World War II simulation is strictly a PBM game that offers its players Game maps, forms, national information, game economics, factory production espionage networks, spies, commandos, partisans, military units right down to the regiment level on a world scale. Company: The Canadian Institute of Strategic Simulations #320-6440 Centre St. N Calgary, Alberta Canada T2K-0V4 Phone: 403-275-6457 Internet address: mriley@agt.net _________________________________________________________________ Greg Lindahl (gl8f@virginia.edu) Referenced By Up