Play-by-mail Game

Play by mail games are often referred to as PBM games, and play by email is sometimes abbreviated PBeM -- as opposed to face to face (FTF) games which are played in person. Another variation on the name is Play-by-Internet (PBI) or play-by-web (PBW). In all of these examples, player moves can be either executed by a human moderator, a computer program, or a combination.

In the 1980s, play-by-mail games reached their peak of popularity with the advent of Gaming Universal, the first professional magazine devoted to play-by-mail games. A similar magazine, Flagship, focused on British PBM games. Bob McLain, the publisher and editor of Gaming Universal, further popularized the hobby by writing articles that appeared in many of the leading mainstream gaming magazines of the time.

In the late 1990s, computer and Internet games marginalized play-by-mail conducted by actual postal mail, but the postal hobby still exists with an estimated 2000-3000 adherents worldwide.

See also Play-by-post Gaming or Play-by-Internet .

POSTAL GAMING

Postal gaming developed as a way for geographically separated gamers to compete with each other. It was especially useful for those living in isolated areas and those whose tastes in games was uncommon.

In the case of a two player game such as Chess , players would simply send their moves to each other alternately.

In the case of a multi-player game such as Diplomacy , a central Game Master would run the game, receiving the moves and publishing adjudications. Such adjudications were often published in postal game Zine s, some of which contained far more than just games.

INTERNET PLAY-BY-MAIL

With the rise of the Internet , postal gaming and postal games zines have largely been replaced by E-mail and Websites . Play by mail games differ from popular online multiplayer games in that, for most computerized multiplayer games, the players have to be online at the same time. With a play by mail game, the players can play whenever they choose. (This is sometimes called a Turn-based Game .) Some Computer Game s can be played in a play by mail mode: you make your "move", mail a file to your opponent, who makes his "move", and mails something back.

The first commercial play-by-email games offered by major online services were:

'' Quantum Space '', designed and programmed by Don Daglow , on the QuantumLink , PC-Link and AppleLink services (later unified and renamed AOL ), ( 1989 - 1991 ). AOL Founder Steve Case personally supported the project.