Starweb is a play-by-mail game of strategy and diplomacy invented in 1976 by Rick Loomis. The game has won a number of awards over the years (including the 1984 Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Play-by-Mail Game, the 2000 and 2003 Origins Awards for Best Play-by-Mail Game, and the 1997 Origins Award for Best Ongoing Play-by-Mail Game), and is likely the longest lived play-by-mail game that started life in that medium. It remains a popular game a...
more
Starweb is a play-by-mail game of strategy and diplomacy invented in 1976 by Rick Loomis. The game has won a number of awards over the years (including the 1984 Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Play-by-Mail Game, the 2000 and 2003 Origins Awards for Best Play-by-Mail Game, and the 1997 Origins Award for Best Ongoing Play-by-Mail Game), and is likely the longest lived play-by-mail game that started life in that medium. It remains a popular game at Flying Buffalo.
Played for points, Starweb is primarily a hidden movement wargame, but also includes elements of a role-playing game. Six different types of players (Empire Builder, Merchant, Berserker, Apostle, Pirate, and Artifact Collector) gain points in different ways; nevertheless, most victories come from taking something away from somebody else.
Players write down their orders using an arcane command language, which is then entered into the Starweb computer program and the orders calculated simultaneously. The results are then...
less
