What is PBM

What is PBM?

Play By Mail is a form of gaming similar to board games or computer games, but on a much larger scale. It allows any number of players to get together in all different types of games, from sci-fi to sports, war games to rpg's, without the inconvenience of actually meeting each other (Imagine having to fly to Alaska just to play a game of chess!).

How Do I Play?

The way it works is very simple. First you decide on the type of game you wish to play, whether it's a traditional wargame such as World War IV, a fantasy game like Realms of Fantasy, a futuristic tank warfare clash (Centurion), or a sports soccer simulation like The Double.

Next you ask for a copy of the rule book. You can either download a copy from the relevant home page (in either Word 6 ; ASCII; or HTML format) or you can ask us to send you a printed copy for no charge (UK only). These rule books contain all the information you need to play the game, including how to get started.

Follow the set-up guides in the rules and either post or email us the relevant information needed to get you started. We will then input the information into our computer, and once the game is ready to play you will receive your set-up details. This varies from game to game, but for each you will use these details to plan your first turn. Once you have decided on your strategy (possibly after contacting other players in the game and asking their opinions or advice) you send us your orders for that turn. Some games offer computer player aids to help you in this task, whilst others need you to complete a form that is returned to us. You will be informed of the deadline date for the next turn, and you should ensure that your orders arrive in plenty of time.

We then input these orders into our computer, and once all the orders have been input, we process the turn. The computer analyses your orders, compares them to others in the game and then produces your own specific results. We then (e)mail this report back to you, which you will then use to plan your next set of orders.

This process continues until the relevant victory conditions for that game have been met. You will then be given a final report sheet and a sign-up form to allow you to play again.

Why Should I Play?

Newcomers often ask themselves this questions, though as soon as they start playing they realise the answer. PBM gives you the chance of not just playing against a couple of friends who live near, or playing with a group of people who meet up once a week, it gives you the chance to play with hundreds of people from all across the world. It really is a global gaming system, and you could find yourself playing with people from America, Germany, Holland, Italy and Australia, all in the same game. Games are often much more in-depth than board or computer games, yet they are much easier to play because our computer takes care of all the difficult bits, leaving you just to decide on the best strategy to take.

Costs Involved

Well yes, but our games are well worth the money. The Double for example gives you up to 10 pages of laser printed reports for less than a pint of lager each week (£1.25 to be exact). Whilst World War IV will have you spending hours, even days, pouring over the many options available to you, not to mention the many phone calls, emails and letters you will receive from allies and opponents in the game that all need to be considered and responded to.

Centurion and Realms of Fantasy both offer quality turn reports and maps, both for a very modest fee. Think of how quickly you remove the latest computer game from your hard drive and compare this to the 3-4 months that the average Centurion game will last, or how long one new rpg scenario lasts before having to buy another and then play a complete game of Realms of Fantasy, lasting well over 6 months if you are successful. Both games also offer quality turn reports and maps, including a colour one for Centurion printed each turn.

Glossary

There may be a few words or terms associated with play by mail that you are unsure of. Below is a brief explanation of some of them:-

PBM - Stands for "Play By Mail" and usual refers to postal, printed play.

PBEM - Stands for "Play By E-Mail" and refers to electronic methods of play (Internet / Disk)

Complexity - We grade our games into three levels of complexity:-

Low - very easy to play. Simple rules with small turn reports. Orders usually take just a few minutes to write.

Medium - average size rulebook with some thought needed when writing orders.

High - large size rulebook. Copious turn reports. Hours or days needed to plan and write orders.

Most of our games fall into the medium complexity rating.

Deadlines - The date we should receive your orders by. Most games are run to deadline periods, such as 10 day or 14 day. This means there will be 14 days between the deadline for one turn, and the deadline for the next turn.

Diplomacy - this is a method of communicating with other players. Some games require very little diplomacy (The Double, for example, can be played without contacting any other managers in the league, though if you want to arrange private sales or such, you will need to contact them). Others are very heavy on diplomacy such as WWIV, with up to 40 players all contacting each other each turn.

Rulebook - this provides all the rules you need to play the game.

Set-up Fee - this is the amount of money you need to pay to get started in the game. This normally covers the cost of the rulebook and associated materials, your first set-up turn in the game, and sometimes the first few turns (e.g. WWIV Set-up costs £10 and includes the rules, maps, set-up and three turns).

Theme - the type of game it is. This can range from a wargame that simulates 20th century combat, to fantasy wargames that uses dragons, dwarfs etc. Some will have a sci-fi setting, others will be based around sport.

Turns - this is the bulk of the game. The turn report is a series of pages showing you your position in the game along with the results of any orders you submitted on the previous turn.

Turnaround - the time it takes us to input, process and print/email results. Most games run to 24 hour turnaround, though some take longer due to the number of positions involved.

What Next?

Easy. Have a look at the rest of the information contained in the Pagoda Games web-site, and decide which game(s) you are interested in. Then complete the Sign-Up Form at the end of this page and email it back to us. We will then send you the relevant information for the games you've picked, and in no time at all you will be playing. It's as simple as that!

Alternatively just drop us a line with any questions you may have, and we'll do our best to help.