David Bolton takes inspiration from his past and explains what postal games are, and what’s needed to create and run one in the modern age.
OUR EXPERT
David Bolton worked for several years as a postal game developer back in the late ’80s for what was then the UK’s largest postal game company.
W e’re going to relive the heyday of the play-bymail craze by creating our own multiplayer browser-based game. In this two-part series, we’re looking at what you need to set up a game and providing an overview of the games processing. It’s only called postal because that’s how these games used to be run from the late ’70s until the mid-’90s, when the internet came along. No stamps are needed now! Here is a list of the steps involved in setting up and running a game:
1. A game is developed then advertised.
2. Players sign up.
3. When enough players have joined, the game begins. The website is updated with the initial positions.
4. Players receive their initial positions.
5. Each turn, players submit their orders through a website or mobile app.
6. Once an hour (or whatever time period) all the game orders are processed.
7. Results are generated and the website/mobile app is updated. 8. Loop back to step 4 until the game finishes.
Those steps in more detail…
The type of game is entirely up to you. Mafia-type games are very popular. Take a look at the PBBG subreddit (www.reddit.com/r/PBBG/). PBBG stands for persistent browser-based games. Any form of multiplayer situation, such as space combat, military strategy games, sport – for example, football leagues – and, of course, fantasy games involving castles, dungeons and dragons are popular. Judging by that PBBG subreddit, there seems to be a new Mafia game coming out every week.
