Was just thinking about the fun I used to have at university playing games with asynchronous multiplayer or ‘play-by-email’.
For the uninitiated, games like Combat Mission or Laser Squad Nemesis allowed you to set up a multiplayer match, carry out your turn, then save the game and email it to a friend. They’d open the save file on their computer, make their move, email it back, and so on. Full matches could take days - weeks, even - to play out!
Similarly, we’d play month-long games of Diplomacy, or set the clock in DEFCON to realtime mode and keep the game running for days at a time until it was over.
I find there’s something inherently appealing about video games that not only last for days, but that encourage or even require you to step away and ponder for a few hours before making your next move. In a way, it’s kind of like battling a cryptic crossword for an entire weekend, and I wish more games leaned into that kind of experience.
If anyone knows of any good games that relied on systems like that, share the titles! I’d also love to know if there are any modern games that scratch that itch.
Really interesting, because just a while ago I remembered my experience of playing VGA Planets at the local BBS during my school years in early-mid 1990s. (This is a turn based game where people would submit their turn files, the arbitrator software thing would do its thing weekly, and we’d download the results.) The sysop was a classmate and, since the international money transfers were complicated for school kids at the time, organised getting everyone a registered copy in bulk. I do remember I said something in global messages and people thought it was, in modern vernacular, cringe. I don’t remember how the game ended up. I played some underwhelming race. I can’t remember.