Flying Buffalo
Flying Buffalo Incorporated (FBI) is a Scottsdale, Arizona game company that publishes role playing games, card games, gaming materials, and runs Play-by-mail games.
Private | |
Industry | Role-playing game publisher, Play-by-mail game moderator |
Founded | 1970 |
Founder | Rick Loomis |
Headquarters | Scottsdale, Arizona |
Key people | Rick Loomis, Steve MacGregor |
Products | Tunnels & Trolls |
Website | www |
History
In 1970 Rick Loomis invented a game called Nuclear Destruction, a play-by-mail game, for which he moderated multiplayer games.[1]:34 Nuclear Destruction is widely considered to be the first commercial play-by-mail (PBM) game. He soon had more than 200 players in multiple games, and asked fellow soldier Steve MacGregor to write a computer program to moderate the games; they began renting time on a computer near Fort Shafter, using the name Flying Buffalo devised by Loomis.[1]:34[2] After leaving the military in 1972, Loomis and MacGregor incorporated their PBM company as Flying Buffalo, Inc., or FBI.[1]:34 Loomis and MacGregor pooled their savings to purchase a Raytheon 704 minicomputer to run PBM turns.[1]:35 In 1976 the company started running a space exploration/conquest PBM game titled Starweb.
Flying Buffalo has also published games outside of PBM. Loomis acquired Nuclear War and began publishing it in 1972; it soon became one of Flying Buffalo's best sellers.[1]:35 In 1975 they published Tunnels & Trolls, a fantasy role playing game generally similar to Dungeons & Dragons. Later products included background materials for fantasy role playing games, which became the "Catalyst" series. They also produce a range of unusual dice, such as a set to determine which toppings to order on pizza, and currently hold the printing rights to the Ace of Aces and Lost Worlds flip book systems. The company also ran a gaming store at various locations in Tempe, Arizona until 1985.
In 1992, the fiction book Mage's Blood and Old Bones: A Tunnels & Trolls Shared World Anthology was published by Flying Buffalo.[3] Following the dissolution of TSR in 1997, Flying Buffalo remains the oldest pen-and-paper role-playing game publisher in the world.[4]:115
List of games
- Ace of Aces
- Berserker
- Battle Plan
- Catalyst
- Death Dice
- Feudal Lords
- Imperialism
- Illuminati
- Lost Worlds
- Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes
- Monsters! Monsters!
- Nuclear War
- Pizza Dice
- Riftlords
- Starfaring
- Starweb
- Tunnels & Trolls
- Viva!
Awards
Flying Buffalo has had a long history in the gaming industry and has won numerous awards.[5]
- Ace of Aces. 1981 winner Charles Roberts/Origins Gamers Choice of 1980[6] and was inducted into the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame in 1994.[7]
- Citybook I, 1982[8]
- Illuminati PBM game won best Play By Mail Game. 1990,[9] 1991,[10] 1992,[11] 1993,[11] 1994, and 1995 and was put in the Hall of Fame in 1997.[12]
- Nuclear Proliferation, 1992[11]
- Nuclear Escalation, Best Science Fiction Boardgame of 1983[13]
- Stormhaven, Best Roleplaying Adventure of 1983[13]
- Starweb, Best Play By Mail Game 1984,[14] 1997,[12] 2000,[15] 2003,[16] and 2006.[17]
- Wargamers Information, 1990[9]
Origins Hall of Fame award is given to game designers whose contributions are considered to be the best in their field. Flying Buffalo has had a number of their writers and designers win this award.
- Rick Loomis, 1988.[18]
- Michael Stackpole, 1993.[19]
- Elizabeth T. Danforth, 1995.[20]
- Ken St. Andre, 2018.[21]
References
- Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
- Wichner, David (August 12, 1991). "Flying Buffalo rounds up players Moves mailed to fantasy game entrepreneur". Phoenix Gazette. p. B5.
- http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM2262407&R=2262407
- Appelcline, Shannon (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '70s. Silver Spring, MD: Evil Hat Productions. ISBN 978-1-61317-075-5.
- "Awards we have won". Flying Buffalo.
- "Origins/Charles Roberts Award Winners (1980)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- "Origins Award Winners (1993)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 1982". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 1990". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 2014-10-04.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 1991". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 2014-09-24.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 1992". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 2014-10-04.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 1997". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 1983". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 1984". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 2000". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 2003". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "Origins Game Fair Winners 2006". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "AAGAD Hall of Fame Award 1988". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "AAGAD Hall of Fame Award 1993". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "AAGAD Hall of Fame Award 1995". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- "KEN ST ANDRE INDUCTED IN THE ORGINS AWARDS HALL OF FAME". Dungeon Master Magazine. Retrieved 20 June 2018.