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Flying Buffalo

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Flying Buffalo Incorporated
Company typePrivate
IndustryRole-playing game publisher, Play-by-mail game moderator
Founded1970
HeadquartersScottsdale, Arizona
Key people
Rick Loomis, Steve MacGregor
ProductsTunnels and Trolls
Websitehttp://www.flyingbuffalo.com/

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.

History

In 1970 Rick Loomis invented a game called Nuclear Destruction, a play-by-mail game, for which he moderated multiplayer games.[1]: 34  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  Loomis acquired Nuclear War and began publishing it in 1972, soon becoming one of Flying Buffalo's best sellers.[1]: 35  Nuclear Destruction is widely considered to be the first commercial play-by-mail (PBM) game. In 1976 the company started running a space exploration/conquest PBM game titled Starweb.

Flying Buffalo has also published games outside of PBM, starting off with the card game Nuclear War. In 1975 they published Tunnels and 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 that tells you what toppings to order on your 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

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.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  2. ^ Wichner, David (August 12, 1991). "Flying Buffalo rounds up players Moves mailed to fantasy game entrepreneur". Phoenix Gazette. p. B5.
  3. ^ http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM2262407&R=2262407
  4. ^ Appelcline, Shannon (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '70s. Silver Spring, MD: Evil Hat Productions. ISBN 978-1-61317-075-5.
  5. ^ "Awards we have won". Flying Buffalo.
  6. ^ "Origins/Charles Roberts Award Winners (1980)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  7. ^ "Origins Award Winners (1993)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. Archived from the original on 2007-11-06. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  8. ^ "Origins Game Fair Winners 1982". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Origins Game Fair Winners 1990". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design.
  10. ^ "Origins Game Fair Winners 1991". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design.
  11. ^ a b c "Origins Game Fair Winners 1992". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design.
  12. ^ a b "Origins Game Fair Winners 1997". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  13. ^ a b "Origins Game Fair Winners 1983". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  14. ^ "Origins Game Fair Winners 1984". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  15. ^ "Origins Game Fair Winners 2000". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  16. ^ "Origins Game Fair Winners 2003". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  17. ^ "Origins Game Fair Winners 2006". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  18. ^ "AAGAD Hall of Fame Award 1988". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  19. ^ "AAGAD Hall of Fame Award 1993". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  20. ^ "AAGAD Hall of Fame Award 1995". GAMA - Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
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