18-417: The MicroGame line by Metagaming Concepts consisted of tabletop microgames published from 1977 to 1982. In 1977, Metagaming Concepts designer Howard Thompson came up with a new type of small, inexpensive, and fast wargame with a limited number of counters, a small map and a short rulebook, all packaged in a ziplock bag. The games at first sold for $ 2.95, much cheaper than standard-sized boxed wargames of
36-487: A legal dispute, Metagaming conceded that they had also sold Ogre , G.E.V. and an unreleased MicroGame called One-Page Bulge to Jackson. In the early 1980s, Metagaming published a series of modules for TFT in MicroGame format, as well as other MicroGames, some with historical themes, including Hitler's War . The company launched another magazine, Interplay , which was a house organ intended to be published six times
54-413: A plain-paper digest format. By issue 17, it had grown to a full size bimonthly magazine, printed on slick paper. When Steve Jackson departed Metagaming to found his own company, he also secured the right to publish The Space Gamer from number 27 on. In the first Steve Jackson Games (SJG) issue, Howard Thompson wrote a report on Metagaming and stated "Metagaming's staff won't miss the effort. After
72-623: A quarterly house magazine. By its 17th issue, TSG was a full size bimonthly magazine, printed on slick paper and covering games from other publishers, including fantasy games. Thompson and Metagaming pioneered the idea of publishing small, low-cost games in what came to be known as the MicroGame format. For a while, Metagaming dominated this niche wargaming market. Notable MicroGames from Metagaming include WarpWar (designed by Thompson himself), Ogre , G.E.V. , Melee , Wizard (all designed by Steve Jackson ), and Hitler's War . Following
90-485: A section in their own magazine The VIP of Gaming , but it soon became a separate publication again with the previous numbering and format, but with the name Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer . Space Gamer ceased publication in September 1985. Since that time, it has gone through a number of owners, all keeping the final name, but occasionally restarting the numbering. Eventually, Better Games , now renamed Space Gamer , bought
108-519: A year. It ran for eight issues before the company disbanded. The first issue of Interplay was dated May/June 1981, and the eighth was dated September/October 1982. In 1981, the company published A Fistful of Turkeys , which is a game that simulates the struggle between turkeys and a deranged turkey hunter, Billy Jackal. Tom Gordon reviewed A Fistful of Turkeys in The Space Gamer No. 41. Gordon commented that "All in all I feel that this game
126-579: Is no longer published, but the rights holders maintain a web presence using its final title Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer . The Space Gamer ( TSG ) started out as a digest quarterly publication of the brand new Metagaming Concepts company in March 1975. Howard M. Thompson , the owner of Metagaming and the first editor of the magazine, stated "The magazine had been planned for after our third or fourth game but circumstances demand we do it now" (after their first game, Stellar Conquest ). Initial issues were in
144-410: Is not even fit for a beer and pretzel game. It possesses nothing unique or worth [the price]. It is, however, a real 'turkey' game." "Sahm Reviews" thought that the touches of parody were more interesting than the game: a bogus author introduction, an angry letter from a customer, a fictional game list, silly versions of major game company logos, and the manner in which "Some Turkey Games" is printed at
162-450: The definite article with the split in Number 64), and Fantasy Gamer ; the former concentrating entirely on science fiction, and the latter on fantasy. This arrangement lasted about a year. Fantasy Gamer ran six issues before being folded back into Space Gamer : You see, we were churning out magazines - Space Gamer , Fantasy Gamer , Fire & Movement , and Autoduel Quarterly - at
180-645: The gaming hobby, leaving most of Metagaming's intellectual property in limbo. On December 26, 2017, Steve Jackson announced that he had re-acquired the rights for the remaining products he authored for Metagaming, specifically Melee, Wizard, Death Test, Death Test 2, Advanced Melee, Advanced Wizard, In the Labyrinth, and Tollenkar's Lair . This was accomplished through the provisions of 17 U.S. Code § 203, which allows authors to reclaim works after 35 years. Notable game designers who worked for Metagaming include Jackson, Lynn Willis and Keith Gross. Ben Ostrander, who
198-575: The bottom of the cover (copying the style used on the early [Steve Jackson Games] games). On January 1, 1982, Thompson created Games Research Group, Inc., a spin-off from Metagaming. The Games Research Group, Inc. copyright appears on several Metagaming-released products, such as the counters of the MicroGame Dragons of the Underearth . Thompson closed down Metagaming in April 1983 and disappeared from
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#1732852459983216-484: The change in ownership, Metagaming feels comfortable with the decision; it was the right thing to do." In the same issue, Steve Jackson announced, " TSG is going monthly ... from [number 28 (May 1980)] on, it'll be a monthly magazine." The magazine stayed with SJG for the next five years, during which it was at its most popular and influential. In 1983, the magazine was split into two separate bimonthly magazines published in alternating months: Space Gamer (losing
234-401: The rate of two a month! ... We had to find some way to preserve what little sanity we had left. The best way to do this was to merge Space Gamer and Fantasy Gamer ... As it has for the past year, Space Gamer will appear bimonthly, giving us the time to get some games done, as well. Like Metagaming before it, the effort of producing a magazine became greater than its publisher
252-607: The success of Dungeons & Dragons , Thompson had Steve Jackson design Melee (1977) and Wizard (1978) as the combat and magic systems for a fantasy role-playing game named The Fantasy Trip . TFT was released in 1980 as three books: In the Labyrinth: Game Masters' Campaign and Adventure Guide , Advanced Melee , and Advanced Wizard . Thompson was unhappy with Jackson's work on TFT , which presumably contributed to Jackson's departure from Metagaming later in 1980. Jackson bought The Space Gamer when he left; after
270-422: The time. As game historian Shannon Appelcline noted in the 2014 book Designers & Dragons , "The games were quite cheap for the market at the time but nonetheless allowed for a good amount of enjoyment and replayability." Metagaming Concepts first used the term "MicroGame" when they released Ogre , MicroGame #1 in 1977. Metagaming Concepts Metagaming Concepts , later known simply as Metagaming ,
288-614: Was a company that published board games from 1974 to 1983. It was founded and owned by Howard Thompson , who designed the company's first game, Stellar Conquest . The company also invented Microgames and published Steve Jackson 's first designs, including Ogre , G.E.V. and The Fantasy Trip . The company's first product, released in 1974, was Stellar Conquest , which had been rejected by Avalon Hill in 1973. Many of Metagaming's notable titles were also science fiction wargames , including Ogre , G.E.V. , and WarpWar . In 1975, Metagaming started The Space Gamer as
306-424: Was later the publisher of Mojo Press , served as the art director for most of the company's titles. The Space Gamer The Space Gamer was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games . It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. The magazine
324-464: Was willing to bear. The change to bi-monthly publication was not enough to allow SJG to focus on new games as they wished, and in 1985, it was announced, "We've sold Space Gamer . We'll still be heavily involved—but SJ Games won't be the publisher any longer. Giving up SG is definitely traumatic... but it gives us the time to do other things, especially GURPS ". The magazine had been sold to Diverse Talents, Incorporated (DTI). They initially had it as
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