An explanation seems to be necessary, both because there are people who use the term as if anyone knew what it meant, and because some people define it more narrowly than others. What's even worse, some people even use it in other languages as if it was some kind of universal term. (Norwegians, for instance, some times say "Jeg har startet et PBM, vil du bli med?")

I've got news for you, kids. They don't, there's more and it isn't.
The three letters stand for Play By Mail, an expression which some jokers in the hobby "explain" by saying things like "a Play By Mail game is a game that is played by mail". Kind of reminds me of the old joke, "What has one eye and one horn, flies, is purple and eats people? - A one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater!" (Okay, so it's a song... just making a point, OK?)
Personally I prefer to say that a PBM game is a game that is played somewhere else, then I get into details about how the players mail in their moves and get the results back the same way. Actually I don't say that either because I prefer the more comprehensible term "postal gaming".

To return to the misconceptions at the start, some people only know about one kind of PBM - I mean postal gaming. At least I have seen people using the term not just as if everyone knew what it means, but as if it only means one thing - i.e. when I say I'm running a PBM everyone knows both what it is and what it's about. Here in Norway, the most popular "PBM" among people who know only one kind of game seems to be the football manager game (in which you manage an imaginary football team through the mail) - heck, I wouldn't be surprised if there's someone out there who thinks PBM stands for Phoot Ball Manager!

Finally a few words about those who use the acronym in other languages. Don't do it folks, it makes positively no sense whatsoever! Norwegians should call their games "postspill", or if you insist on having a cryptic acronym a straight translation of PBM would be SPP - Spill Per Post.

But now for something more practical. If you want to read something (pretty serious) about PBM, SPP or whatever that you don't have to print out before you can read it without your computer - i.e. a good oldfashioned paper magazine - I can recommend

First published in 1983, this bimonthly magazine covers about everything anyone would want to know about this fascinating hobby - they even write a bit about PBEM (Playing By E-Mail) even though readers who haven't got computers hate it. Click the logo for more info, or drop them a note and ask nicely for a sample - and if you decide to get a subscription remember to tell them Ragnar sent you.

A little curiosity: On the first four issues the text on the front page said "Flagship, the magazine of postal gaming". (You see the editor preferred that term too!) Then the words were rearranged (and one thrown out) to read "The Flagship of postal gaming", which is how it has looked since then. Why I mention this? Because it was my idea!

Well, the games I play anyway. I got involved in the hobby even before Flagship saw the light of a repro camera - in 1980, and have tried a lot of different games since then. Right now, however, the only games where you risk meeting some of my characters are Quest (moderated by KJC Games and Crasiworld in Europe) and Monster Island, which is also moderated by KJC Games in Europe. Both games are also played elsewhere in the world, but there is no risk of meting me there - yet. Since you're on the net anyway, you may want to try a PBEM variant of Quest from the other side of the world. (Crasiworld also offer Quest by Email, and claim they can provide both colour and animation, but I haven't got the hardware to check that out... KJC are just (August 97) starting with email too. Just text though.)

I have started another site devoted to Quest mapping where you can find some maps in HTML format (!). from KJC game 6 and Crasiworld game 1. The latest addition is a complete (well, as complete at I have been able to make it) set of GIF maps of KJC game 6.