Spiral Arm (game)
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Spiral Arm (also Spiral Arm I or Spiral Arm II) is a
History and development
Kevin Flynn of Australia designed the game after its conceptual beginnings in 1983.[1] Flynn launched the game about six months later, with the aid of programmer Graham Rawlings—through his new company, Australian Wizard.[1] According to Flynn, Spiral Arm drew from the games Imperium and Reach for the Stars as well as science fiction literature.[1]
The editors of Flagship announced Spiral Arm as a new game in its Winter 1984 issue.[2] Game No. 2 began at the end of 1985.[3] The original game was Version I. By 1986, there were three games running, all Version II. The difference between versions centered around mitigating issues of conquest of populated worlds.[4] Additionally, Sloth Games had modified the game from the original version.[4] The game was also offered by Graaf Simulations.[5] In the United Kingdom, it was run by Spellbinder Games.[5] By 1996, PBM Games of Karlsruhe, Germany and The Game Collection in the Netherlands was offering the game for play.[6] As of 2002, Flagship still included Spiral Arm in its Galactic View list of published games.[7][a]
Gameplay
Spiral Arm is a closed-end, play-by-mail game.[8] The game was computer-moderated.[9] 50 positions are available at the start, with 49 player positions and the last run by computer.[3] Players start in a homeworld in a spiral-shaped galaxy with 658 numbered stars.[8] A player wins after "controlling over 50% of the industrial wealth of the galaxy". Combat, economics, diplomacy, and technological advancement were elements of gameplay.[10]
Reception
Lee Simpson reviewed the game in the Spring 1986 issue of Flagship. He thought that the game would "be about for a long time and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good wargame which will tax their organisational, military and diplomatic skills".[8] Nicky Palmer, editor of Flagship reviewed the game in a 1988 issue. He stated that, "Overall, Spiral Arm remains a neatly packaged, easy-to-play space drama of low-to-moderate complexity. It's one of the only two games which I'm playing more than one of: orders don't take more than an hour to do, and even if Spiral Arm isn't the deepest game in the world it offers cheap, agreeable thrills, with a little more depth than is immediately apparent."[4]
In the August 1988 issue of Flagship, the game scored No. 1 in the Computer-Moderated Science Fiction Games category with an 8.1 out of 10 points.[9][b] In the 1989 list of Flagship Ratings, Spiral Arm II was ranked second in the Computer-Moderated Science Fiction category (behind Space Combat) with 8.8 of 9 points, while Spiral Arm I was ranked second to last place at No. 22 with 6 of 10 points.[11]
See also
Notes
- ^ The only listed publisher in this issue was the PBM Studio of Germany. The game does not appear in the next few subsequent issues of Flagship.
- ^ Other games in this category below Spiral Arms were: Ad Astra, Starweb, Empyrean Challenge, The Weapon, Warp Force Empires, Maxi-Challenge, Takamo, Fleet Maneuvers, Capitol, Magic, Return from Sirius, Galactic Conflict, Xenophobe, Starlord, and others.
References
- ^ a b c Tindall 1990. p. 50.
- ^ Editors 1984. p. 41.
- ^ a b Nixon 1988. p. 40.
- ^ a b c Palmer 1988. p. 41.
- ^ a b Simpson 1986. p. 14.
- ^ Editors 1996. p. 44.
- ^ Editors 2002. p. 43.
- ^ a b c Simpson 1986. p. 12.
- ^ a b Editors 1988. p. 43.
- ^ Simpson 1986. pp. 12–14.
- ^ Editors 1989. p. 15.
Bibliography
- Editors (Winter 1984). "The Spokesmen Speak". Flagship. No. 5 (U.S. ed.). pp. 40–41.
- Editors (1988). "Flagship Ratings: August 1988 Award Winners". Flagship. No. 19 (U.S. ed.). pp. 42–43.
- Editors (1989). "Flagship Ratings". Flagship. No. 24 (U.S. ed.). pp. 14–15.
- Editors (April 1996). "Galactic View". Flagship. No. 60 (U.S. ed.). p. 44.
- Editors (April–May 2002). "Galactic View". Flagship. No. 96 (U.S. ed.). p. 43.
- Nixon, Wilfred L. (August 1988). "Spiral Arms Diary". Flagship. No. 19 (U.S. ed.). pp. 40–41.
- Palmer, Nicky (August 1988). "A Galaxy of Spiral Arms". Flagship. No. 19 (U.S. ed.). p. 41.
- Simpson, Lee (Spring 1986). "Mobius I". Flagship. No. 10 (U.S. ed.). pp. 12–14.
- Tindall, John (May 1990). "An Australian Legend: Kevin Flynn". Flagship. No. 26 (U.S. ed.). pp. 50–51.
Further reading
- Nixon, Wilfred L. (1988). "Spiral Arm: Diary (Part II)". Flagship. No. 20 (U.S. ed.). pp. 5–7.
- Nixon, Wilfred L. (Spring 1989). "Spiral Arm: Diary (Part III): To Stab A Friend". Flagship. No. 21 (U.S. ed.). pp. 38–39.
- Nixon, Wilfred L. (Spring 1989). "Spiral Arm: Diary (part IV): The Final Chapter". Flagship. No. 22 (U.S. ed.). pp. 34–37.