The Space Gamer received three Origins Award nominations for Best Professional Roleplaying Magazine (in 1981, 1985, and 1986). The Space Gamer won an Origins Award for Best Professional Roleplaying Magazine of 1982.
Space Gamer began life as a paper magazine published by Metagaming Concepts in 1975. Steve Jackson Games took over publication with issue #27 (dated March/April 1980), and ultimately published 50 issues (plus six issues of spin-off magazine Fantasy Gamer). Issue #76, September/October 1985, became Steve Jackson Games' last issue before the rights to the name went elsewhere. Space Gamer covered all aspects of hobby gaming: RPGs, wargames, card and strategy games, and more. It also featured industry news and reviews. Although Space Gamer is still a great read in its own right, today it's also a fascinating look at an earlier era of hobby gaming.
All the issues of Space Gamer that were published by Steve Jackson Games are available digitally at Warehouse 23, including a bundle of all 50 issues.
Today's featured issue from the vault:
Space Gamer #48 (February 1982)
Space Gamer #48 (cover date February 1982) swoops from the sky to serve up something special for nostalgic noggins.
In addition to the regular game reviews, news, and letters, this issue includes "Storm," the second in the series of Traveller adventures (a sequel to "Flare Star" from Space Gamer #46); "Symmkyn's Edge," a fantasy short story by noted sci-fi author Timothy Zahn (and including fantasy-game stats, written by Steve Jackson, for the story's magical weapon); an article from Aaron Allston about his Champions campaign; a discussion about how to not use miniatures to make a game more evocative; and designer's notes from the programmer of The Voyage of the Valkyrie (including amusing-in-hindsight details about where the 48K of system memory went when porting the game to the Apple II).
Whether you're a fan of old-school gaming or a historian of our hobby, each issue of Space Gamer is the perfect passport to the past!
 #27 - #36 |  #37 - #46 |  #47 - #56 |  #57 - #66 |  #67 - #76 |
