

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 #33 (November 1980)
Space Gamer #33 (cover date November 1980) gives you a first-class ticket on a spaceship to the gaming hobby's early days – and the articles are fun to read, too!
In addition to the regular game reviews, news, and letters, this issue's featured theme is "Play-by-Mail Games." Articles on this topic include "WarpWar: The Campaign Game," with information on how to turn that wargame into an ongoing series (adaptable for mail-based play); "Fantasies by Mail," providing insight into how to play fantasy RPGs by mail (or, nowadays, email); "PBM Rules for Starship Troopers," providing long-distance rules for that classic wargame; reviews of four space-themed play-by-mail games; a cataloging of then-current mail-based game companies; and a company report from Schubel & Son, a play-by-mail company.
Beyond the theme, there is a three-player G.E.V. scenario (complete with new units!); an article about how to incorporate 3-D plotting and displays into a computer program; the results from Space Gamer's Trap Contest; "End Game," a piece of fiction set in the Ogre universe; and the seventh in the series "Game Design: Theory and Practice," co-written by Steve Jackson.
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!

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