The Space Gamer

"The Space Gamer" was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the late 70s through the mid-80s. The magazine is no longer published, but the rights holders maintain a web presence using its final title "Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer".

History

"The Space Gamer" ("TSG") started out as a digest quarterly publication of the brand new Metagaming Concepts company in 1975. Howard Thompson, the owner of Metagaming, and the first editior of the magazine stated "The magazine had been planned for after our third or fourth game but circumstances demand we do it now" ["Where We're Going", Howard Thompson, "The Space Gamer", Number 1 (Metagaming, 1975)] (after their first game, "Stellar Conquest"). Initial issues were in 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 the change in ownership Metagaming feels comfortable with the decision; it was the right thing to do." ["Metagaming Report", Howard Thompson, "The Space Gamer", Number 27 (SJG, March-April 1980)] In the same issue, Steve Jackson announced, "TSG" is going monthly.... from [number 28 (May 1980)] on, it'll be a monthly magazine." ["Where We're Going", Steve Jackson, "The Space Gamer", Number 27 (SJG, March-April 1980)] 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 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 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. ["Counter Intelligence", Warren Spector, "Space Gamer", Number 70 (SJG, July/Aug 1984)]

Like Metagaming before it, the effort of producing a magazine became greater than its publisher was willing to bear. The change to bimonthly 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". ["Where We're Going", Steve Jackson, "Space Gamer", Number 76 (SJG, Sept/Oct 1985)] The magazine had been sold to Diverse Talents, Incorporated (DTI). They initially had it as 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".

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 [http://www.spacegamer.com/spacegamer/default.asp Space Gamer] , bought the magazine, and has kept the title alive by reinventing it through the net.

Editors

Metagaming
*Howard Thompson: Number 1 (no date given, copyright 1975) - 4 (no date given, copyright 1976)
*C. Ben Ostrander: Number 9 (Dec-Jan 1976) - 26 (January-February 1980)Steve Jackson Games
*Steve Jackson: Number 27 (March-April 1980)
*Forrest Johnson: Number 28 (May-June 1980) - 51 (May 1982)
*Aaron Allston: Number 52 (June 1982) - 65 (Sept/Oct 1983)
**Also "Fantasy Gamer": Number 1 (Aug/Sep 1983) and co-edited Number 2 (Dec/Jan 1984)
*Christopher Frink: Number 66 (Nov/Dec 1983) - Number 69 (May/June 1984)
**Also "Fantasy Gamer": co-edited Number 2 (Dec/Jan 1984) and edited Number 3 (Feb/Mar 1984) - 6 (June/July 1984)
*Warren Spector: Number 70 (July/Aug 1984) - 76 (Sept/Oct 1985)Diverse Talents Incorporated
*Anne Jaffe: Number 77 (Jan/Feb 1987) - 82 (Jul/Aug 1988)

Awards

"The Space Gamer" won the 1977 Charles S. Roberts Award for "Best Semiprofessional Magazine". [cite web
title=Charles S. Roberts Awards Winners (1977)
url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1977
publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design
accessdate=2008-08-16]

References