''Star Probe'' is a science fiction game written by

John Snider John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and published in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had bee ...

with artwork by Paul Snider. It was to be the first of a series of interconnected space games, followed ''

Star Empires ''Star Empires'' is a 1977 board wargame published by TSR. Gameplay ''Star Empires'' is a sequel to '' Star Probe'', and is a game in which the players control a civilization that has just discovered interstellar exploration and must explore a ...

''. The game consists of a 36-page rulebook with a map and counters that players use in their quest for interstellar exploration.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to discover new worlds with potential for colonization. Each player has a ship which they must equip with personnel, weapons, fuel, and rations, funded by an initial grant and later by cash gained through exploration. These are lost or consumed during the course of play. The star systems on the map have numbers indicating how far above or below the plane of the map they are; hence the ships are free to move in three dimensions. The generic type (

amoeboid An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopo ...

, insect, feline, avian, etc.) of inhabitants on a planet can be determined by a roll of

percentile dice Dice notation (also known as dice algebra, common dice notation, RPG dice notation, and several other titles) is a system to represent different combinations of dice in wargames and tabletop role-playing games using simple algebra-like notation such ...

—a similar system appears in '' Traveller''. Players can battle with hostile inhabitants as well as spaceship battles with other players, but doing so costs the players' cash and materials. ''Star Probe'' is divided into 60 game turns, with each turn corresponding to one month in the game, although this time limit can be adjusted for the number of players. The winner of the game is the player who has gained the most cash and materials through exploration in this time limit.

Publication history

According to Shannon Appelcline, "''Star Probe'' (1975) by John M. Snider was scheduled for 1974 but slipped into 1975. It was a science-fiction board game of the sort that was just emerging as its own new field — as could be seen in Metagaming's ''The Space Gamer'' (1975–1980). ''Star Probe'' was supposed to be the first game in a trilogy, but by the time TSR released the second game, ''Star Empires'' (1977), they'd already found their niche, and it wasn't in science-fiction board gaming after all. They eventually returned the rights to the games to Snider in 1980."

Reception

Edward C. Cooper reviewed ''Star Probe'' in ''

The Space Gamer ''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the la ...

'' No. 3, commenting that "''Star Probe'' has something for everyone". In a retrospective review in the February 2000 of ''

InQuest Gamer ''InQuest Gamer'' was a monthly magazine for game reviews and news that was published from 1995 to 2007. Originally, the magazine was named ''InQuest'' and focused solely on collectible card games (CCGs); ''InQuest'', along with its competitor ''Sc ...

'', Tom Slizewski states that the game's rulebook "reads like a 36-page math equation" and had a negative opinion of the game.{{cite magazine, title=Games that suck: crap you never want to play, last=Slizewski, first=Tom, issue=58, magazine=

, page=24, publisher=

Wizard Entertainment Wizard Entertainment Inc., formerly known as GoEnergy and Wizard World, is a producer of multi-genre fan conventions across North America. The company started as the holding company for Strato Malmas' interests in the energy business. Gareb Shamu ...

, date=February 2000

References

External links

''Star Probe'' star map
at TSR Archive Board games introduced in 1975 Science fiction board games TSR, Inc. games