''World conquest'' was a

play by mail A play-by-mail game (also known as a PBM game, PBEM game, or a turn-based game) is a game played through postal mail, email or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go (game), Go were among the first PBM games. ''Diplomacy (board game), D ...

wargame published for play in 1988 by Prime Time Simulations. It was an "operational level game of land, sea and air warfare".

Development

Prime Time Simulations published the game in 1988. By 1992, the publisher had released its successor, ''Modern World Conquest'', while ''World Conquest'' was still active.

Gameplay

''World Conquest'' was a "fast paced simulation of combined arms conflict." Each game comprised 12 players in a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

setting, with players governing a nation on a 50×60 grid map with 30 types of available combat units. The object of the game was to "be the first player to capture twelve cities and hold them for one full turn". The game allowed players to choose strategies such as: land-based, sea-based, air-based, technology research-focused, and others. Players began in their capital cities which were at the center of their territories. As these territories were unmapped, exploration was a central part of early play, in order to capture neutral cities. The primary element of gameplay was the unit, of which there were thirty types. Players could produce units with "buildsteps" generated by cities or villages, all of which produced different numbers of buildsteps. Unit costs ranged from two at the low end to twenty for battleships at the top end, while most units cost between two and six. Other unit types included: artillery, basic infantry, fighters, mechanized infantry, paratroopers, rocket, special forces, and tanks. Each unit had an experience level from green, trained, veteran, crack, to elite. Turns were divided into five phases, during which players accounted for a number of variables when moving and conducting combat operations. Combat could be a fairly simple affair between two units or it could be a "highly complex and mind-boggling affair" with multiple players and unit types involved on a single game square.

Reception

In 1991, reviewer Mark Macagnone stated in ''

Paper Mayhem ''Paper Mayhem'' is an out-of-print play-by-mail (PBM) game magazine that was published in Ottawa, Illinois. The staff published the initial issue in July 1983 and the magazine ran until mid-1998. Its format was 40 pages published six times per y ...

'' magazine that the game was "good, with a little more effort it can be great!" In the same issue, Randall E. Black also reviewed the game, stating that he "really enjoyed the game, and felt it gave great value for the money." Out of a possible 5, he rated the game a 4 for its rule book and enjoyment, 5 for dollar value and gamemaster response, and 3 for playability, while placing its complexity in the medium to complex range. Reviewer Jack Herriman II said in 1993 that ''World Conquest'' was "made for inventive people" in that it allowed many different possibilities for force generation to pursue campaigns. The game was listed as the #9 of 84 play-by-mail games in the Sep/Oct 1992 issue of ''

'' magazine, and was listed in the same issue as the #1 play-by-mail game for games with over 100 voting responses. Paper Mayhem 1992. p. 52.

Development

Gameplay

Reception

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography