Asynchronous multiplayer

Asynchronous multiplayer

Asynchronous multiplayer is a form of multiplayer gameplay where players are not necessarily playing at the same time. This form of multiplayer game has its origins in play-by-mail games, where players would send their moves through postal mail to a game master, who then would compile and send out results for the next turn. Play-by-mail games transitioned to electronic form as play-by-email games. Similar games were developed for bulletin board systems, such as Trade Wars, where the turn structure may not be as rigorous and allow players to take actions at any time in a persistence space alongside all other players, a concept known as sporadic play.