Play-by-mail game  Play-by-mail games (also known as PBM games and turn-based games) are games played through postal mail, email or other digital media. Correspondence chess and Go are among the first PBM games. "Diplomacy" has been played by mail since 1963, introducing a multi-player aspect to PBM games. Flying Buffalo Inc pioneered the first commercially available PBM game in 1970. A small number of PBM companies followed in the 1970s, with an explosion of hundreds of startup PBM companies in the 1980s at the peak of PBM gaming popularity, many of them small hobby companies—more than 90 percent of which eventually folded. A number of independent PBM magazines also started in the 1980s, including "Flagship magazine", "Gaming Universal", and "Paper Mayhem". These magazines eventually went out of print, replaced in the 21st century by the online PBM journal "Suspense and Decision". Play-by-mail games have a number of advantages and disadvantages related to other gaming genres. PBM games allow plenty of time—sometimes days or weeks—to consider moves or turns and players never run out of opponents to face. And if desired, various PBM games can be played for years. Additionally, the complexity of PBM games can be far beyond that allowed by a board game in an afternoon, and pits players against live opponents in these conditions, a challenge some players enjoy. Some games allow the number of opponents or teams in the dozens, even as high as fifty. PBM games also allow gamers to interact with others globally. And games with low turn costs compare well with expensive board or video games. Some drawbacks include the price for some PBM games with high setup and/or turn costs, and the lack of ability for face-to-face roleplaying. Additionally, for some players, certain games can be overly complex, and delays in turn processing can be a negative. Play-by-mail games are multifaceted. In their earliest form they involved two players alternatively sending moves directly to each other by postal mail, such as in correspondence chess. Multi-player games, such as "Diplomacy" or more complex games available today, involve a game master who receives, processes, and adjudicates turn results for players. These games also introduce the element of diplomacy in which participants can discuss gameplay with each other, strategize, and form alliances. In the 1970s and 1980s, turn results were sometimes adjudicated completely by humans.