Flying Buffalo
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| Private | |
| Industry | Role-playing game publisher, Play-by-mail game moderator |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Headquarters | Scottsdale, Arizona |
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Key people
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Rick Loomis, Steve MacGregor |
| Products | Tunnels and Trolls |
| Website | http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/ |
Flying Buffalo Incorporated (FBI) is a Scottsdale, Arizona game company that publishes role playing games, card games, gaming materials, and runs Play-by-mail games.
In 1970 Rick Loomis invented a game called Nuclear Destruction, a play-by-mail game, for which he moderated multiplayer games. He soon had more than 200 players in multiple games, and asked fellow soldier Steve MacGregor to write a computer program to moderate the games; they began renting time on a computer near Fort Shafter, using the name Flying Buffalo devised by Loomis. After leaving the military in 1972, Loomis and MacGregor incorporated their PBM company as Flying Buffalo, Inc., or FBI. Loomis and MacGregor pooled their savings to purchase a Raytheon 704 minicomputer to run PBM turns. Loomis acquired Nuclear War and began publishing it in 1972, soon becoming one of Flying Buffalo's best sellers.Nuclear Destruction is widely considered to be the first commercial play-by-mail (PBM) game. In 1976 the company started running a space exploration/conquest PBM game titled Starweb.
Flying Buffalo has also published games outside of PBM, starting off with the card game Nuclear War. In 1975 they published Tunnels and Trolls, a fantasy role playing game generally similar to Dungeons & Dragons. Later products included background materials for fantasy role playing games, which became the "Catalyst" series. They also produce a range of unusual dice (such as a set that tells you what toppings to order on your pizza), and currently hold the printing rights to the Ace of Aces and Lost Worlds flip book systems. The company also ran a gaming store at various locations in Tempe, Arizona until 1985.
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