Flying Buffalo

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Flying Buffalo Incorporated

Type	Private
Founded	1970
Headquarters	Scottsdale, Arizona
Key people	Rick Loomis, Steve MacGregor
Industry	Role-playing game publisher, Play-by-mail game hoster
Products	Tunnels and Trolls
Website	http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/

Flying Buffalo Incorporated (FBI) is a company based in Scottsdale, Arizona that offers roleplaying games, gaming materials, and play-by-mail gaming services.

Founded by Rick Loomis and Steve MacGregor in 1970 [1], the company got its start running a simple computer-moderated wargame, Nuclear Destruction, widely believed to be the first play-by-mail (PBM) game. Soon after the release of Nuclear Destruction, however, Flying Buffalo's involvement in the hobby was eclipsed by Schubel & Son, a company that specialized in open-ended play-by-mail games. Schubel's games were the forerunner of today's massively multiplayer online game, and as such their impact is still felt today. Most of Flying Buffalo's PBM games were programmed in the 1970's, and while they still run, they are quite primitive in comparison with such modern multi-player games as Fall of Rome

Later, Flying Buffalo began developing and marketing other products, including the game Tunnels and Trolls, a fantasy roleplaying game similar to Dungeons and Dragons, but designed better for individual play and play-by-mail campaigns. Rick Loomis lacked the funds to properly market Tunnels & Trolls, and so the game attracted few followers and never competed well against Dungeons & Dragons, its obvious inspiration. Other products included background materials for fantasy roleplaying, such as the Grimtooth's Traps series of books[2] which describe various traps that a gamemaster might include in their dungeons, and the Citybook series which described in detail fantasy cities and their businesses for use in fantasy roleplaying. The company even ran a gaming store at various locations in Tempe, Arizona until 1985.

Flying Buffalo ventured in to board/card game publishing with Nuclear War.