Stars of the Dark Well

*Stars of the Dark Well*
Publishers	Mindgate
Years active	1984 to 1993 or later
Genres	science fiction, space opera
Languages	English
Materials required	Instructions, order sheets, turn results, paper, pencil
Media type	Play-by-mail
Synonyms	SDW

Stars of the Dark Well is a open-ended, mixed-moderated play-by-mail (PBM) game that was published by Mindgate.

History and development

Stars of the Dark Well was a PBM space opera published by Mindgate.^[1] After multiple years of playtesting, the game launched in 1984.^[2] By 1988, the game had about 150 players.^[3] The game was mixed-moderated—hand-moderated with computer augmentation.^[3] Reviewer Terry Weatherby compared the game to Beyond the Stellar Empire.^[3]

Gameplay

The game was set in the year 2480 in an area called the "Second Dominium" by a black hole called "The Dark Well".^[3] Players could join government groups such as the Frontier Guard or private groups such as Delta Force, Forth wing, Merchant's Guild, and others.^[3] Various alien races were also available to roleplay.^[3] 37 actions were available, including "Move, Jump, Orbit, Dock, Buy, Sell, and Transfer".^[4] In 1988, Mindgate announced an ongoing expansion of the available playing field based on demand and a rules update. After the expansion, there were 400 available star systems and 2,000 planets.^[5]^[a]

Reception

Terry Weatherby reviewed the game in two 1988 issues of Flagship. He stated that the game "provides, even with its occasional faults and inconsistencies, a good background and simple game system for those seeking to roam the stars at a reasonable, competitive cost. I've enjoyed the game very much and I'm sure others would enjoy it, too".^[6] In the July–August 1993 issue of Paper Mayhem, the game was rated 36 of 81 PBM games with a rating of 6.482 of 9 points.^[7]

Notes

^ This was an increase from the 23 available systems at initial publication.^[2]

References

^ Weatherby 1988. p. 36.
^ ^a ^b Mindgate 1987. p. 24.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Weatherby 1988. p. 29.
^ Weatherby 1988. p. 30.
^ Mindgate 1988. p. 33.
^ Weatherby 1988. p. 37.
^ Editors 1993. pp. 44–45.

Bibliography

Editors (July–August 1993). "PBM Game Ratings as of 06/06/93". Paper Mayhem. No. 61. pp. 44–45.
Mindgate (May–June 1987). "Gameline: Mindgate". Paper Mayhem. No. 24. p. 24.
Mindgate (September–October 1988). "Gameline: Mindgate". Paper Mayhem. No. 32. p. 33.
Weatherby, Terry (1988). "Stars of the Darkwell". Flagship. No. 18 (U.S. ed.). pp. 29–30.
Weatherby, Terry (1988). "Stars of the Darkwell [Part II]". Flagship. No. 19 (U.S. ed.). pp. 36–37.