Ares was an American science fiction and fantasy wargame magazine published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI), and then TSR, Inc., between 1980 and 1984. In addition to the articles, each issue contained a small science-fiction or fantasy themed board wargame.

Publication history

Through the 1970s, SPI had specialized in military history wargames. But the 1977 publication of Metagaming Concepts's science fiction MicroGame titled OGRE proved enormously popular, and other publishers such as Task Force Games, Operational Studies Group, and Chaosium started to develop their own microgames.Ares, like Strategy & Tactics, included a free game with every issue, complete with a foldout stiff paper map, a set of die-cut counters, and rules.

As game historian Shannon Appelcline noted, "TSR did very little with SPI's roleplaying games. Ares Magazine #12 (1982), which was prepared by SPI and published by TSR, included a game called Star Traders, which was for use with Universe; it was the last support for that game system [...] As TSR turned further away from SPI's origins, Ares magazine soon became an Ares section in Dragon magazine. However, it didn't focus on the SPI RPGs, but instead became a place to talk about TSR's own science-fiction games, such as Gamma World and Star Frontiers." The Kickstarter was successful in February 2014. The second issue was released in December 2015. The third issue was released in September 2016. The fourth issue was released in January 2017.

Reception

Jerry Epperson reviewed the first issue of Ares in The Space Gamer No. 28. Epperson commented that the first issue, and its game WorldKiller "was a disappointment. It's uneven. Expect nothing but the best in serious science fiction writing here, and nothing but the worst from the games."

In Fantastic, game designer Greg Costikyan was unimpressed with the first issue of Ares, writing, "One would have thought that SPI would seek to make a good impression by producing a high quality game in the first issue [of Ares]. On the contrary, WorldKiller is a dog [...] The game is simple and uninteresting, with no complications introduced to hold one’s interest."

Review

  • Perfidious Albion #46 (May 1980) p.8
  • Perfidious Albion #49 (December 1980) p.19
  • Perfidious Albion #50 (January 1981) p.19

See also

  • Galac-Tac
  • Starweb
  • Nightmare House

References

  • Greg Costikyan's canonical listing of Ares issues
  • A complementary listing of Ares issues
  • Internet Archive holdings of Ares issues