Lords of Destiny was a play-by-mail game created by Maelstrom Games in the early 1990s.Chenevert 1993. p. 8. It was a "low to moderately complex" game of space conquest for twelve players involving characters, fleets and space battle.Chenevert 1993. pp. 8, 9, 15. The game also injected humor into its turn results, and involved "moderate diplomacy" and "minimal time demands" for players.Chenevert 1993. pp. 8–15. Normal games lasted between 25 and 29 turns, randomly determined by a computer.Chenevert 1993. p. 15.
Development As of 1993, Lords of Destiny came in a basic version for beginners and a complete version for more advanced players.Walton 1993. p. 42. Jonathan Walton noted in a 1993 review in Paper Mayhem, a magazine for play-by-mail games, that Lords of Destiny was Maelstrom Games' first game, and that, although customer service had been good and the owner was a long-time play-by-mail gamer, the turn sheets were cluttered and required some improvements which had recently been made.Walton 1993. pp. 41–42.
Gameplay Lords of Destiny's central focus was on combat and alliances, although it was not focused on building an empire through gaining land or economic growth.Olson 1994. p. 8. Characters were a key aspect of the game, although players did not start with any characters.Walton 1993. p. 41. Characters included: admirals, diplomats, economists, heroes, generals, governors, psionics, scientists, and spies. "Legendary Characters", or "Lords of Destiny", were named after the game and had special abilities. They were achieved after a character became level 10 in a field, although there was only one Lord of Destiny possible per field per game. The game's Victory Conditions were primarily combat-related along with some being resource-related.
Reception Lords of Destiny won the Origins Award for Best New Play-by-Mail Game of 1992.Origins 1992. The game placed sixth in the Best Play By Mail Games of 1994 list in Paper Mayhem, a magazine for play by mail gamers.Paper Mayhem 1995. p. 2. In 1993, reviewer Jonathan Walton opined that, although Lords of Destiny wasn't the most modern or innovative game, "Is it a good, solid, Play-By-Mail game that gives you an excellent value for your money? In my opinion, resoundingly YES."
Dr. Robert J. Bunker reviewed Lords of Destiny (2nd Edition) in White Wolf Inphobia #55 (May, 1995) and stated that "All in all, this is an excellent strategic space game and deserves its ORIGINS award. It's targeted toward the average gamer and provides a great value for the turn cost, especially in the end game when large positions develop."
See also List of play-by-mail games
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