Metagaming Concepts, later known simply as Metagaming, was a company that published board games from 1974 to 1983. It was founded and owned by Howard Thompson, who designed the company's first game, Stellar Conquest. The company also invented Microgames and published Steve Jackson's first designs, including Ogre, G.E.V. and The Fantasy Trip.
History
The company's first product, released in 1974, was Stellar Conquest, which had been rejected by Avalon Hill in 1973. Many of Metagaming's notable titles were also science fiction wargames, including Ogre, G.E.V., and WarpWar.
In 1975, Metagaming started The Space Gamer as a quarterly house magazine. By its 17th issue, TSG was a full size bimonthly magazine, printed on slick paper and covering games from other publishers, including fantasy games.
Thompson and Metagaming pioneered the idea of publishing small, low-cost games in what came to be known as the MicroGame format. For a while, Metagaming dominated this niche wargaming market. Notable MicroGames from Metagaming include WarpWar (designed by Thompson himself), Ogre, G.E.V.,