Hannibal (video game)

Hannibal Master of the Beast
DOS cover art
Developer(s)	Starbyte Software
Publisher(s)	MicroLeague
Designer(s)	Claude Cueni
Platform(s)	Amiga, DOS
Release	1994
Genre(s)	Strategy
Mode(s)	Single player

Hannibal, often subtitled Master of the Beast, is a historically accurate war strategy game first released in 1994. The game was designed by Claude Cueni for Starbyte Software and published by MicroLeague and General Admission Software.^[1]

Hannibal is a turn-based strategy game wherein you play the role of Carthaginian General Hannibal, commanding his armies in his struggle with Roman Empire during the Second Punic War. Managing the economy and military over a world map, you recruit armies (infantry, cavalry, war elephants, navy), siege cities, win battles, and expand Carthage's political influence from Africa to Europe to the Middle East.

Computer Gaming World in April 1994 called Hannibal a "muddled simulation". The magazine stated that the "unbelievably detailed examination of the Second Punic War ... puts a lot of power in the user's hands, but the gamer is forced to wear so many hats that movement of troops is virtually impossible, much less combat".^[2] A longer review the next month stated that game play was "boring ... repetitious, tiresome and dull". It noted the length of the "one long scenario", criticized the too-short documentation and lack of tutorial, and reported that despite its detail the game did not correctly model the war elephant's effect on the battlefield. Concluding that "Hannibal Lecter would prove a more entertaining houseguest than Hannibal", the magazine concluded that "MicroLeague could learn a lot from" Sid Meier's emphasis on "fun".^[3]

German reviews were more favorable, with Amiga Joker and its sister magazine PC Joker each giving 78 out of 100 points, praising the graphics and "colourful history" offered by the game, PC Joker calling it the "most beautiful history strategical to date".^[4] It holds an average score of 72.0% for critic reviews at Moby Games.^[4]

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.^[5] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".^[6] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.^[7] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.^[8] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.^[9]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.^[10][11] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.^[9] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.^[9]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.^[12] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.^[11] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).^[13] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,^[14] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.^[11]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.^[15] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.^[16][17][18] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.^[5] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.^[19]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.^[20] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.^[21]

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

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