Waterloo (video game)

Waterloo
Developer(s)	Personal Software Services
Publisher(s)	EU: Mirrorsoft NA: SSI
Designer(s)	Peter Turcan
Platform(s)	DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Acorn Archimedes
Release	EU: 1989 NA: 1990[1]
Genre(s)	Wargame
Mode(s)	Single-player

Waterloo is a battle strategy game by PSS for DOS, Atari ST, Amiga and Acorn Archimedes. It was released in the United Kingdom by Mirrorsoft in 1989 and in the United States by SSI in 1990.

The player takes the role of either Wellington or Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. The battle may be played with the historical orders or custom orders. It is a turn-based strategy game.

The 100-page manual provides historical and military background to the battle as well as gameplay information. A fold-out map of the battlefield and initial dispositions of units is also provided.

The game was innovative in being played from the point of view of the commander, with the battlefield rendered in simple three-dimensional perspective rather than the overhead view traditionally typical of battlefield strategy games. This means that the player's knowledge of the progress of the battle is limited to what he can see with his own eyes and the reports of subordinates. The player may move around the battlefield to better observe events, but risks death or capture if he approaches too close to the front.

The player is not permitted to micromanage the movements of individual units, as these are not under his direct command; instead he must give orders to subordinate commanders who interpret them according to their own judgement. A subordinate commander will ignore an order he considers unfeasible.

Orders are issued using natural language commands reminiscent of adventure games. For example,

• "D'Erlon, at 1 15 pm order Donzelot defend the hills 1 mile south of you"
• "Lobau, transfer your cavalry to Reille"
• "Drouot, at 6 30 pm give support to Reille, D'Erlon and Milhaud"^[2]

Orders take time to arrive at their destinations, as do combat reports sent by subordinates to the player. Messengers may also be killed or captured. This means that units remote from the commander may not receive orders in time, while units engaged in combat may not receive them at all.

The game begins at 11:30 am and ends at 9:30 pm, when the results are assessed. The computer then decides if the player has been defeated, is victorious, or if the result is inconclusive.

In the September–October 1989 edition of Games International (Issue #9), Mike Woodhouse called this "a marvellous simulation of a battle which was a pivotal point in history, and I am impressed with the quality of programming." He pointed out that the ground-level perspective, and the delay from issuing orders to having them executed "make for a game rather different to the usual computer wargame." He found the interface "a real pain" because the program did not highlight developments that occurred in each new segment of play, leaving the player to try to figure out what had developed. He also found that on slower machines, completing a game could take more than five hours. He concluded by giving the game play an average rating of 3 out of 5, and the graphics a below average score of only 2 out of 5. He recommended the game especially to students of military history, but warned board wargamers more used to conventional wargames "that you try Waterloo before splashing out on it."^[3]

In the July–August 1990 edition of Computer Gaming World (Issue 73), M. Evan Brooks, who had studied the Battle of Waterloo at the United States Army Command and General Staff College, admired the documentation, the background and history provided, and the method of issuing orders, although he pointed out certain ambiguities in attack and defense orders and their subsequent effects. He thought that the unusual, three-dimensional ground perspective was a radical departure from the usual bird's eye view usually employed, and the resulting uncertainty over the battle's progress helped make the game the most accurate of the ten simulations of the battle he had played. He found the graphics to be "very good", and although he found commanders and dispatch riders "displayed somewhat like Gumby" he still found the overall impression to be impressive. However, Brooks found that constant map redrawing, while it was not a problem on a fast computer, "does become burdensome on slower machines" and he also criticized the lack of audio. He concluded by giving the game an average rating of 3 out of 5, saying, "Waterloo is a radical departure from most wargaming. Its ground perspective and issuance of orders places the player in the role of the battlefield commander — with the disadvantages inherent in such position. The simulation will rapidly teach the user why commanders have difficulty in achieving battlefield success and why we compensate generals so well."^[4]

Two issues later, in the October 1990 edition of Computer Gaming World ((Issue 75), Brooks summarized his previous review as: "Much more of a wargame than the historic staff simulations more commonly produced, it is a fascinating, albeit frustrating, game."^[5]

• 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.^[1] 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".^[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.^[3] 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.^[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.^[5]

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.^[6][7] 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.^[5] 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.^[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.^[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.^[7] 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).^[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,^[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.^[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.^[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.^[12][13][14] 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.^[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.^[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.^[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.^[17]

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• Waterloo at Lemon Amiga
• Waterloo at The Little Green Desktop

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