Mail Order Monsters is a 1985

1985 in video gaming

-Notable releases:* Brøderbund releases Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first game of the prolific Carmen Sandiego series* Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, which eventually sells 40 million copies making it the best-selling video game of all time until 2008.*...

 computer game created by Paul Reiche III

Paul Reiche III

Paul Reiche III is a game designer, particularly for computer games. Reiche is best known for being the co-creator, together with Fred Ford, of the Star Control universe.-Pen and paper RPGs:...

, Evan Robinson and Nicky Robinson

Nicky Robinson (game programmer)

Nicky Robinson is a computer game programmer, one of the earliest women to enter the field. Her career spans over twenty years, and extends back into the classic gaming era with such recognized titles as Star Control and Mail Order Monsters, on which she worked with Evan Robinson and renowned game...

 and published

Video game publisher

A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....

 by Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

 (Ariolasoft

Ariolasoft

Ariolasoft GmbH, later known as United Software, was a German computer game developer, publisher and distributor. It started as the software subsidiary of Ariola Records...

 in Europe) for the Commodore 64

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

 and Atari 8-bit family

Atari 8-bit family

The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...

 home computer

Home computer

Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...

s.

Reiche had previously worked with designers Jon Freeman

Jon Freeman

Jon Freeman was an influential computer game industry figure of the 1980s and early 1990s. He was a co-founder of Epyx and Free Fall Associates and the spouse of game programmer, Anne Westfall...

 and Anne Westfall

Anne Westfall

Anne Westfall is an influential game programmer of the 1980s. She is the wife of fellow game programmer, game designer and entrepreneur Jon Freeman.-Career:...

 of Free Fall Associates

Free Fall Associates

Free Fall Associates was a computer game developer of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was founded in 1981 by Jon Freeman, his wife, game programmer Anne Westfall, and game designer Paul Reiche III...

 on the game Archon

Archon (computer game)

Archon: The Light and the Dark is a computer game developed by Free Fall Associates and distributed by Electronic Arts. It was originally developed for Atari 8-bit computers in 1983, but was later ported to several other systems of the day, including the Apple II, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX...

for EA

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...

, and teamed with the Robinsons on action-strategy games. Mail Order Monsters features battles as part of the gameplay.

The game provided a way for players to create a variety of monsters and equip them with futuristic and modern weapons to do battle. The game allowed two players to play and compete at the same time and fight each other, or to play capture the flag

Capture the flag

Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...

. Monsters could be stored on diskette and could be upgraded by successful victories against other monsters or computer opponents.