[1] Flynn launched the game about six months later, with the aid of programmer Graham Rawlings—through his new company, Australian Wizard.

[1] According to Flynn, Spiral Arm drew from the games Imperium and Reach for the Stars as well as science fiction literature.

[1] The editors of Flagship announced Spiral Arm as a new game in its Winter 1984 issue.

The difference between versions centered around mitigating issues of conquest of populated worlds.

[6] As of 2002, Flagship still included Spiral Arm in its Galactic View list of published games.

He thought that the game would "be about for a long time and I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good wargame which will tax their organisational, military and diplomatic skills".

He stated that, "Overall, Spiral Arm remains a neatly packaged, easy-to-play space drama of low-to-moderate complexity.