Fifteen players per game assume one of six available roles and explore and conquer planets within a universe comprising 225 worlds.

Turnaround time is how long a player has to prepare and submit "orders" (moves and changes to make in the game) and the company has to process them and send back turn results.

[5] The company processes the turns and returns the results to the player, who completes a subsequent order sheet.

[12] The initial choice of a PBM game requires consideration as there is a wide array of possible roles to play, from pirates to space characters to "previously unknown creatures".

[17][e] For approximately five years, Flying Buffalo was the single dominant company in the US PBM industry until Schubel & Son entered the field in about 1976 with the human-moderated Tribes of Crane.

[18] Consequently, Rick Loomis invented Starweb which Flying Buffalo released as its second PBM game.

[23][f] The original game instructions were in a "mimeographed" manual which eventually required a second edition to address player confusion.

[27] Although it morphed over time, its publisher, Rick Buda, started it as a fanzine for Starweb in June 1980, especially to discuss how to play his favorite character, the Berserker.

[30] The company, run by Loomis' sisters and their PBM computer expert, continues to offer Starweb by postal mail and play-by-email (PBEM) as of August 2021 to include several variants.

[32] Six different identities are available for play: Apostle, Artifact Collector, Berserker,[i] Empire Builder, Merchant, and Pirate.

[35]Loomis stated that in 1979 the Merchant character was winning the most, and was, at the time, "the easiest position to play, generally, and the hardest to stop, once he gets started" while an Empire Builder or Apostle would likely require a longer game to score a victory.

[24] However, according to reviewer Paul S. Person, game mechanics were simple—even simplistic for some—with a universe limited in size and "easily written" orders.

[32] Rick Loomis stated in 2014 that a "Multi" game of Starweb allows each of its five players to roleplay three different identities as one position.

[32] In 1980, the company offered a computer version, where custom programs could play each other (human assistance not allowed).

[46] Reviewer Glenn T. Wilson described a pending variant called "15-Character Solitaire" in 1985, as one-player race to 10,000 points for each of 15 characters.

"[50] Chris Harvey reviewed the game for White Dwarf in its June–July 1980 issue, stating that, "if you like what you've read, then save up your pennies, cross those empty evenings off your diary and jump into the new hobby of CM PBM.

"[51] Also in July 1980, Paul S. Person provided a review in The Space Gamer, commenting that "Starweb is a smoothly-run game ... which emphasizes diplomacy at the expense of detail.

"[20] In the April 1983 edition of Dragon, Michael Gray stated, "This is Flying Buffalo's science fiction play-by-mail game of conquest, trade, exploration and diplomacy.

"[52] In a 1987 issue of White Wolf, reviewer Stewart Wieck stated that "Starweb is a superior PBM game," ranking it a 9 out of a possible 10.

Though among the first of PBM games, Starweb has continued to remain popular, a true testimony to its excellence, and it has won numerous awards.

Editor Scott Haring said "Starweb is the king of [PBM games] – the industry's most popular and longest running.

"[56] In a 2009 issue of Flagship magazine, its editor Carol Mulholland called Starweb "one of the best turn-based games ever".