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Star Billions
Star Billions
Developer(s)	Catch & Release, LLC
Designer(s)	Matthew Taylor, James Tillman
Artist(s)	Juan J. Lopez, Christian Vázquez, Kevin Campbell
Writer(s)	Matthew Taylor, James Tillman
Platform(s)	iOS, Android
Release	iOS; December 8, 2015; Android; April 7, 2016;
Genre(s)	Adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player

Star Billions is an indie adventure video game by Catch & Release, LLC, an independent development team consisting of game designers James Tillman and Matthew Taylor. The game's first season was released on December 8, 2015, for iOS devices and later ported to Android. In Star Billions, players observe a hopelessly lost spaceship that is piloted by four unique artificial intelligences represented by anthropomorphic animal characters.^[1] After each character presents its plan for resolving a given situation, the player must select the ideal AI to solve the problem.^[2] Star Billions takes place in real-time as players wait to see how their decision will affect the story.^[3] Players may also reduce the wait time by playing Game Boy style minigames.^[4]

Plot

Star Billions takes place in the distant future. Humanity is forced to flee Earth aboard the "Big Brother" spacecraft after a series of disasters. The humans attempt to find a new planet suitable for organic life, but soon realize that their food and fuel stores will be depleted before an ideal planet is found. An advanced artificial intelligence known as EIN is placed in charge of finding a new planet while all of humanity is put into a state of cryogenic sleep. EIN constructs a small scouting vessel known as the "Little Brother" and programs three additional AIs with unique, human-like personalities designed to balance one another. These AIs are SARGE, ROSIE and LACIE.^[5]^[6]

Development

The game's initial design was created by James Tillman just before he graduated from college in 2015. Co-designer Matthew Taylor visited James and found a crudely drawn design document for Star Billions. In this early phase, the artificial intelligences were not yet anthropomorphic animals and some characters featured different names that would later change.^[7]

Reception

The game received generally positive reviews with VentureBeat praising the game's "presentation" and "charm" while Pocket Tactics described the game as "cute, funny [and] well-written."^[8]^[9] AppUnwrapper criticized the game's real-time elements, saying "In theory, it works. It makes it feel like the story is happening in real time, as you have to wait for the crew to travel to each destination. But it also interrupted the story every time I was getting into it."^[10]

References

^ Huff, Andrew. "Catch & Release bring their unique and humorous game Star Billions to Android". Droid Gamers. Archived from the original on 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
^ Clyde, Ruby (20 January 2020). "Guide animals through a dangerous mission in Star Billions". Indie Game Magazine.
^ McElroy, Justin (8 December 2015). "Star Billions is an iOS game that doesn't always want you around". Polygon.
^ Diaz, Justin (14 April 2016). "Top 10 Android Games – April 2016". Android Headlines.
^ Catch & Release. Star Billions. Season 1, Episode 3, Mission Log 001: 'We were the last survivors of a planet called Earth. Four million members of our species fled Earth on a spacefaring vessel called the Big Brother. We were a peaceful species. We were capable of great things. Our goal was to find a new planet to call home before our resources were depleted...but we ran out of time. Our greatest achievement as a species was the artificial intelligence known as EIN. If you are hearing this message, it is because EIN is as brilliant as we believe him to be. With EIN's help, all four million members of our species have entered a state of cryogenic sleep. While we sleep, the hopes of an entire planet rest with EIN and his creations aboard the Little Brother.'
^ Mateo, Jose. "A Thanksgiving Ode To Mobile Games". Archived from the original on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
^ "An Interview With 'Star Billions' Creators James Tillman and Matthew Taylor". AppUnwrapper.
^ Campbell, Nissa (10 December 2015). "Star Billions lets you choose the best animal for the job of saving humankind". VentureBeat.
^ Eklund, Tof (13 October 2023). "Act Now And Save Humankind For Free In Star Billions". Pocket Tactics.
^ "Star Billions: Review". AppUnwrapper. 7 April 2016.