forces. Although the large amount of reading slows gameplay, the text is broken out into multiple booklets so that players can (usually) be simultaneously reading from separate sources. Over a number of turns, each player slowly progresses through the game, discovering what lies at each unlabeled planet on the map and otherwise uncovering the mysteries of the galaxy. The game master software, while lacking any sort of graphical display, is nonetheless relatively advanced for the time period. The software carefully maintains the game state, keeping players honest and preventing them from attempting invalid moves. Between plotting turns, players can use the software to view information about their current status, such as their hand-held items or the contents of their ship's cargo holds. If one player is not available for a play session (since a game cannot generally be played in one sitting), his or her character can be placed in "suspended animation" while the remaining players continue to play. Although the central game plot is itself somewhat linear (particularly in the second title), players are generally free to move back and forth between worlds, trade various goods as desired, and otherwise explore the game's various sub-plots. Additionally, certain elements (e.g., which planet is which on the map) are randomized between games, in order to increase replay value. Reception Star Saga was hailed as being completely new and different from games which came before. In 1990, Masterplay sold the series to Cinemaware because of poor sales. The company attributing the lack of success to its decision to develop the game for the Apple; Greenberg stated "We followed the 'Apple II Forever' hype into oblivion". He has nonetheless said that, of the various games he worked on, Star Saga was the one he is the most proud of, much more so than his commercially more successful Wizardry games. References 1988 video games 1989 video games Adventure games Apple II games Apple IIGS games DOS games Video games developed in the United States