The game was based on the 1967 science-fiction short story of the same name. Harlan Ellison, the short story's author, also worked on this game. Despite not being a fan of computer games and not owning a personal computer at the time, he co-authored the expanded storyline and wrote much of the game's dialogue, all on a mechanical typewriter, provided artwork of himself used for a mousepad within the game, and voiced "AM" the supercomputer.