Every Trek Generation Comes Together In Star Trek Timelines

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCdu4MV5TRw

A Star Trek strategy role-playing game that allows fans to build their dream crew out of characters from every generation of the television series? You have my attention, Disruptor Beam.

In development for mobile and browsers (oh stop), Star Trek Timelines is a story-driven social game (calm down!) that allows players to explore the galaxy, tackling problems through combat, science or diplomacy, while collecting resources and building the ultimate starship.

I realize that’s a lot of negatively-perceived buzzwords in one description, but to me it sounds like the ideal sort of game for the Star Trek fan. The series has never been about action (well, until the reboot) — it’s been about the characters, and the different ways they approach problems in an ever-expanding universe. Picard will talk. Sisko cooks Cajun food and manages to be the angriest friendly guy ever. Kirk takes off his shirt and punches thing. Janeway’s bun gets increasingly messed up until the problem is solved, and Captain Archer just stands there, because he’s Scott Bakula and his Vulcan is ridiculously attractive.

“We want to create a new generation of strategy game for tablet and mobile devices and one that is as large and deep as the Star Trek universe itself,” said Jon Radoff, CEO of Disruptor Beam via official press release. “I grew up watching the franchise and have always felt that the best episodes were those that went beyond the coolness of the technology or vastness of space; the ones which told the story of characters making important decisions that had an impact on others, on civilizations, planets, and technology. Star Trek Timelines will encompass all of these concepts, allowing you to explore the vastness of space along with your friends—letting you live out the ‘where no man has gone before’ mantra we all love—but will also allow you to make decisions that impact your future, your friends and even the fate of the Galaxy.”

Disruptor Beam is the developer behind Game of Thrones: Ascent, the wildly popular social/mobile game that manages to capture the intrigue of the popular TV show in a largely text-based game. Like that game, Star Trek Timelines will feature all original artwork, but it will also incorporate 3D graphics, so it’s more than an evolved Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book.

I am currently heavily invested in Star Trek, in the middle of a rewatching of the entire run, from The Original Series to Enterprise, following along with my favorite podcast, Ron Aalgar Watt’s Post-Atomic Horror. This announcement could not come at a better time for me.

I’ll be paying close attention to the Star Trek Timelines Facebook page for updates on the game’s progress in the coming months. You can too, because the internet is a bastion of freedom.