Exploration of the Moon invention of the telescope, an increasing number of people began to recognise the Moon as a sphere, though many believed that it was "perfectly smooth". In 1609, Galileo Galilei drew one of the first telescopic drawings of the Moon in his book and noted that it was not smooth but had mountains and craters. Later in the 17th century, Giovanni Battista Riccioli and Francesco Maria Grimaldi drew a map of the Moon and gave many craters the names they still have today. On maps, the dark parts of the Moon's surface were called "maria" (singular "mare") or seas, and the
To the Moon to fulfill his wish. The game was directed by Canadian game designer Kan Gao, using the RPG Maker XP engine. Development started in 2010, when Gao was struck by questions of mortality following his grandfather's life-threatening condition. "To the Moon" would become Freebird Games' first commercial product, following smaller, experimental games released for free on the studio website. The game was updated later to include free downloadable content, called "minisodes", to give more context to the main characters. In 2014, Freebird Games released "A Bird Story", a short "minisode" that connects "To the Moon" with its sequel, "Finding Paradise". While