After several successful releases, Reiche left Free Fall to form Toys for Bob with Fred Ford. Though they had previously attended the same school, they had never met until a games night arranged by friends, both seeking a partner to work on a new project. One of the mutual friends who helped introduce them was fantasy artist Erol Otus. This led to their first collaboration, the game "Star Control". Reiche and Ford both shared a love of Jack Vance in both their formative years, and took inspiration from exaggerated societies taken to their extremes, and intelligent characters committed to an interesting agenda. While Reiche focused on the game design and fiction, Ford was responsible for the programming.