The title was a reference to arcade games and early video games, where the instruction was often displayed upon the title screen. It was heavily influenced by the webcomics Penny Arcade and VG Cats. The central characters were caricatures of the creators themselves, with Adam playing straight man to the outrageous Darryl. Other characters include Simon, Darryl's sadistic pet parrot, Adam and Daryl's wives, Tess and Chenee, who they met and married in Las Vegas, and Cornellious, a representative of the readers.