My business partner of 17 years, Satish Pillalamarri, recently lost a battle to cancer. His passing has left a big hole in the lives of everyone at North Star. Our team has shared many tears together. I can only imagine what his wife and family are going through. I've never met anyone who engenders more love from the people around him. Satish was kind, trusting, and generous with his time. He was also very creative, humorous, and had wonderful charisma.

Satish was looking forward to being a dad. The last text I received from Satish has pictures of his newborn. Unfortunately, Satish was in the ICU and was never able to meet his son. He would have been a wonderful dad.

This is a photo memorial to Satish and our time together. I'm also hoping to bring attention to a scholarship fund for his son. Several people from the North Star team (Scott Rencher, Luke Warren, Matt Mariani, and Steve Crook) helped get it off the ground. All of them touched by their time with Satish.

2003

Satish joined me in a summer internship to get North Star Games off the ground. Cranium was big at the time. Satish planned to crush them.

2004

We took time off school to go to Toy Fair in New York. We had no idea what we were doing, but we were full of hope, and had a great time doing it. 

After graduation, I somehow convince Satish to join me as a co-president of North Star Games. Our first job was to collate 2,500 copies of Cluzzle in my apartment living room with the help of our generous MBA classmates.

MBA Sweat Shop

During this time, Satish would refer to my apartment as the MBA Sweat Shop. Luckily for us, the recession made it hard for our classmates to find a job. They were happy to gather for pizza, beer, and good company.

Satish and I were also testing North Star's next game, which would go on to sell nearly 2 million copies.

2006

When Wits & Wagers went nationwide at Target, it forever transformed our little hobby company.

2007

Satish with Scott Rencher at one of our house parties. Scott would join North Star in 2013 to start the digital division.

2008

Shenanigans at my wedding. The woman in the middle is Catherine Hamilton, who would later paint all of the watercolor art for the Evolution series.

Satish and I had great fun co-designing Say Anything together. It is about to sell its millionth copy. I wish he was here to celebrate with me.

The last game Satish worked on was an after dark edition of Say Anything, originally planned to be released this year. With everything else going, I don't think it will get to see the light of day.

2010 - 2018

We move out of my basement in 2011. Satish finally got the corner office he had always dreamed about... in the form of an office prank. The corner room was created with of a bunch of Mardi Gras beads. The leopard skin Snuggie was a gag gift I gave Satish on this 30th birthday. The joke was on me; He wore it nearly every day for a decade.  

In Memory of Satish Pillalamarri

Satish had a trusting demeanor that put people at ease. He had a genuine love for people.

He was perfectly comfortable helping others shine at social gatherings for hours on end, enjoying the company of others. He didn't need to be the center of attention, so he never tried to put himself there. But Satish was also in an improv group, so he was perfectly comfortable taking the spotlight and entertaining a crowd. His charisma was magnetic and his laugh was contagious. I saw him take down the house at many a party when others were least expecting it. It's rare for someone to be so comfortable in or out of the spotlight.

Satish was kind and extremely talented. It breaks my heart that his son will never get to spend time with him.

Scholarship Fund

Please consider supporting the scholarship fund. Even a small amount is meaningful. Watching the community rally with support has helped ease my heartache. There are two ways to support Satish's wife and son.

You can donate directly to the GoFundMe scholarship fund.

Or you can purchase dude from our website. dude was the last released game that Satish worked on. Our company has donated the remaining 1,000 copies to the scholarship fund, with 100% of the proceeds going to this cause. We have also created a memorial sticker which can be placed on the cover of the game.

Purchase a copy of dude with the memorial sticker.

Steve Crook reached out to the improv comedian Colin Mochrie from Whose Line is it Anyway? and got him to make this personalized video for Satish.  Unfortunately, I think Satish was too sick to watch it because he never responded to our email or my texts.

Satish is a dude that that has touched a lot of people. He will remain in our hearts.