
Factsheet
Developer:
Playniac
Based in London, UK
Release date:
PlayStation 4 Jul 10, 2018 / Steam Jul 12, 2018 / Xbox One Jul 13, 2018
Platforms:
PC (Windows / OSX)
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Website:
insanerobots.com
Regular Price:
USD | $19.99 |
EUR | €19.99 |
Description
Fight to the DEATH in this unique card battler. Compete in intense one-on-one duels. Lead a riotous robot rebellion through randomly generated survival arenas. Overthrow a malevolent robot despot in the epic 15+ hour single-player campaign. Insane Robots is card battling... HACKED! Insane Robots is a unique card battler with a brave tale of robot rebellion. Its a quirky, "rogue-lite" 2D strategy game where you battle for survival with token-based skirmishes in random-generated arenas. Each tournament brings tales of loyalty and betrayal; cold logic and insane risk. Power up your robot, lock down your slots, hack your opponent and launch your attack. Discover branching, reactive stories; strange and rare augments; special boosts that bring surprising twists; dynamic hazards like the acid cloud or ring of death; and deadly enemy robots ready to fight you and each other. Only a cunning player can survive the tournaments, unlock enough memory fragments and overthrow the Kernel to discover the terrible truth. Coming to PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 from Jul 10, 2018.
History
The core Insane Robots battle system was originally created in 15 minutes as a tabletop prototype using a pile of old business cards. This was only the start of a substantial physical and digital design process. The Playniac team has been playing and iterating the game since then, running tabletop sessions in their studio and at festivals worldwide during 2013-2014. Development of the digital game started in Jan 2015 and 15 people have formed the core team, including developer/designer Tom Kail (80 Days, Biome); developer Andrew Thorpe (Ori and the Will of the Wisps); artists Catherine Unger (Snipperclips, Detective Grimoire, Haunt the House, The Swindle), Fran Court (Hue, Stealth Inc 2, Frozen Synapse 2, New Art Academy 3DS), Belinda Leung (Total War, Pokemon Art Academy), Karen Teixeira (Twelve a Dozen, Oceans Heart), and Alice Duke (Fantastic Beasts, Lazarus); writers Yasmeen Khan (Fallen London), James Wallis (The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Paranoia RPG), and Charlie Carter; and designer/developer and Playniac founder Rob Davis (International Racing Squirrels, Cat On Yer Head, Anomaly X, Battlefield Academy). The game's soundtrack includes tracks by Noise 5000 and legendary French electro producer Kid Loco.
Features
- No CCG - avoid costly expansions and time-consuming customisation
- Overthrow the despotic robot ruler
- Master the 22-token battle deck
- Survive randomly generated arenas
- Compete in intense local and online ranked 2P multiplayer
- Play the deep 15+ hour single-player campaign
- Beat deadly hazards in five arena environments
- Unlock 43 robots and find over 100 augments
- Over 150 illustrated branching story events
Videos
Insane Robots 2018 teaser trailer YouTube
Insane Robots Launch Date Announcement trailer YouTube
Insane Robots gameplay YouTube
Making of Insane Robots YouTube
Interview with Keith Stuart (The Guardian) about card prototype at Radius Festival 2014 YouTube
Images
Logo & Icon
Awards & Recognition
- "Indie Megabooth PAX East 2018 - Official Selection" Boston, USA
- "PC Indie Pitch 2018 - Winner" London, UK
- "TIGA Awards 2017 Best Strategy Game - Finalist" London, UK
- "Respawn 2017 Indie Game Expo - Selected Game" Cologne, Germany, 2017
- "TIGA Awards 2016 Best Strategy Game - Finalist" London, UK
- "Amaze Showcase - Featured Game" Berlin, Germany, 2016
- "Quo Vadis Indie Expo - Featured Game" Berlin, Germany, 2016
- "EGX Rezzed Leftfield Collection" London, UK, 2016
- "Casual Connect Indie Prize - Finalist" Amsterdam, Holland, 2016
- "GameCityNights - Headliner" Nottingham, UK, 2016
- "GameCity 10 - Featured Game" Nottingham, UK, 2015
- "Respawn 2015 - Featured Game" Cologne, Germany, 2015
- "Amaze Festival - Featured Game" Berlin, Germany, 2015
- "Radius Festival - Featured Game" London, UK, 2014
- "Feral Vector - Featured Game" London, UK, 2014
- "GameCamp 8 - Featured Game" London, UK, 2014
- "Geek 2014 - Featured Game" Margate, UK, 2014
- "GameCity 8 - Featured Game" Nottingham, 2013
Selected Quotes
- "Conquer a robot dystopia in cute card battler Insane Robots (...) Pick a robot, build a deck that matches their abilities, and get right down to throwing rectangles at each other like the robot god intended."
- PC Gamer, Website - "Playniac's vision of a robotic dystopia is an extremely fun card-based strategy game... It only took fifteen minutes for me to realize I was on the verge of falling completely in love with this colorful and wacky world featuring zany robots... It's one of the most addictive twists on card battling mechanics I've seen... An easily accessible mixture of strategy and card-based attacks, which will reel you in almost instantly."
- Shack News, Website - "The form of a catechism, in which a malfunctioning robot asks existential questions of an authoritarian robot whose answers make it clear that the robot will soon be fighting for its life in the Arena, while remaining frustratingly coy about the nature of that Arena."
- Slate, Website - "A nuanced and polished dueling system which offered hours of strategic and chaotic fun... This non-traditional card battler has it all, and while it certainly pays homage to board games, traditional card games, and electronic competitors, Insane Robot stands out for its brilliant use of its mechanics... Insane Robots has captivated me. I intend to unlock every robot, see every card, complete every arena. The duel system is so much fun, and offers a creative take on card combat that is absent from the genre... It has a brilliant gameplay loop which has drawn me in... It has hacked the formula... It’s everything I never knew I wanted in a card game."
- Indie Toaster, Website - "The writing is top-notch, very funny, terribly clever, and the characters are adorable little killing machines... If you love card battles, adorable robots, and tons of robot-on-robot violence, this is the game for you. Playniac has a real hit on their hands here... Insane Robots is an absolute hoot, and I’m very much looking forward to progressing further and blowing up all the weak, sad robots that are lining my path."
- OnRPG, Website - "A laser-focused battle deck. With only 22 tokens, the game is easy to learn and manage, but full of unexpected turns and a lot of strategic depth."
- PlayStation Lifestyle, Website - "The developers have provided every player with a streamlined battle deck. Insane Robots is truly a test of skill, strategy, and luck."
- GameNader, Website - "Fell in love with Insane Robots."
- What's Indie News, YouTube - "Fight a riotous robot rebellion with the mightiest weapon of all: cards! "
- Indie MEGABOOTH, Twitter - "Like something ripped straight from a Douglas Coupland fever dream."
- GGS Gamer, Website - "Unlike anything else at Rezzed."
- FNGR GNS, Website - "Charming and incredibly intense."
- n3rdabl3, Website - "Insane Robots is great. Simply challenging and complexly simple."
- The Torch: Entertainment Guide, Website - "Really, really great game."
- Shredder FTW, YouTube - "Interesting, different, cute, accessible and really fun!"
- My Xbox And Me, YouTube - "Chock-full of strategy and random skirmishes. An artfully-designed game."
- Shack News, Website - "Incredibly interesting as well as just plain fun."
- blogcritics, Website - "Sure to keep players on their toes for hours on end."
- Informed Pixel, Website - "It’s a robot rebellion (...) looks like a lot of fun."
- Projekt Indie, Website - "Hearthstone meets The Hunger Games."
- Gamereactor, Website - "Certainly turns my head (...) quite the ambitious pitch."
- PC Games Insider, Website - "A unique gaming experience... an exceptional card battler."
- Darkworld Gaming, Website - "I was instantly drawn in."
- GameSkinny, Website - "I absolutely loved this game. From the procedurally generated maps to the AI logic to the great game design."
- IndieCade jury, Website
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Additional Links
About Playniac
Boilerplate
Playniac makes thinky games. We're a London-based studio that produces digital games on multiple platforms and experiments with game design in all forms.
More information
More information on Playniac, our logo & relevant media are available here.
Insane Robots Credits
Rob Davis
Designer & Developer
Tom Kail
Developer
Andrew Thorpe
Developer
Catherine Unger
Artist
Karen 'bitmOO' Teixeira
Artist
Belinda Leung
Artist
Fran Court
Artist
Alice Duke
Artist
Adam Clark
Artist
Charlie Carter
Writer
James Wallis
Writer
Yasmeen Khan
Writer
Gemma Thomson
Junior Designer
Noise 5000, Kid Loco and Audio Network
Music
Eliot Webb
Web developer
Stephen Hey
Marketing
Des Gayle
Launch Producer
David Storr
Launch and teaser promos
Dean Letts
Gameplay, blog post, and DLC promos
Dan and Tony Porter, The Trailer Farm
Teaser promo
James Briggs
QA
Claire Morley, Amir Moin, Anxhelino Graci, Haydn Ross, Gideon Sola-Oke
Testers
Ruben Garcia
Junior Developer
Contact
Inquiries
[email protected]
Twitter
twitter.com/playniac
Facebook
facebook.com/playniac
Web
playniac.com
presskit() by Rami Ismail (Vlambeer) - also thanks to these fine folks