Q&A on Designing the Mean Robo Card Game
How did you come up with the concept for Mean Robo?
I love robots and I wanted a game with robots battling it out in some fashion. I tend to create a theme for my games first. Then come up with a sort of loose idea for a game mechanic to go with it. At first, Mean Robo was going to be a ‘war’ type card game (players flip a card from their deck and compare the values, the greater card value wins), but after doing a couple of playtests I didn’t like the direction it was going in. Based on the feedback I received after those playtests I changed the game to the way it is now.
What is your favorite element about the game?
The artist in me is going to say the illustrations of Mean Robo, but I also love the fighting mechanic at the end of the game round. Players planning their attack strategies making sure all their Robos are in place is always fun to see. My hope is the ‘easy to learn, hard to master’ gameplay clicks with players when they enjoy the game a few times.
What inspires you while designing games?
Arcade game mechanics from 1978 to 1999 are the elemental foundations of how we play video games today. Mean Robo is specifically inspired by Gauntlet and Berzerk. Specifically how the computer controlled monsters group up and attack the player. They can also destroy each other with their attacks, which can be used to the player’s advantage. I enjoy translating these mechanics into an analog form and creating board games from that.
What was the biggest challenge you overcame in designing this game?
Playtesting is always a challenge. It’s repetitive and minutely iterative. For many designers it may be tough to get feedback on something you love working on, especially if it is critical. It has been a lot of work to remove ego from this process and get to making the best game possible.