Insane Robots | Smack Talk

Do you like robots? How about card games? Do you agree robots are more entertaining when crazed? If the answer to all three was yes, then you might be interested in an upcoming game by Playniac, called Insane Robots. It takes elements from tabletop and digital card game design to make an experience with plenty of depth but which can be tackled by those interested in a more casual experience. Better yet, Insane Robots is coming to PC, PlayStation 4 and XBox One in July. To find out more specifics, just check out the official press release below.


The Robot Rebellion Begins on July 10 when Insane Robots Launches on PlayStation®4, Xbox One, PC, and Mac

Award-winning Indie Game Studio, Playniac, Bringing
Card Battling HACKED to All Major Platforms Next Month

Insane Robots | Upgrade

LONDON — May 30, 2018 — Award-winning games studio, Playniac, announced today that its unique card battler, Insane Robots will be sparking a riotous robot rebellion when it launches on July 10, 2018 on PlayStation®4, followed by Windows and Mac (via Steam) on July 12, and Xbox One on July 13. Players ready for robot-on-robot duels to the death may wish list Insane Robots today on Steam. Pre-orders will also be available soon on the PlayStation®Store and Microsoft Store for $15.99 / €15.99 (20% pre-order discount) for the base game and $23.09 / €23.09 for the Insane Robots Deluxe Pack (30% pre-order discount), which also includes a Season Pass with six DLCs.

Initially created as a tabletop prototype with a pile of old business cards, the creators of Insane Robots at Playniac have pulled from both physical and digital design processes. They have created a card battling game that captures what players love most about the genre, removing the elements they hate; namely expensive card expansions, time-consuming customization, farming, and an ever-rising bar that excludes players who don’t purchase more cards. This laser focus freed Playniac to create the perfectly designed battle deck. With only 22 tokens, it is easy to learn and manage, yet full of unexpected turns and strategic depth. Not to be confused with a collectible card game (CCG), Insane Robots is card battling… HACKED!

Insane Robots | Map

Insane Robots finds players leading a robot rebellion through randomly generated survival arenas. Full of fiendish card battles, it’s FTL meets Battle Royale in a card game. Overthrow the malevolent robot despot, The Kernel. Save robotkind in an epic 15+ hour single-player campaign full of peril and twists, as a decaying robot dystopia is revealed.

Master the battle deck and develop strategies in super-accessible local, online and single-player robotic skirmishes. Deploy HACKS and GLITCHES in the heat of battle and use your wits to terminate the competition. Battle with over 46 deliciously diverse robots in five hostile environments. Augment devious droids to grow more powerful and trade cutting, robotic insults with opponents along the way.

Key Features Include:

  • This is card battling HACKED with no costly expansions and time-consuming customization
  • Compete in intense local and online ranked 2P multiplayer battles
  • Experience the epic 15+ hour single-player campaign, overthrow the megalomaniacal Kernel and save robotkind
  • Unlock 46 robots and find over 100 augments to boost their abilities
  • Explore your tactical options to survive randomly generated survival arenas
  • Master the 22-token battle deck and define your own style of play
  • A compelling narrative with over 150 branching story events
  • Explore five types of hazardous environment from lush jungles to barren Moonscapes

About Insane Robots
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 worked on it including developer/designer Tom Kail (80 Days, Biome); artists Catherine Unger (Snipperclips, Detecive Grimoire, Haunt the House, The Swindle), Fran Court (Hue, Stealth Inc 2, Frozen Synapse 2, New Art Academy 3DS) and Belinda Leung (Total War, Pokemon Art Academy); illustrator Karen ‘bitmOO’ Teixeira (Twelve a Dozen, Oceans Heart); writers Yasmeen Khan (Fallen London) and James Wallis (The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Paranoia RPG); and designer/developer Rob Davis (International Racing Squirrels, Cat On Yer Head, Anomaly X). The game’s soundtrack includes tracks by Noise 5000 and legendary French electro producer Kid Loco.

About Playniac
Playniac is an award-winning games studio making “thinky” games for all platforms. They’ve been described as “innovative” and “different” by MCV magazine and been a TIGA Awards finalist for Best Small Studio in 2016 and 2017. Their games include race-management sim International Racing Squirrels, globe-trotting crowd game Cat On Yer Head, and algebra puzzle adventure Anomaly X. They’ve won Silver and Bronze medals in the Serious Play Awards; finalist nominations at IndieCade, Develop, Game Connection, Casual Connect, TIGA Awards; and Official Selections (or similar) at IndieCade (3 times), IndieCade East (2 times), GameCity, Amaze, Leftfield Collection, Indie Megabooth and numerous other festivals. They’ve also made games for Channel 4, British Gas, Amplify Games, Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, and the BBC.

Insane Robots | Battle

Josh Speer
Josh is a passionate gamer, finding time to clock in around 30-40 hours of gaming a week. He discovered Operation Rainfall while avidly following the localization of the Big 3 Wii RPGs. He enjoys SHMUPS, Platformers, RPGs, Roguelikes and the occasional Fighter. He’s also an unashamedly giant Mega Man fan, having played the series since he was eight. As Head Editor and Review Manager, he spends far too much time editing reviews and random articles. In his limited spare time he devours indies whole and anticipates the release of quirky, unpredictable and innovative games.