Astro Bot fans are familiar with the beloved sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi, the game's developer, also experimented with even more eccentric ideas like a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This intriguing tidbit came to light during IGN's coverage of GDC 2025, where Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, delivered an insightful talk titled, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". Doucet delved deep into the development process of the PlayStation mascot platformer, showcasing a variety of early prototype images and content that didn't make the final cut.
Doucet kicked off his presentation by discussing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, which was crafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi began its prototyping phase. The pitch underwent 23 revisions before being presented to top management. It was creatively conveyed through an adorable comic strip that highlighted the main pillars and activities of the game. The pitch's success is evident in the final product.
A slide from Nicolas Doucet's GDC talk, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'", showcasing a comic book-style pitch for the game.
Doucet then explained the team's approach to generating ideas, which involved extensive brainstorming sessions. Team Asobi formed small groups of 5-6 members from various disciplines who collaborated to write or draw ideas on sticky notes. This process resulted in an impressive brainstorming board, which Doucet shared with the audience.
Another slide from the talk, displaying the sticky note brainstorming sessions by Team Asobi.
Not all ideas progressed to prototyping, Doucet noted. Only about 10% of the brainstormed concepts were actually prototyped, yet this still amounted to a significant number of prototypes. Doucet emphasized the importance of prototyping across all departments, not just game design. For instance, audio designers created a theater within Astro Bot to experiment with haptic controller vibrations tied to various sound effects, such as different door opening and closing sounds.
Another slide from the talk, showing a sponge prototype alongside concept art of Astro Bot turning into a sponge.
Prototyping was crucial for Team Asobi, with dedicated programmers focusing on non-platforming elements. This led to the creation of the sponge mechanic, where the adaptive trigger was used to simulate squeezing the sponge, which proved fun enough to include in the game.
Another slide from the talk, showcasing various prototype activities developed for Astro Bot.
Doucet shared an image of several prototypes, including the balloon and sponge that made it into the game, as well as others like a tennis game, a walking wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder that didn't.
Later, Doucet discussed the process of selecting and designing levels around specific mechanics. The goal was to ensure each level offered unique gameplay and didn't feel repetitive. While it was acceptable to reuse power-ups across levels, the way they were expressed had to be distinct enough to maintain variety. For example, Doucet showed images of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was removed due to its similarities with existing levels that used the monkey power-up.
"In the end, it was decided that the overlap was not healthy enough to create variety, and we just cut this level entirely," he said. "We'll never know if that level would have been popular. But in hindsight, I think it's a good thing that we got to spend that time elsewhere."
Another slide, showing a cut level from Astro Bot alongside two other implemented levels.
Doucet concluded his talk by discussing the game's final scene, which contains spoilers for those who haven't completed Astro Bot. In the original version, players were handed a completely dismembered Astro Bot, which some found distressing. The team opted for a slightly more intact version in the final game.
A clip from Doucet's presentation showing the original ending of Astro Bot.
Doucet's talk provided numerous fascinating insights into the development of Astro Bot, a game that IGN praised with a 9/10 score, describing it as "A fantastically inventive platformer in its own right, Astro Bot is particularly special for anyone with a place in their heart for PlayStation."
