Astro Bot fans are well-acquainted with the iconic sponge power-up, but did you know that developer Team Asobi also explored even more eccentric abilities, such as a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This fascinating detail came to light during IGN's coverage of GDC 2025, where Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, delivered a detailed presentation titled, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". Doucet's talk provided a deep dive into the development process, showcasing numerous early prototype images and cut content that never made it to the final game.
Doucet kicked off his presentation by discussing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, crafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi began its prototyping phase. He revealed that the pitch went through 23 revisions before being presented to top management. The initial pitch was uniquely presented as an adorable comic strip, highlighting the game's main pillars and activities, which ultimately proved successful.
A slide from Nicolas Doucet's GDC talk, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'", illustrating the game's pitch through a comic book format.
Doucet then explained the team's approach to generating ideas. The process involved extensive brainstorming sessions, where small groups of 5-6 members from various disciplines collaborated. Each participant contributed ideas on individual sticky notes, resulting in a visually impressive brainstorming board.
A slide from the presentation showcasing the sticky note brainstorming sessions at Team Asobi.
Despite the wealth of ideas, Doucet noted that only about 10% of these concepts made it to the prototyping stage. However, this still led to a significant amount of prototyping across the team. Doucet emphasized the importance of prototyping, encouraging all team members, including those outside traditional game design roles, to experiment with their ideas. A notable example was the audio designers who created a theater within Astro Bot to test haptic controller vibrations synchronized with various sound effects.
A slide from the talk displaying a sponge prototype alongside concept art of Astro Bot transforming into a sponge.
Prototyping was a crucial aspect for the Astro Bot team, with some programmers dedicated solely to exploring non-platforming mechanics. This led to the creation of Astro Bot's sponge mechanic, which was prototyped with the adaptive trigger, proving fun and engaging enough to be included in the game.
A slide showing various prototype activities developed for Astro Bot, including some that did not become part of the final game.
Doucet shared an image that showcased several prototypes, including the balloon and sponge that made it into the game, alongside others like a tennis game, a walking wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder, which did not.
In his discussion on level design, Doucet explained that the goal was to ensure each level offered unique gameplay experiences, avoiding repetition. While the same power-up could be used across multiple levels, its implementation had to be distinct enough to maintain variety. He illustrated this with examples of cut levels, such as one themed around bird flights, which was scrapped due to similarities with existing levels using the monkey power-up.
A slide showing a cut level from Astro Bot, alongside two other implemented levels.
Spoilers ahead for those who haven't completed Astro Bot.
Doucet concluded his talk by discussing the game's final scene. Originally, players were to reassemble a completely dismembered Astro Bot, but this approach was found to be too upsetting for some, leading to a more intact version in the final release.
A clip from Doucet's presentation showing the original ending of Astro Bot.
Doucet's presentation at GDC 2025 offered a wealth of 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."
