To take part, all you need to do is download and build the standees from the Robot Fight Club Print & Play Set, take a photo of one or more of them in an interesting situation, and post it on social media using the #RobotFightClub hashtag. Make sure you tag us, as well as three friends who you think should do the same! We’ll pick some of our favourites next week and stick them on the Needy Cat social media pages.
ROBOT FIGHT CLUB NEWS: THE KICKSTARTER IS NOW LIVE!
Hello Needy Cat fans!
This week is one of the most important weeks for Robot Fight Club.
After months of switching up dates, going back to change the design, and many many adrenaline rushes, the RFC Kickstarter is finally live! It would mean the world to us if you could back RFC!
We’re about to embark on an incredible journey over the course of the next 3-4 weeks as we seek to fund our first self-published game - we hope you’ll join us.
FIRST BACKER GOAL
In three days, the RFC kickstarter is already 23% funded with 103 people backing out project and we have announced our FIRST BACKER GOAL!
We though long and hard about what the boardgame community would like as an add-on coupled with us actually fulfilling that promise comfortably, we decided upon NEOPRENE MATS!
If we hit 120 backers, we'll get these Neoprene Mats properly designed, and introduce them as an add-on item at £12 for 2. Not only that - we'll include four of them in the Club Champion, Club Legend and Club Founder pledges for free. That means everyone can have their own player mat, whether you're playing a two, three or four player game!
Note: This a quick mock-up, NOT THE FINAL PRODUCT!
DESIGN A ROBOT COMPETITION
In case you missed it, we ran a Robot designing competition and got some AMAZING entries! Unfortunately, we could pick only one. And the winner is…
FANATIC!!! by Daniel Gibbons!
Additionally, if you want to see how Robot Fight Club plays out, Girls Game Shelf did a really amazing playthrough video of RFC. So check it out!
We’d also like to thank Luna Photography for taking some AMAZING gameplay photos! You can check out more of their work on Facebook and Instagram!
A few of the amazing photos taken by Luna Photography!
That’s it for this week! We’ll be back again next week with more updates!
Check our our Kickstarter HERE!
If you’re a reviewer/media outlet, check out our PRESS PACK!
ROBOT FIGHT CLUB NEWS: A CHAT WITH THE ARTIST BEHIND THE ROBOTS
Hello Needy Cat fans!
Last week, you heard from our Graphic Designer Hanna. This week, Obaseun, the very talented artist behind all the Robot art talks to us about the process that went in to drawing each and every Robot keeping in line with the aesthetics of Robot Fight Club.
Hi Obaseun! Please introduce yourself to the Needy Cat Fans!
Hello! I (Obaseun ‘godofiron’ Ogunkeye) am a British-Nigerian illustrator, concept artist and 3D character animator with three years in the tabletop game industry under my belt. I am also the founder of Godofiron Studios.
So, Obaseun, what made you choose the tabletop games industry as the focus of your work?
I entered the Tabletop industry almost entirely by accident – I went looking on social media for people who needed digital art for their businesses, and I ended up doing art for various people who all seemed to be playing Dungeons and Dragons, which I became more and more curious about. Eventually, I got contacted by someone who wanted to actually make his own card game, and I enjoyed the experience so much, I decided to see what else the tabletop industry had to offer – the rest is history.
Robot Fight Club, as you obviously know, embodies a very 50’s-esque, futuristic theme. How did you portray that in the RFC artwork? Was there anything in particular that inspired you?
The 50’s aesthetic for me, has a lot to do with chrome and streamlined shapes, as far as I can tell – it seems to capture an air of positivity and optimism. That particular brand of retro-future is timeless, and one good marker of the culture is machinery – specifically, cars. I took reference from devices of that era, along with slightly more recent shows, like The Jetsons, and Johnny Quest, to try and capture some aspects of bygone eras, and merge them with more modern sensibilities.
Most artists have differing creative processes. What’s your creative process like?
I work almost entirely as a remote digital artist – I have my personal space where I’m most productive, with my Laptop and a graphics tablet at my desk. Occasionally if I’m travelling, I need a change of pace, or if I want to change environments, I’ll head outside to a garden with my iPad and Apple Pencil, or I’ll go visit a friend and bounce ideas off them as I draw and paint!
Lastly, since you mentioned you stumbled upon the tabletop games industry by chance, do you have any tips for new artists who are trying to break into the tabletop games industry?
I’m relatively new, so I’m still learning things about the industry – take my advice with a grain of salt! From my experience, consistently, persistently putting yourself out there is a major factor, along with being flexible with your goals. If you’re lucky enough to live near tabletop game conventions, please attend them, make genuine friends and above all, be open-minded!
Be open to learning things about the industry and make connections with people, not just because you think they might be useful to you, but also try to form true relationships.
Finally, where can people see more of your art and reach out to you?
You can find examples of my original works on my company website: www.godofironstudios.com
You can also find some of my more adventurous art pieces on artstation: https://www.artstation.com/godofiron
I am accessible on social media: @godofironart on twitter and Instagram
And you can even find me on BoardGameGeeks under my pseudonym, godofiron.
If there’s a social media platform, I’m probably on it, so if you aren’t sure, feel free to ask, or just email me directly at godofironart@hotmail.com !
ROBOT FIGHT CLUB NEWS: HEAR FROM RFC'S GRAPHIC DESIGNER
ROBOT FIGHT CLUB NEWS: KICKSTARTER LAUNCH DATE AND ROBOT DESIGN COMPETITION
Robot Fight Club News: Final Card Designs
Robot Fight Club News: Updated Tour Dates and even more characters!
Updated Tour Dates!
It’s been a bit crazy here at the Needy Cat Cave and we’re booking in even more Robot Fight Club Tour Dates! Here’s an updated list!
The Dice Cup, Nottingham – 8th February – 5 – 8pm
Eclectic Games, Reading – 14th February – 4 – 8pm
Eclectic Games, Reading – 15th February – 10am – 2pm
7th City Collectables, Sandiacre - 20th February - 4 - 8pm
Bean Gaming, Leicester – 21st February – 4 – 8pm
Patriot Games, Sheffield - 29th February - 10am - 2pm
Random Encounter, York – 1st March – 12 – 4pm
Meet the Cybernauts!
We’ve also got two more Cybernaughts to introduce you to!
Meet Indira! Indira lives for speed, and it's always getting her in trouble. Like that time she tricked out her chair with the jet engine they'd made in robotics and raced it across town. At RFC she always manages to squeeze in an extra booster or two, even if that means removing a few, uh, "unnecessary" components.⠀
Indira is is likely to surprised you with a ‘suped up robot racing across the arena.
Met Johannes! Johannes struggles to make his mind up about anything. He loves trying out new things, new combinations, new ideas... Half an hour before a bout, when his opponent is running final checks and making sure their punch cards are in order, he's often seen pulling one of his robots to pieces because he's had a last-minute flash of inspiration.
Johannes is the creator of Repulsor, so who knows what to expect from him during a bout?
Robot Fight Club News: We're going on a tour!
We’re gearing up for our Kickstarter launch and it’s been a mad rush trying to keep everything in order.
Last night, we did a livestream of Robot Fight Club to show you how it works! While we do have a fancy gameplay video in the works, you’ll have to deal with our phone cameras for now. We did the livestream from home and frankly, we’re astonished that we didn’t get any cat interruptions!
Robot Fight Club News: Gameplay, Part One
From the start, we were really keen to make this a game about two-on-two robot fights, with the interesting twist that each player could only control one of their robots each turn. We knew this had potential for some really fun gameplay, where you don’t know which robot your opponent’s going to activate.
Each time you sit down to play, you’ll build a team of two robots, each of which is unique and characterful with its own strengths and weaknesses, as well as a unique inbuilt weapon.
Robot Fight Club News: Visuals
Ever since James and I sat down and worked out the nuts and bolts of the game, we’ve had a really clear concept of the setting. It was one of the first things we agreed on and we’ve tried to preserve it in the style of the logo, character design and make sure it runs through the whole look of the game.
Imagine, if you will, a 50’s style future-now, with old-style robotics feel that gives it a grounded but sci-fi feeling. Influenced by things like The Jetsons, Fallout and BioShock, we wanted something that felt nostalgic but had weird and wonderful sci-fi elements.
Doing the R&D for the visuals was eye-opening and I discovered an array of incredible comics, books and film that informed the aesthetics of the game. Check out this amazing comic book series which started in the early ’60s but had a resurgence in the ’90s. Magnus, robot fighter has an amazing style to it which I really fell in love with.
What’s been even more rewarding is seeing how our graphic designer and artists have interpreted this brief in their own way. It gives the games its own look and style. It has evolved beyond the 50’s-style Forbidden Planet looking robots, into its own thing. I’m loving the direction that this game is taking and I can’t wait to see it all together!
Here’s just a small selection of the work our talented group of artists and graphic designer have created. I think it’s amazing to see the concept and final version of Beagle next to one another, plus the latest Character design, Hanna ready to go. Hanna, also the name of our graphic designer, has done an amazing job with the logo design and this is a pin badge design that will be used in the game. She used 50’s roadside diner signs as a source of inspiration for the colours and font style.