Astro Bot: Cut Content Revealed - Bird Flight Level and Headless Astro

Fans of *Astro Bot* are familiar with the iconic sponge power-up, but did you know that developer Team Asobi also experimented with even more unusual powers, such as a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This intriguing tidbit was revealed at GDC 2025, where Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, delivered a fascinating talk titled, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". During his presentation, Doucet provided a deep dive into the development process, showcasing early prototype images and content that didn't make it into the final game.

Doucet started his talk by discussing the initial pitch for *Astro Bot*, crafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi began prototyping. He revealed that the pitch went through 23 revisions before being presented to top management. The pitch was creatively presented as an adorable comic strip, highlighting the game's main pillars and activities. This approach evidently struck a chord, leading to the project's green light.

A slide from Nicholas Doucet's GDC talk, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'", showing a comic book explanation of the game's pitch.

Doucet then explained the team's idea generation process, which involved extensive brainstorming. Team Asobi formed small groups of 5-6 people from various disciplines, who each contributed ideas on sticky notes. This method resulted in an impressive brainstorming board, as shown in one of the slides from the talk.

Another slide from the talk, showcasing sticky note brainstorms from Team Asobi.

However, not all ideas progressed to the prototyping phase. Doucet noted that only about 10% of the brainstormed concepts were actually prototyped. Prototyping was emphasized as crucial, with every team member encouraged to test their ideas, including those from non-game design departments. An example he gave was audio designers creating a theater inside *Astro Bot* to prototype haptic controller vibrations for various sound effects, such as different ways a door could open and close.

Another slide from the talk, showing a sponge prototype alongside concept art of Astro Bot becoming a sponge.

Doucet emphasized the importance of prototyping, mentioning that some programmers were dedicated to testing concepts unrelated to platforming. This approach led to the creation of the sponge mechanic, which utilized the adaptive trigger for a fun and engaging gameplay element that ultimately made it into the game.

Another slide from the talk, showing various prototype activities that were made for Astro Bot.

Doucet shared an image featuring several prototypes, including the balloon and sponge, which were incorporated into the game, alongside others like a tennis game, a walking wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder that did not make the final cut.

In the latter part of his talk, Doucet discussed how levels were chosen and designed around specific mechanics. The goal was to ensure each level offered unique gameplay, avoiding repetition. While some power-ups could be reused, Doucet stressed that their application needed to be distinct enough to keep each level feeling fresh. He showed images of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was ultimately scrapped due to its similarity to the level Go-Go Archipelago and another in *Astro's Playroom*.

"In the end, it was decided that the overlap was not healthy enough to create variety, and we just cut this level entirely," Doucet explained. "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 comes with **Spoilers** for those who haven't finished *Astro Bot*. In the original concept, players were handed a completely dismembered Astro, with no head or limbs, just the torso. This version was deemed too distressing, leading to the more intact version seen in the final game.

A clip from Doucet's presentation showing the original ending of Astro Bot.

Doucet's talk was packed with fascinating insights into the development of *Astro Bot*, a game we praised with a 9/10 in our review, 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."