STEEL COLOSSEUM
ROBOT WARS
Bigger and badder, we talk to designer James Hewitt about Steel Colosseum
Words by Charlie Pettit
It might age us rather specifically, but for those among us who grew up watching Robot Wars, there’s something about fighting automations that harks back both to nostalgia, and that competitive side of ourselves. What cool gadgets will emerge from their shells? Who will win, in a no-harmto-living-things battle to the death? That enjoyment is something that will seemingly be tapped into by Steel Colosseum, heading to Kickstarter in April.
“Steel Colosseum is a scrapyard arena combat game,” James Hewitt, the designer tells us. Co-founder of Needy Cat Games, and recognisable from his design work on the likes of Hellboy: The Board Game, Devil May Cry: The Bloody Palace, or even those from Blitz Bowl to Adeptus Titanicus, the designer is back in a familiar miniatures arena once again.
“Each team controls a pair of customised fighting robots, using simultaneous card selection – from an ever-dwindling Control Deck – to plan their attacks and outmanoeuvre their opponents,” explains Hewitt. As the game progresses, robots may take enough damage to be deactivated, but that’s not the end. With new armour plates hastily welded, the robot pit stop gives you time to add in a few upgrades, and then it all begins again.