Creator of Chibi-Robo, koROBO director
When did koROBO enter development?
We have not started development yet. We are crowdfunding on Kickstarter and CAMPFIRE to raise funds in order to develop koROBO.
In a recent Kickstarter update, it was made explicit that koROBO was designed to be “plain” and “uncool”. Is this just because koROBO is supposed to be a knock-off, or does it go deeper than that?
I think mainstream, hit products are often sophisticated and cool. However, I personally have already grown attached to koROBO and see it as a “buddy” with a human touch, rather than “plain” and “uncool. I designed the navel power switch with the concept of an uncool, tacky, human-like navel, but I think it will start to look lovable.
Will koROBO have any side-kick similar to Telly Vision?
We are considering having a sidekick character, but I cannot give a definitive answer yet.
It all comes down to funding. I think we’ll most likely see one based on fan demand, but the scope of these kinds of things are determined by the Kickstarter, which did pretty well, and of course you can still support it now.
koROBO is described as a knock-off… Does this mean koROBO takes place in the same universe as who I think it does?
It’s not a knock-off robot necessarily, but a robot that Tom gets as a birthday gift. That reference was just a coincidence, as koROBO takes place in its own world, completely separate from Chibi-Robo.
How large are you looking to make the cast of characters in the game, and how in depth do you intend to be with those characters’ schedules? (day/night patterns, etc.)
Currently, the minimum character count is five. But the rest depends on the funding for development. (My initial idea is about 20 characters.)
Games a lot of the team were involved in such as ‘Moon RPG’, ‘Giftpia’, ‘Captain Rainbow’, etc, feature concepts such as happy points, fixing peoples’ lives, or following characters through a day/night cycle. What keeps you returning to these ideas, and are you worried you’ll run out of new ways to approach them?
The reason I continue to use these concepts is because I believe that people and the world change over time and space, and I want players to feel that. After getting to know the superficial side of something, wouldn’t it be more profound to see the face behind the scenes?
How will nighttime work since koROBO is solar powered?
It uses solar to charge but is battery powered, so to some extent it can run at night on a daytime charge…. But I am sure that Tom will make some magical modifications to koROBO so that it can use various types of energy, so it can be very active at night and in other places as well.
In a hypothetical world, in the future, would the team work on Chibi-Robo again if given the opportunity?
I don’t know about the rest of the team, but I personally don’t think so. However, I would be willing to consider it if the opportunity came up.
When working at Skip / Vanpool, what was it like working as a second party game studio for Nintendo? How much would you say the environment has changed compared to now working independently?
I learned a lot of life lessons. I have a lot of good memories and I am full of gratitude, but it was too much for me at that time. I did become independent and gained freedom, but on the other hand, I still think about what a friend of mine once said: “There is nothing more inconvenient than freedom.”
This is really interesting to me. Of course there are going to be good memories, but it is definitely challenging especially since he was the co-founder and he has stated before that he felt that working on large projects with a large group of people limited his freedom in designing games. From what I’ve seen, that sentiment seems to be true all around.
What led to developing koROBO as a PC game first, with a console port as a stretch goal, rather than focusing solely on a console release?
We intend to make koROBO for console users, but I am sure there will be many business-related matters to address. Until that day comes, please support us!
“May the koROBO be with you.”
Tiny Wonder Studio:
Website: http://www.korobo.love/
Twitter/X: https://x.com/TinyWonder_game
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@koROBO-game
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinywonder_game
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