Astro Bot's Cut Content: Bird Flight Level and Headless Astro Revealed

Astro Bot enthusiasts are familiar with the story behind the creation of the sponge power-up, but did you know that Team Asobi, the game's developers, also experimented with even more unconventional powers like a coffee grinder and a roulette wheel? This fascinating insight was revealed during IGN's attendance at GDC 2025, where Team Asobi's studio director, Nicolas Doucet, delivered an in-depth talk titled, "The Making of 'ASTRO BOT'". In his presentation, Doucet shared a wealth of early prototype images and cut content, providing a comprehensive look at the game's development journey.

Doucet kicked off his talk by discussing the initial pitch for Astro Bot, which was drafted in May 2021, shortly after Team Asobi began its prototyping phase. The pitch underwent a staggering 23 revisions before being presented to top management. It was uniquely pitched as an adorable comic strip that outlined the main pillars and activities of the game, which evidently struck a chord and paved the way for its success.

Moving on, Doucet delved into how the team generated ideas, emphasizing the importance of extensive brainstorming. Team Asobi formed small groups of 5-6 people from various disciplines, who then contributed their ideas on individual sticky notes. This process resulted in an impressive brainstorming board, showcasing the creativity and collaborative spirit of the team.

However, not all ideas progressed to the prototyping stage. Doucet noted that only about 10% of their brainstorms were actually prototyped, yet this still amounted to a significant number of prototypes. He stressed the importance of prototyping across all departments, including an example where audio designers created a theater within Astro Bot to experiment with haptic controller vibrations corresponding to different sound effects, such as the various ways a door could open and close.

Prototyping was a cornerstone of Astro Bot's development, with some programmers dedicated solely to prototyping non-platforming elements. This approach led to the creation of Astro Bot's sponge mechanic, which utilized the adaptive trigger for a fun and engaging gameplay experience.

Doucet shared an image showcasing a variety of prototypes, including those that made it into the game, like the balloon and sponge, and others that didn't, such as a tennis game, a walking wind-up toy, a roulette wheel, and a coffee grinder.

Later in the talk, Doucet discussed the selection and design of levels around specific mechanics. The goal was to ensure each level offered unique gameplay and avoided feeling repetitive. While the same power-up could be used in multiple levels, its expression had to be distinct enough to maintain the level's uniqueness. Doucet illustrated this with examples of a cut level themed around bird flights, which was deemed too similar to existing levels using Astro Bot's monkey power-up.

"In the end, it was decided that the overlap was not healthy enough to create variety, and we just cut this level entirely," he said. "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."

Doucet concluded his talk by discussing the game's final scene, which contains **spoilers** for those who haven't completed Astro Bot. In the original ending, players were presented with a completely dismembered Astro Bot, which was later changed to a more intact version due to player feedback.

Doucet's talk was filled with intriguing details about the development of Astro Bot, a game that IGN awarded a 9/10 in our review, praising 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."