In an industry where bigger often seems better, Astro Bot director Nicolas Doucet offered a different perspective at GDC 2025: “It’s okay to make a small game.”
Speaking to a packed audience during his talk “The Making of Astro Bot,” Doucet emphasized that smaller-scale projects can be more focused, more enjoyable to build, and more digestible for players. His message comes at a time when game budgets and timelines continue to balloon across the board.
Quality Over Quantity: The Team Asobi Way
Doucet shared a photo of Team Asobi’s internal handbook, which highlights the studio’s core belief: “We aim for quality, not quantity.” This principle guided the development of Astro Bot, resulting in a polished experience rather than an overstuffed one.
He compared the game’s design philosophy to creating a Michelin-star dish — refined, satisfying, and built with intention. According to him, compact games are easier to finish, increasing the odds that players will actually see the end credits. That’s a win in today’s content-saturated market.
“A complete experience — even if it’s 8 or 12 hours — is better than something bloated,” Doucet said. “We aimed for consistently high quality, even if that meant doing less.”
Embracing Limitations to Unlock Creativity
Doucet acknowledged that trimming scope isn’t easy. Early in development, the team at Team Asobi debated whether a smaller title would meet expectations. But in the end, sticking to a tighter vision allowed for quicker iteration and sharper ideas.
Development of Astro Bot took just over three and a half years — only half a year longer than planned. The team managed to stay on budget by stretching the timeline slightly rather than expanding headcount.
This minimalist approach extended to gameplay itself. While the DualSense controller offers 18 possible inputs, Team Asobi intentionally limited themselves to just a few. Contextual actions, short and long presses, and intuitive interactions helped keep controls accessible.
Even individual features were simplified. In one level, the player controls a sponge-like Astro Bot that changes size. Originally, there were three size modes — small, medium, and large — but the medium form was dropped after playtesting proved it confused players.
“Game designers always assume that more is better,” Doucet said. “But sometimes it’s just unnecessary noise.”
Design for Everyone — Even Drop-In Players
Characters like Aloy and Kratos were adapted for Astro Bot’s streamlined mechanics. Aloy’s slow-motion effect activates automatically when aiming with a bow, unlike in Horizon. Kratos’ axe can be thrown and retrieved with a single button, a simpler take on God of War’s system.
The team’s mantra of simplicity even influenced storytelling. The game contains fewer than 5,000 words of text and only 12.5 minutes of cutscenes. Players are actively engaged roughly 98% of the time.
This stripped-down design had an unintended benefit: the game is easier to share. Since there’s no skill tree and each mechanic is self-contained, a friend can pick up the controller mid-game and still enjoy a meaningful experience.
The Power of Small
Doucet believes that choosing simplicity in today’s AAA-focused world can feel like going against the grain. But there’s value in carving out your own space — even if it’s not at the center of the spotlight.
“You don’t always have to be at the loudest party on the beach,” he said. “Sometimes the quiet picnic is where the best memories are made.”
While some might view Astro Bot as modest — short runtime, small team, no open world, and minimal dialogue — Doucet argues that it’s those exact decisions that made the game resonate.
“We didn’t need to shout to be heard. We just needed to make something joyful — and that’s exactly what we did.”
