Ladies, Gentlemen, and all Rockers in between, the world as we knew it is coming to an end. In the next one hundred years, we could see the Earth on fire, global conquest, or a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Yes, these are all very dramatic examples but you never know what might happen. One day can be sunshine and picnics and the next could be foggy and overcast with radiation being emitted from a giant cloud. So prepare for a dystopian future with Cyberpunk 2077, Idiocracy, Madmax, and soon the TTG Dustbiters. Prepare to learn more about the upcoming game with our Dustbiters interview from Andrew Peggs.
Assemble a fleet of cars to race against the clock and takedown opposing gangs. In Dustbiters, the player will draft a roster of cars, each with its own unique abilities. A player wins by either eliminating their competition or having the last car standing. Will you survive the perils of the open road or will a dust storm take you away? Dustbiters still has 40+ hours to go on its Kickstarter crowdfund but has exceeded its goals significantly. Here is a link if you want your chance to back the Dustbiters Kickstarter before it’s too late. Now let’s move onto the Dustbiters interview!
Interview
1. With those just learning about Dustbiters, how did the game come to be? In the past year, a lot of people have had time to think of ways to pass time during lock-downs. Was this one of those games, where everyone being part of this had an idea?
Robbie: The story of Dustbiters actually begins much earlier than that. Way back in the before times – the distant year of 2016! JW and I were roadtripping together through Mozambique and it just sort of happened one evening. We came up with the basic mechanics and knew we were onto something straight away. Terri had previously mentioned to JW that he would love to do art for a card game so I think it was on his mind. I guess that’s what happens when game designers go on a trip without electronics, they design card games!
It took another five years of iteration after that. The three of us are split across three continents so we worked on the game rather sporadically. We took it slowly and enjoyed the process.
2. While meant for a 2 player game to last around 15 minutes. Will you be adding more cards with more funds being raised? At this time of writing, it has 23 days to go with being fully funded already. Personally, I would like to see cards that feature callbacks to some of the creators of the games being part of this.
JW: Having worked on Dustbiters over the past years, we’ve really mostly been reducing it down to the most streamlined, fun and varied experience. These 21 cars are hand-picked and hand-crafted through many playtests and result in really great quick Mad Max-style matches. Adding more to that feels like it’d actually make the game worse, so we’re keeping our focus. Dustbiters is just right as it is. That said, if you do want more cards: we still have ⅖ CUSTOM SHOP tiers left where people can get their very own exclusive card drawn, designed & shipped to them.
Robbie: While some people see more cards as a sign of more value, I don’t think it necessarily makes the game better. In fact, we worked really hard to try and remove all the cards that weren’t the best ones. If you leave only the most interesting, fun and balanced cards – the average quality of each game played goes up. Plus, a smaller deck makes for shorter games, which fits our vision nicely. It would be really hard to design new cards that work as well as the ones we have now – trust me, we’ve tried a lot of ideas!
3. Your game seems to have a wonderfully eclectic art style, reminiscent of a 90s MTV cartoon. Tell us more about that style and what kind of atmosphere you hope to display. What got you to go into a board game as opposed to remaining in video games?
Terri: We wanted to find the right vibe; with the theme it could be easy to make it too violent or too soft, losing its edge. With the right balance, the characters would seem like they’re having fun instead of fighting for their lives. Each car is really unique in mechanics, and the visuals also had to support that.
Personally, I find that there is a lot that can carry over from videogames to board games and it can feel really refreshing to dip your toes in another medium.
4. Will you be releasing any possible future content for the game? Maybe a means to make it up to 4 players and a longer play-thru time?
JW: Never say never! We’re actually really curious what kind of house rules our players are going to come up with – who knows, maybe there’s a fun 4 player variant or solitaire version out there! That said, we do think Dustbiters fits perfectly in that quick 15-minute window, where you can play a few matches in a row, or play it in between larger, heavier games at your local board game nights as a refresher.
5. With the ongoing happenings of the world. Did this help with the creation of Dustbiters and bring up ideas for the game?
Terri: Though a lot of the game was made before the most current world issues, it did become clear in our heads that we had to be careful with the post-apocalyptic themes. We want players to have fun and maybe forget about the real world for a moment, not the opposite.
Robbie: Whilst “post-apocalyptic” describes the aesthetic of the game and is a useful touchstone – thematically speaking – we’ve tried to steer away from that where possible. Dustbiters happens on the outskirts of society – that is to say that society still exists. And the drivers are there because they want to be. They’re happy. It’s like sport.
Interview Continued
6. Your team consists of people who worked on remarkably violent and explicit material, such as Gorn and Genital Jousting and more. Are there lessons and skills that you learned from those games that are being applied to Dustbiters? Like what?
Terri: No, we don’t learn things.
JW: In fact, someone told us the box was looking too scary. It has spikes! And a skull! Beware kids, your parents might not approve.
Robbie: I’ll take the blame for adding all those appalling credits to the list! In all seriousness though, those games are multi-year projects made by amazing teams of people. And every team and project teaches you new things. I like to think the variety of games we’ve worked on shows our flexibility and creativity. Genital Jousting is actually something I’m personally very proud of, and was a huge learning experience for me both as a person and as a designer.
JW: Yeah, everyone should play Genital Jousting. It’s not just what you’d expect!
7. The Kickstarter described car classes like a Mind Manipulator. Explain to us that class and others like it.
JW: The Mind Manipulator is very dangerous. It allows you to use your opponent’s car powers as if that car was yours! So they might think they’re mighty smart putting a Mortar Bus (which destroys the car two spaces ahead) in the convoy, but if you can get it in the right position, your Mind Manipulator can use it against them! Dustbiters is filled with tricky cards like this, like the Necromancer, which is identical to the car on top of the Scrap Heap (destroyed cars). Now imagine the scrap heap top car being a Mind Manipulator; now your Necromancer can use it to trigger that Mortar Bus! And now the Necromancer is whatever car just got destroyed! So while Dustbiters is a game with simple rules, the cars, the convoy, and their order allow for infinite strategies.
8. As someone who goes to conventions (when that was a thing), will you be expecting to bring this game – even if it’s a prototype version – to events like PAX Unplugged or future PAX events?
JW: We’re three developers from three different continents, and none of us are based in the US. PAX and similar events might have to wait a while still, unfortunately.
9. While creating this game with everyone, what has been the most enjoyable part? Any memorable moments that had you going, WE NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN?! If so, can you elaborate on them?
Robbie: Too many to choose from! It’s a cop-out answer, but honestly the whole thing has felt like an absolute dream collaboration to me. I’ve also really enjoyed the pace of development too. It was deliberately low pressure. When you work on video games all day, it’s nice to have something different on the backburner. A side project that utilizes all your skills – but doesn’t stress you out.
JW: Also it’s incredible to be able to fix bugs with a sharpie!
10. Where can our readers learn more about the game and find you all on social media? This includes all of those being part of the tabletop game.
You can find everything you need (including a video with Tim Schafer’s head exploding) right on our Kickstarter page: www.dustbiters.com
Special Thanks
We want to thank Jan Willem Nijman (JW), Robbie Fraser, and Terri Vellmann for taking the time to answer our questions. No Tim Schafers were harmed during this interview. Will you back the Dustbiters Kickstarter?
