Erin Robinson is very, very cool. A full-time indie game developer, Erin has been making adventure games for a number of years now. Last year, she released Nanobots, a classic adventure game that she single-handedly designed, wrote, and created the art for. The free game, featuring a lovable gang of microscopic, hilarious robots who get in and out of jams with pointing and clicking, was an indie hit. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably heard of it.

The game’s spiritual successor Puzzle Bots is coming out next year, and she sat down for an e-interview on making her first commercial title, how best to handle hint systems in adventure games, and whether or not she is a liar. Hard-hitting stuff.

Nanobots went with a very classical pixel art style that hearkened back to the look of older adventure games. Puzzle Bots, though, is going for a more contemporary lineart look. What was behind that choice?

Nanobots, in all its adorable glory.

The style of Nanobots was the result of my own artistic, um, limitations. The art is very functional but it doesn’t go far beyond that (although I did make sure to include a lot of bright colours). With Puzzle Bots, I really wanted to invest in something more professional, and thus the majority of our budget is going into the background art. Those are being drawn by illustrator and all-around nice guy John Green. The cartoony style and dark outlines serve to (hopefully) make the game look fun and accessible. It’s my job to actually *make* the game fun and accessible.

The hint system you chose to go with in Nanobots is a pretty cool one; having one character dedicated to a hint system is immensely useful to people like me who suck at adventure games and intuition. How is that handled in Puzzle Bots?

None! This story has a whole new cast of lovably incompetent humans and their robots. Those who played Nanobots will see some similarities, though. There’s still a robot that can heat things up (except now there’s a flamethrower involved), and there’s also the beefy robot who can push things. However, the other three robots all do new things, so it’s worthwhile to check out Puzzle Bots. And by check out I mean buy multiple copies of.

You mentioned last year in an interview with IndieGames.com that as far as you were concerned, the Nanobots story was “done”. New cast aside, is the Puzzle Bots story entirely separate from Nanobots? If not, why are you such a liar?

You’ve done your homework! Puzzle Bots is indeed a whole new story, which I chose to do because it’s going to be Dave’s IP. There are a couple of veiled references to Nanobots in there for the old timers, though. For instance, it comes up that one of the human characters went to “Robo Tech”, which was the fictional robot school where Nanobots took place.

The Puzzle Bots (actual size).

This time around, the game is fully voice acted. How difficult has that process been?

This game has a big cast. There are almost 15 characters that talk at some point in the game. Fortunately, Dave knows a great number of talented voice actors, so the game is also a full-on “talkie*.” Dave records all the actors from his home in NYC**, and I get to play director and choose which takes I like. It’s quite the undertaking.

*I like that word because it reminds me of Mr. Burns.

**Actually, we got Francisco Gonzales to voice the Russian guy. One word, Francisco: typecast.

Listening to the recordings doesn’t take me too long (just don’t ask how long it took me to actually write the dialog), although Dave has the fun task of importing the lines into the game, one by one. I think I owe him a soda for how many times he’s had to listen to my jokes.

You’ve worked with Dave Gilbert before on the Blackwell series. How large was his involvement in Puzzle Bots?

Working with Dave has been absolutely fantastic. I get total creative freedom when it comes to the story and the puzzles, and he only steps in once and a while to offer advice. And moral support. That’s key when it comes to making indie games.

When can we expect Puzzle Bots to be out there, and have you talked about pricing yet?

Early 2010. It’s taken me longer than I would have hoped, but the whole project has been a learning experience. As for the price point, Puzzle Bots will be comparable to the Blackwell games.

Anyways, I’m really excited with how the game is coming to life, and I hope we can get it to you soon. :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us, Erin!

Erin Robinson’s personal site: http://www.livelyivy.com/