We had a lot of fun with Battle Suit Aces for our review, so I got in touch with Tom at Trinket Studios to talk a bit about the game. Come check it out!
PS4Blog: Good morning! Good to have you with us today. How’s everything going on your end?
Thanks so much for having me! Launching a game is always really stressful, but the reception from players has been so heartwarming and positive. We’re very excited to keep exploring the world of Battle Suit Aces with everyone’s feedback!
PS4B: On that note, Battle Suit Aces is now available on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation. What can you tell us about this story-driven deckbuilder in space?
Battle Suit Aces is all about characters. All your pilots are fully voiced, rich, charming people caught up in a galactic invasion. And they’re also the cards you collect and control in battle. That character-centric structure gave us the pieces to build surprising arcs and surprising battles that highlight your courageous team, synergistic factions, and daunting enemies.
PS4B: How long did it take to develop the game? Were there any particular hurdles or challenges you had to overcome during this journey?
Battle Suit Aces had a long and winding prototyping phase while we did contract work during the pandemic, but launched after about two and a half years of production.
There were a lot of seedling ideas that we played with until they started fitting together. One of the biggest ones was simply getting to the point where cards were pilots instead of actions that mechs could do or guns they could fire. Once we realized that the game should be about building decks out of dozens of fun pilots, everything started coming together.
The card system itself also took a lot of prototyping. We wanted players to be firing each Battle Suit’s weapons frequently and have it feel almost like an action game. We wanted to avoid long periods of staring at large hands of cards and instead let players focus on the board and make tactical decisions. Finding the right mix of easy-to-understand mechanics and deeper layers of command ordering was really exciting. And, of course, recording over 21 thousand lines across 25 actors was an enormous logistical challenge. The result was definitely worth it, though!
PS4B: Last time around, Battle Chef Brigade had a Kickstarter campaign with an awesome physical art book as one of its rewards – a book that is now long gone and out of print. Any plans for a Battle Suit Aces art book and MAYBE do a second print run of the aforementioned Battle Chef Brigade art book?
We’re really hopeful that we can do both since all the painstaking art is so important to us. Battle Chef Brigade’s art book came out once we’d completed the Deluxe edition and had polished every bit of art, so stay tuned!
PS4B: There was also a physical console release for Battle Chef Brigade with a limited print run. Is something like that also in the cards for Battle Suit Aces?
That’s a great question! We loved putting that physical release together. Since Battle Suit Aces is self-published (thanks, Outersloth!), I need to find the right external partner to help us through the complexities.
PS4B: Any plans to bring Orion’s Forge to the Nintendo Switch? The game would be a fun one to play in Portable Mode thanks to the console’s touchscreen, now that it’s no longer available anywhere else.
Orion’s Forge was such a fun little game. To be as kind as possible, its biggest achievement was probably teaching us a ton about puzzle design and market fit (or lack thereof). On the other hand, its sibling, Color Sheep, has been worth keeping on the mobile storefronts and still holds a special place in our hearts…
PS4B: And now it’s time for us to go. Is there something else you’d like to add?
Thanks to everyone who has jumped into the captain’s seat with Battle Suit Aces! We love all the kind messages, reviews, and content. Keep your comms open for the next big updates!
