Voltron’s Transformation

After Brent’s quest to bring Voltron over to Monsterpocalypse, the responsibility fell to Erik, Michael, and I to bring the characters of Voltron to life within the context of the Monsterpocalypse game.

As noted last week, we really wanted the Voltron game to be accessible to new players, so we decided to trim down which sorts of abilities the morphers, metamorphs, and units of Voltron would have. Out of Actions, Advantages, Triggers, Reactions, and Skills, we chose to hone in on the Triggers and Skills, the two most plentiful ability types. We also chose to forego granted abilities (those that appear red or blue on Monsterpocalypse figures). These choices made it easier to craft an easy-to-learn rulebook while leaving us with plenty of ability options to give the Lions and Robeasts.

Since the Voltron game would move away from city-smashing and take the fight into space, the next decision was an easy one. All Voltron figures gained the Flight Skill. This was a logical thematic choice, but it also allowed certain additional simplifications in the rulebook.

From there, we fleshed out the Voltron figures with all sorts of juicy Skills and Triggers – Explosion, Motivator, Power Gorge, Quick, Radial Attack, and more. We gave each of the morphers a slightly different niche within the overall game play elements of the monster and made the monster ultra forms capable of really dishing out damage. The lack of some of the trickier ability types left plenty of room for raw beat down potential. Even the relatively simple Galactic Garrison Cruisers and Skull Ships demonstrate this efficiency flavored with the organized fleet tactics of the Galactic Garrison versus the raider strike force feel of the nefarious Skull Ships.

Once the basics of the figures, rules, and maps were in place, playtesting could begin in earnest. Early on in the playtest process, Voltron included asteroids that functioned somewhat akin to buildings in Monsterpocalypse. Playtesting, development discussions, and production input led us to consider a new spin for Voltron – map-based terrain rather than building-based terrain. After much discussion, we ultimately decided to go with two unique maps each offering a very different game play experience. The shift to Power Crystals for powering up and stellar bodies for collision damage worked out perfectly to capture the feel of Voltron and the feel of Monsterpocalypse simultaneously.

Michael previewed the Solar Conflict map a few months ago. This map centers quite literally around the supernova terrain feature. This brutal map element can cause two collision damage to an enemy monster smashed into it and can cause even more damage if they don’t move quickly away from the star’s burning plasma.

The other Voltron map has a very different theme from Solar Conflict, a theme that we are certain to more fully explore in a future MonsterInsider blog entry.

Until next time!

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