A cooperative story-driven family board game for 2 – 5 players. Each player takes on the role of one of six robots – Rusties and they begin their adventure full of danger, clashes with opponents, and tough choices.
Prologue
The invention of the Heart led to sparking life in machines. The era of renaissance started and robots with Hearts helped people in every aspect of their lives. However, after some time the clashes started. The robots acquired humanity with all that is attached to it. Including wishes and dreams. They didn’t want to only follow orders as people were used to.
Clashes and distrust cast out the robots with Hearts. People got back to cold, strictly mechanical machines that did exactly what they were told. However, when people found out they needed the robots with the Hearts back it was too late. The outcasts chose to live in refuge rather than go back. Also, the secrets of how to create a new Heart were lost.
Will you and your company persevere in such world?
About the board game
The story
For several weeks Rusties shelter themselves from a massive storm that cut off their home island from the rest of the world. Suddenly, an unexpected cryptic message and a concern for a dear friend start their epic adventure. They are compelled to leave their hideout and face the dangers of the world they used to live in.
The players will find out what happened during the storm and uncover the secrets of a complex world where not everything is black and white.
The running time will be just one of their many opponents. Kids and adults will face difficult moral decisions that have neither a good nor a bad answer. The decisions have an impact on the game, story, and characters in it. Nail-biting encounters with opponents will require players to help each other and take advantage of their unique skills.
Players will journey through interesting places of Rusties’ home island in one continuous story where each map in Atlas is a short chapter. The damage their Rusties suffer and the improvements they make players carry over for the entire story.
Meet the characters
Angela
Angela is very agile despite her broken wings. She can quickly get to places others have a hard time getting to. Although she is not very strong she can hit and run as she outpaces many opponents.
Nomád
Nomád is the oldest of your company. He learned one trick or two over the years and is very versatile and skilled in using the environment to his advantage.
Whisperine
Whisperine is incredible in stealth. Her hacking skills enable her to disable opponents or turn opponents to fight each other instead. She can turn a tide during combat in situations that look lost.
Tank
Tank is heavy and slow. His thick armor makes him extremely durable. He can easily defend himself and others in the company or hold opponents to cover his friends backs.
Fairy
Fairy is a great support for the rest of the team. She is great at repairing others and making sure they are ready for the next challenge. She is good with all stuff technical.
Fist
Fist is super strong and quite agile often leading the charge. Given that he has weak spots here and there it is always better to give him an extra cover.
Main features
No app
The board game does not require an app for play. Our goal is to keep players away from screens and close to each other.
Fast setup and tear down
We payed special attention to enable very fast setup and tear down of the game. So decision to start another session should be easy to do. You can also easily save the game at the end of each map in Atlas. It is easy to find the right play time for both very young adventurers and older adventurers.
Adjustable difficulty
You can choose from three difficulties from story-focused for young adventurers to nerve-wracking for more experienced players. You can change difficulty after finishing each map. You do not have to be afraid to chose wrongly at the beginning and suffer from boredom or despair for the rest of your adventure.
Just one player needs to read
Do you have young adventurers who are yet to start elementary school but are interested in playing? Only one of the players needs to know how to read. Every component uses a limited set of simple icons that tell at a glance what each character can do.
Faq
When is the release date for Rusties?
Rusties are still in a very early stage of development so take this with a grain of salt. The expected release date is summer/autumn 2025. Our goal is to launch a crowdfunding campaign in Oct 2024 coinciding with Essen Spiel to gather pre-orders and get funding for the last stretch of the development such as localizations, finalization of artwork, and working with manufacturers.
What languages will be available?
We plan to have English and Czech (our native language) versions for sure. We strongly consider including German in the initial release. Availability in other languages will depend on demand and may come later. We will certainly try to gather more information on possible demand during our crowdfunding campaign.
Are you looking for testers?
Not at this moment. However, if you are still eager to help us with testing in the future, please talk to us at our Discord.
To learn more about the authors, please read here :).
