Review Fix Exclusive: Inside ‘Clone Drone in the Danger Zone’

Review Fix chats with Erik Rydeman, the creator of’ ‘Clone Drone in the Danger Zone‘ and the owner of Doborog, who discusses the nifty robot fighting game and why it’s a must-play this holiday season, as well as the game’s new Twitch mode.

About Clone Drone in the Danger Zone’:

Clone Drone in the Danger Zone is an indie third-person arena sword fighter that puts your mind inside a robot gladiator. Your former body has been vaporized. Your sword is sharp. Lose a fight and your consciousness will be deleted forever. Do not resist the invasion. There is no escape. HUMAN, DO NOT TRY TO ESCAPE!

For more on the game, click here.

Review Fix: When did the initial idea for this game come to you?

Erik Rydeman: I had been working with Voxels in other game projects, and really liked how you could change the shape of a 3d model while the game was running.

I started playing around with setting up models that could be cut apart by swords, and the rest of the game grew around this mechanic. I wanted to simulate what happens when limbs get cut off, which led me down the path of robots, since humans normally just die when that happens.

Review Fix: What games inspired this one?

Rydeman: The main inspiration for the gameplay is without a doubt the Jedi Knight series from the 90s/early 2000s. The swordplay in those games was all about acrobatic movement and timing.

I also did some research into what people consider to be the most awesome sword fighting games, and kicking things in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic came up a lot. I decided that kicking things into saw blades would be an awesome addition to the arena style combat of Clone Drone.

Many rogue-like games inspired the round-based design, but Hopilite stands out especially. It does a great job of presenting you with essentially the same challenge, but letting you experiment with different upgrade branches to overcome it.

Review Fix: Why do people love robots?

Rydeman: I think it’s that they think differently. It’s hilarious to observe a sentient robot disregard ethics and politeness in favor of logic. It’s terrifying to consider a machine that is programmed to kill you and cannot be swayed by arguments or an appeal to compassion.

Review Fix: How will Twitch’s involvement change the game?

Rydeman: Twitch adds an interesting layer on top of the normal game. Being able to bet on how the player will die gives the audience a stake in what’s happening. Being able to spawn enemies or help the player is a fun way to insert the audience into the experience.

For the audience, it’s a game in itself, trying to guess the outcome and manipulate the game to make their goal come true. They’re acting out of self-interest (winning bets), which I think will make them care about the results beyond the entertainment value of seeing what happens.

The other way it changes the game is making it a lot more lively! Emojis typed into the chat actually make a sound in the game and appear in the robot audience. It’s amazing hearing ENCOURAGEMENT CUBE! shouted from the bleachers as you’re in the middle of an intense fight.

Review Fix: What has development been like?

Rydeman: Development was an orderly eight-hour workday, nicely planned affair. Right until the time that the game launched.

The game saw an explosive early growth fueled by YouTubers. The strong interest in the game has created a lot of pressure to deliver an amazing addition with each update to keep the interest and momentum going.

The development speed is likely to remain very intense for a long time to come, but we’re doing our best to rest when we can along the way.

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy this game the most?

Rydeman: Fans of First Person Shooters and Swords will find much to like in this game.

That said, we’ve tried to keep the barrier to entry very low from a usability point of view. We’ve seen people that normally don’t play these types of games have a great time playing it.

“Easy to learn, hard to master” is the aspiration.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone play this game?

Rydeman: It’s good practice in case robots enslave humanity in the future. It has a positive message of defiance in the face of overwhelming odds.

Review Fix: How do you want this game to be remembered?

Rydeman: “In my day we played games on computers. There was a game called Clone Drone in the Danger Zone (yes that was the name!) that had some amazing sword fighting. I haven’t played anything like it since.”

Review Fix: What’s next?

Rydeman: We just launched Twitch Mode, and it has seen an enthusiastic reception from small streamers. It would be amazing to see if we can make the Twitch audience grow! There is a seed of something awesome there.

Other than that, the Steam release is the big target on the horizon. The January update will continue the game’s Story Mode and coincide with Steam Greenlight.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Rydeman: If you have a 10-year old nephew I know of an amazing Christmas present that’s available on itch.io for only $10!