Bubble Blast Is a Robot Fighting Game That You Can Build Yourself

Robot battles are a fun way to play a game in the real world, unlike video games that are purely virtual. But, traditional BattleBots-style fights are expensive. The robots themselves are complex, robust, and take a lot of time to build. And, the fighting itself is destructive—so each individual battle costs real money.

To make the fun of robot combat more accessible, Niklas Roy created Bubble Blast. The gameplay should be familiar to fans of the Mario Kart series: two small robots move around with balloons attached to them. On the front of the robot body a needle is mounted, and players attempt to pop their opponent’s balloon before their own is popped.

Roy created the first version of Bubble Blast while in Tunis for a residency with Eniarof—a sort of collective for creating artistic DIY projects. While the original version wasn’t super refined, it was very popular with players. So, when Roy got back home to Berlin, he set out to create a new and improved Bubble Blast.

The new version has the same gameplay, but with higher quality parts. The robots themselves have 3D-printed bodies, and a purpose-built drive system built around an Arduino Nano. Control is handled with a pair of trackballs made from acrylic juggling balls, and which also uses a Nano. Best of all, Roy has made all of the parts and code available, so you can build your own Bubble Blast!