Big Adventure Team Breaks Down ‘Dream Team Supreme’ Gameplay

Much like the world of comic books, the world of kaiju-centric video games has seemingly exploded in the past few years. Encompassing various genres, styles, and ways to play, there’s something out there for just about anyone, whether they’re a dedicated, hardcore gamer, or just a casual that likes to play on road trips. The latest kaiju release on our radar, Dream Team Supreme from developers Big Adventure, is a roguelike deckbuilder similar to games such as Slay the Spire, but with a vibrant, tokusatsu-inspired presentation woven throughout. This week, Kaiju United had the opportunity to digitally correspond with Big Adventure Founder Oliver Chrun, along with developers Sami Habib, Freddie Hottinger, and Tom Lewis, and discuss the game’s mechanics, some of the kaiju influences the game wears on its sleeve, and what fans can expect next.

Kaiju United: What kind of kaiju media influenced the visual style of Dream Team Supreme?

Oliver Chrun: It was important for us to be bright and bold to keep the tone lighthearted and the stress low despite the high stakes. Too many games in the genre are grimdark and that takes some of the fun away. At first, we wanted it to feel nostalgic like 80’s/90’s cartoons do. Later on, we aimed for a style that looked like we could make cool action figures out of it.

We took a lot of inspiration for Kaiju from the Showa era Godzilla movies and Ultraman series. The monsters then were just the right combination of larger than life and goofy in a way that is fun and appealing. Our scientist designs were influenced by early Power Rangers, 80’s Voltron, Kamen Riders, and Beetleborgs. Those costumes resonated with us and gave their teams strong identities. Super Supreme itself takes inspiration from Megazord, Voltron, Mazinger, and Gundam. I’m sure there are so many more influences to the visual style that I haven’t mentioned either.

KU: For those kaiju fans who are unfamiliar with what a roguelike deckbuilder is and are interested in checking out the game, what is a roguelike deckbuilder?

OC: A roguelike deckbuilder is a type of game where you use your deck of cards or in our case, cartridges, to do battle. Each cart performs a specific action and battles require playing your carts strategically to defeat your opponent. Then you get to stack your deck a bit before the next battle! There’s a lot of fun in the short term tactics of battles and long term strategy of making your decks stronger in different ways.

The roguelike element of the game really boils down to three things, the scenario is different every time you play (which monsters you face, which locations you can visit), you auto-save after each decision (confident in victory, confident in defeat haha), and when you lose, your next run starts from the beginning. A typical run is under an hour, and these design decisions encourage you to be brave, to jump in head first and try different things.

KU: Are there plans to add art to the cards?  

OC: We would love to. Especially to make it easier to distinguish carts from each other when you draw a lot of them. There’s a big hurdle in the way of splashy art on carts and that’s the dual-sided carts. Because they can be played above or below the sequence and act differently based on where they are slotted, it makes it very difficult to reserve a space for cart art without sacrificing a lot of readability. I think we’re going to try simple drawings on the backing as the next step to further distinguish carts.

KU: Will there be a kind of soft progression in storytelling like Hades, or is this a purely gameplay experience?

OC: As a roguelike deckbuilder, Dream Team Supreme leans more into the gameplay experience of “just one more run”. The story primarily serves to place the players into the context of the game. To better set up the premise, we’re going to expand the lore around the scientists, monsters, and where the monsters come from. Expect it to be soft and hands off, in the sense that story beats will come only when players are looking for it.

KU: What was the inspiration for having two decks to spice up play style?  

OC: When we were thinking about what would make our roguelike deckbuilder different, we played some co-op card games. They were a ton of fun yet we could not shake the feeling that it was missing a little something. It felt like we had the same goal, but we were individuals working independently more often than as a team. We designed Dream Team Supreme to feel like “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” from the ground up. When you’re playing co-op, you have to talk to each other, and when you’re playing solo, you manage how the team collaborates in each sequence. That early decision was the foundation for the two decks working together on the same sequence, and even set the stage for the theme of piloting a giant robot together vs. kaiju!

KU: Are the devs excited for (or planning for) a speedrunning community to latch onto the game at all?

OC: Many updates ago, we made speedrunning more enjoyable by streamlining the numbers of inputs players have to press to progress and made it possible by saving how long playthroughs take. Players will be able to compare their best times to see who’s the fastest. Last week, I beat a run in the demo in 14 minutes, 32 seconds. It’s my personal best, but I’m sure it can be topped because I took a minute to show Tom the decks that I was building up. I’m throwing down the gauntlet. I’m pumped for someone to step up and beat my time.

KU: In the full game, will the mecha get redesigns based on specific pilots’ personalities, or will it be the one robot across all game modes?

OC: Super Supreme is designed to look and feel like an action figure. While pilots will greatly influence the deckbuilding and modding for Super Supreme, the classic look will persist across the game.

KU: What about kaiju stories do you think works well for a roguelike deckbuilder?

OC: Kaiju movies require viewers to suspend disbelief for a couple of hours and just have fun. The monsters are larger than life. When they show up, you don’t need to spell things out. The target is the monster the size of the Eiffel Tower and it’s staring right at you haha. We can be so creative with what monsters are, what they represent, and how they act, that we will never run out of ideas for new kaiju to invade the world. In a game designed to be endlessly replayable, it is priceless to be able to frame the battles kind of like facing the monster of the week.

OC (cont.): Then on the flip side, it’s so often that teamwork between the heroes plays a huge part in saving the day. That’s a perfect thematic fit for a team of scientists who pilot Super Supreme.

Kaiju United: What is everyone who is working on the game’s favorite in-game Kaiju so far?

Olivier: “I’m a huge fan of Ramen. I love its egg eye, its shaggy hair, its slimy bowl, and its long floppy noodle arms. I love soups and getting one into the game is a real personal highlight.”

Sami: “My favorite monster in Dream Team Supreme is definitely Octavio. From the moment of his inception, the moustache and champion belt had such a goofy vibe and is a perfect fit for the game.”

Freddie: As for my favorite monster that I’ve created in the game, it’s Zaptar. This massive lizard draws inspiration from some of my beloved childhood movies and shows like Jurassic Park, Power Rangers, and Captain Planet, all mixed together into this vibrant Kaiju.

Tom: “Gridlock, I enjoy the connection between changing lights and monster behavior. Plus it has the absurdity of such a mundane object becoming a city destroying mech, similar to why I like Mothra, I suppose.”

Kaiju United: Just for fun… what is your favorite kaiju in pop culture?

Olivier: I’ve been fascinated by the Giant Squid ever since I saw 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a kid. I love exploring underwater reefs and beaches. The thought of being in such a wonderful world, so different from my usual environment, has always appealed to me. A monster that could have very well existed just makes my mind escape into all the possibilities of encountering it hahaha and studying it.

Sami: Not a very traditional choice, but I would call my favourite kaiju Shenron from Dragon Ball. Even though he doesn’t go around destroying cities, his size is definitely in kaiju territory and his potential power is too. He’s also an extremely iconic figure for anybody who has watched the series growing up, myself included.

Freddie: My all-time favorite Kaiju has to be the iconic 1974 Mechagodzilla. I first saw it when I was a kid, right around the time I got into Power Rangers. Its design is such a classic, with a person in a suit that has pretty limited movement, which I find really amusing. And hey, it’s a robot!!

Tom: Mothra. I love that it’s such a bizarre direction to go for extending Godzilla and pals.

The demo for Dream Team Supreme is now available to play on Steam. To follow the latest updates from developer Big Adventure, we encourage you to follow their social media channels and join their Discord server. There is not a publicly available wide release date at this time, but keep your eyes out on social media for the chance to get your hands on the game.