Broforce

Development

Free Lives submitted Rambros as an entry in the April 2012 Ludum Dare 23 game jam, winning first prize for "fun" and receiving enough positive feedback to continue as a team project. The developers added a cooperative mode with another character, Brommando, which became the core concept of collecting bros with a "violent action movie feel". Game director Evan Greenwood's love for 1980s and 1990s action films shaped the game's aesthetics, themes, and gameplay, including traveling to outer space, fighting a dinosaur, and racing sharks.

The developers debated the inclusion of female heroes and chose not to add a "token female" or a rival female Broforce, instead making female characters part of the existing team. The game was designed as a lighthearted hyperbole of the 1980s action film genre. Greenwood noted difficulties translating the genre's remorseless violence into the 2013 climate surrounding foreign relations and human casualties, balancing a modern perspective with cultural heritage from those films.

In July 2013, Greenwood mentioned plans for a space opera with roguelike elements, Contra-style aliens, themes of Satan in big business, betrayal, and bro identity. In August 2014, a standalone expansion called The Expendabros was released, later becoming free-to-play until 31 December of that year.

Reception

Critics praised the game's destructible environments and retro appeal, with Eurogamer calling it "instantly addictive." IGN gave it an 8.8 out of 10, describing it as a "brilliant ode to action cinema and retro gaming." The Escapist awarded four and a half stars out of five, calling it a "silly, but sincere love letter to iconic action movies" with rich environments and well-crafted enemies.