We often get asked: “What kind of games are you looking for?”
Well, we’ve posted our updated guidelines on the AEG Designer Portal, but I think the best way to understand what we want is to give real-world examples.
First up: Into the Machine.
And yes, the timing of this article is no accident. We also want players to know why we love this game.
What Got It Through the Door
Back before online pitching was a thing, we’d sit through hours of pitch sessions in 10×10 rooms at shows like Essen. The same process as now, just a lot more pressure. Over the years, we became friends with designers who pitched in those trenches, and we’ll always take their pitches because we’ve walked that road together.
We’ve seen several pitches from Kasper Lapp over the years, but this one really connected with our team, and it earned a spot in our play rotation.
Playing it confirmed what our gut told us after the pitch. This game nailed a few of our biggest asks:
- Replayability
- Tension during turn
- Fun moments that happen over and over
- That “let’s go again” feeling
It’s the kind of game that sticks with you. You finish and immediately start thinking about what you could have done better, and for us, that’s gold.
The Hook
Was it perfect from the start? No. It was another race game, and we weren’t sure the world needed another robot-themed game.
What really sold us was the worker placement system and how you upgrade your workers. This worker placement is combo-driven, flexible, and brilliantly interactive. You’re never blocked, but if you want to use a space someone else is on, you’ll need to pay one more.
Your robots race in the machine, and that is how you win, but taking some of them out of the machine is how you upgrade your pit crew for worker placement actions. The more powerful the pit crew, the more options you have as a player.
But spend too much time upgrading your crew, and someone may win the race with a lesser work force.
This game got the dev team buzzing. Suddenly, everyone was tossing around ideas:
“What if we added junction terminals?”
“What if you could reverse course mid-race?”
“What if…?”
That kind of creative spark is rare, and always worth following.
Development: A Whole Lot of Love
Like most AEG games, Into the Machine spent a lot of time in development. We tested, tweaked, and stress-tested again.
The back-and-forth race loop? Originally just an alternate idea until it turned out to be the best idea.
We answered one of those “what if” questions by adding terminal junctions, refining iconography, and tightening timing windows.
But through all that, a few things never changed:
- The core engine of the game
- The racing heartbeat
- And the name Into the Machine was too good to let go. It fits like a bolt in a socket.
We even considered changing the theme… but the more we played, the more we realized:
“Nope. This is a robot racing game, and one of the core loops is literally putting robots into the machine. A lot of the game’s strategy lives in knowing when to take them out.”
Why It Fits AEG
Is Into the Machine strategic? Absolutely.
Was it a perfectly timed, strategic acquisition? Not exactly.
We signed it because we loved it. Because it was fun. Because it made us want to play again. And again. And again.
So why now? Why the “Into the Fun Factory” Kickstarter?
Because this game just felt right for this launch. It’s packed with replayability, has a bold hook, and it fits the spirit of a campaign designed to deliver expansions, reprints, and fun-first to our customers.
Working with Kasper
Working with Kasper has been everything you’d want in a creative partnership. He’s collaborative, thoughtful, and open to new ideas, but he also knows when to push back and protect what matters.
It’s been a true partnership from start to finish.
The Moment It Clicked
Honestly? It was love at first sight.
But like any real love story, it took time under the hood to make it shine the way we knew it could.
We’ve now played Into the Machine over 200 times.
I played it yesterday.
And I want to play it again today.
That’s why we signed it.
Come find me at Gen Con. I’ll be running demos, and I promise, once you see how it plays you will understand why we went INTO THE MACHINE.
John Zinser
AEG
