Bulat Zaripov, Producer and Lead Game Designer at Lazy Bear Games — Interview Series

Heads up, Punch Club fans — Lazy Bear Games has just launched a brand-new DLC for the second chapter in the saga. Aptly titled Iron Fist, the newest addition to the saga is promising to deliver an entire wheel of fresh-faced robotic friends, as well as a “mad” scientist and a few other additions, to boot. But that’s us barely scratching the surface of the latest expansion, to be fair. Care to join us as we hear more from the horse’s mouth? Then let’s clock in.

Thanks for taking the time to speak with us! Could you please introduce yourself to our readers? Who are you, and what position do you hold at Lazy Bear Games?

Bulat: Greetings! My name is Bulat Zaripov, I’m a Producer and the Lead Game Designer at Lazy Bear Games. I’ve worked on Punch Club 2 & Graveyard Keeper as well as the DLCs and add-ons.

Could you tell us a bit about Punch Club 2? How would you describe it, and what sorts of gameplay elements would you say it houses?

Bulat: From the point of view of the genre, Punch Club 2 is a fighting management sim. You train your fighter, go through various life stages with him, the process of growing up, make moral choices, learn to take responsibility not only for yourself, but also for your loved ones. This is seasoned with a lot of references to films from the 80s and 90s, jokes and absurd situations.

Let’s talk about the latest DLC, Iron Fist. What’s the story here, and what are we likely to see in this update?

Bulat: In Iron Fist, the player will have to control an old robot that was abandoned by its creator, but really wants to be useful. The player will have to train the robot, repair it, charge it, send it to work, pump it up and control it in battle. An old AI created by a mad scientist which is also pursuing its own goals will help in the process.

It’s time to take that rusty ol’ robot to the ring, discover Emmit's secrets, and save the city from a hidden threat…

👊 Punch Club 2: Iron Fist DLC is available now:https://t.co/NqywQQz65D pic.twitter.com/K3mob1iNT0

— Lazy Bear Games (@LazyBearGames) July 22, 2024

So, will the Iron Fist DLC be setting the stage for any other post-launch expansions, or is it too early to say?

Bulat: It's too early to say anything about it. If there is a request from the audience, we will do it. We still have a lot to tell in this story.

We’d love to hear a few professional tips from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. Do you have any words of advice for those who’ve yet to bite into Punch Club 2?

Bulat: When I was designing Punch Club 2, I tried to gradually teach the player the rules of the game, but so that they would understand it themselves. For example, one of the first strong fighters encountered in the Silver League is Jenkins. He has all stats of 1 and he looks weak at first glance, but in fact he is quite a strong fighter. So I wanted to show at the beginning of the game that stats are not the main thing in combat and the skills of a fighter are more important. I tried to make each fighter a small “puzzle” that needs to be “cracked” in order to win. I would advise the players to pay attention to the skills and perks of the fighters, to think about how to counter them and easily win their fights.

Of course, there’s also Punch Club 2: Fast Forward to touch base on, too. Could you tell us a bit about that?

Bulat: In Punch Club 2, we tried to preserve and multiply the vibe of the original game, correct design issues, and make the game more user-friendly. Also, the game itself has become bigger, richer in content, more visually beautiful, more stable from a technical point of view. New players don’t need to know the plot or game rules from the original game, but people who played the first one will recognise a few characters.

Setting Punch Club 2 aside for a moment, are we likely to see any other projects come to fruition this year? If so, could you kindly share a few details about what it is that you’re currently working on?

Bulat: Now we are working together with Different Sense on Bloomtown: A Different Story – a narrative JRPG mixing turn-based combat, monster taming and social RPG set in a seemingly pleasant 1960s Americana world. The game is on the final stage already and we are working on console ports, QA, translating locales and balance fixes.

And is there a way for fans of the Punch Club series to stay up to date with its latest endeavors? Are there any social channels, streams, or live events that we can pencil into our calendars?

Bulat: We publish news in Discord and X. The game-related news (like updates or fixes) is usually published on Steam pages as events.

Any final words for our readers?

Bulat: Thank you for your attention, thank you for reading. We believe that indie single player games can bring a lot of emotions and experiences. Many thanks to all our players – thanks to you, we can exist as a studio and make the games we want. We have made mistakes and, unfortunately, we will make more, but we try to learn and do better and better with each new project.

Thanks for your time, Bulat!

For more information on Lazy Bear Games’ Punch Club 2, be sure to check in with the team over on their official social handle here. Alternatively, you can visit tinyBuild for even more details on the website here.