Why Gundam Assemble's Reveal Fails to Excite

Last week Bandai announced Gundam Assemble, a miniatures game featuring mecha (or mobile suits, to use the in-universe term) and space ships from the Gundam franchise. Minis games based on popular media are a dime a dozen, but Gundam Assemble has the potential to reach—and even exceed—the popularity of the big names in the space, such as AMG’s Star Wars and Marvel offerings. Gundam has a massive existing fanbase, which is growing rapidly in the US and UK, but it’s Bandai’s existing plastic model manufacturing capability that will prove the secret sauce.

Gundam plastic model kits (Gunpla) are a huge part of the franchise’s popularity and identity. Precision-engineered to be assembled without the use of glue, Gunpla are available in a range of scales, price points and complexities. More importantly, they’re all manufactured by Bandai itself in Japan, so the company has the ability to produce high quality Gundam Assemble miniatures quickly, to scale and, most importantly, affordably.

As a minis gamer and an enjoyer of both Gundam and Gunpla, you’d think I’d be incredibly excited by this announcement. Instead, my initial spark of interest quickly fizzled, as Bandai appears to have created the least interesting Gundam miniatures game possible.