Intensive rounds of power-ups, insane weapons and fast combat. Big Fat Battle just went free to play on Steam, which means you have absolutely zero excuse not to give Robot Squid's gloriously unhinged knockout arena a go.
I played it when it was still paid, so when I relogged a few days after the big fat battle free to play switch happened and found a stack of in-game rewards waiting for me, I was genuinely pleased. That's a small but good-faith gesture from Robot Squid. They could've just quietly dropped the price and said nothing. Instead they compensated early buyers. Respect.
Big Fat Battle Free to Play: What Even Is This Game?
Robot Squid are the same outfit that gave us King of Crabs, a battle royale where you play as a crab and murder other crabs until you're the last crab standing. Stupid premise, surprisingly addictive. Big Fat Battle follows the same philosophy: pick a ridiculous character, pick ridiculous weapons, eliminate people before they eliminate you.
The roster reads like a fever dream. We're talking giant babies, Viking warriors, a leopardskin-clad garden gnome called Randy, bikers, babushkas, sharks. It's a proper oddball lineup, and each one is well-animated enough that you actually enjoy watching them move around the arena. The art direction has a deliberate cartoonish energy that suits the chaos.
Gameplay is five rounds of team-based knockout. Worst performers get eliminated each round. Survive long enough and you're in the final. Simple structure, easy to pick up, and the escalating stakes mean each round feels like it actually matters.
The Round-by-Round Shop Is Genuinely Smart
At the end of each round, players choose from a personalised shop — weapons, buffs, upgrades. Every character starts on a level playing field with a basic melee weapon, and from there you build into what you actually want to play. I've been running Sniper Rifle and Laser Gun lately. What's not fun about clicking heads before the enemy can register that their HP has already evaporated?
The shop system does something useful: it prevents the game from becoming a runaway freight train for whoever gets lucky in round one. You're always picking between options, not just stacking infinitely. It keeps matches competitive even when the skill gap between players is obvious.
Both controller and keyboard/mouse are supported, and the controls are simple enough that I was comfortable within two matches. That low barrier to entry is part of why the free to play move makes sense — this is the kind of game you recommend to someone who isn't really a gamer, they install it, they laugh, they keep playing.
Characters & Visuals Hold Up
The visuals are genuinely strong. There's a consistent artstyle across all the character models — chunky, vibrant, well-animated. Each character feels distinct rather than being a palette swap with a different hat.
The environments are where I'd say things fall a little short. The arenas are fine but lack the same personality as the roster. You spend most of your attention on the characters anyway, so it's not a dealbreaker, but it's noticeable once you've played a few matches.
My one creative note — and I'll admit this says more about me than the game — is that I was mildly surprised the character design hasn't leaned into any anime-adjacent aesthetics. Genshin has made it abundantly clear that a certain subset of the gaming population will open their wallets very enthusiastically for that kind of thing. But honestly, I think it's the right call for Big Fat Battle. The current art direction is coherent. Forcing a completely different visual lane onto it would make it feel confused.
More characters via updates seems likely, and I think the environmental variety will improve in time.
Monetisation: Surprisingly Not Terrible
This is always the part I approach with low expectations when a game goes free to play. The model is two optional in-app purchases at around $4.99 and $9.99 that unlock more of the character roster. Standard stuff.
Here's what I care about though: does paying give you a meaningful advantage? Not really. The characters you unlock via purchase don't come with dramatically inflated stats, and you still have to play the game and level up to fully utilise them. What could've easily become a pay-to-win situation is instead a "pay for more characters to choose from" situation. That's a distinction worth making.
I've seen free to play transitions go much worse. Some studios strip out content and sell it back to you. Robot Squid kept the core game intact and tacked a cosmetic/roster expansion on top. Is it perfect? No. But it's fair enough that I don't feel like I'm being squeezed.
If you want to read more about how monetisation and visibility intersect from an indie dev angle, my piece on whether indie developers should bother with SEO gets into that side of the indie game ecosystem. And if you're curious about how I think about game and creative project development more broadly, the how to write a manga guide gives some context on how I approach building something from nothing.
Should You Download Big Fat Battle Free to Play?
Yes, it's free. The barrier to entry is basically zero. If you liked King of Crabs, or you're after something in the same neighbourhood as a casual team shooter that doesn't take itself seriously, this is worth the download. The monetisation is reasonable, the gameplay loop is clean, and the character roster is genuinely entertaining.
My main concern is longevity. The mode variety is currently limited to the knockout format, and I can see it getting thin after a few sessions if more maps and modes don't materialise. But for a free game that runs well and has an obvious identity, I'm not complaining.
Robot Squid have form here. King of Crabs had no business being as fun as it was, and Big Fat Battle follows the same template. Weird idea, clean execution, low stakes entry point.
Conclusion
It's free. It's chaotic. Randy the garden gnome is a legitimate menace in round five. Download it.
Don't forget to check out the discord community for the latest Big Fat Battle updates. You may also find me lurking there.
If you want to follow what I'm building between game reviews, take a look at Pan Airways.
