Fandoms are everywhere. It’s practically impossible to do anything on the Internet without coming across fans ofbeloved IP ranging fromFive Nights at Freddy’stoMasters of the Universe. While there are numerous fandoms, it’s not often that IPs cross streams in a massive way. That’s at the heart ofFunko Fusion: celebrating fandom using as many beloved IPs as possible.
Ahead ofFunko Fusion’s release, Game Rant spoke with 10:10 games' co-founder Arthur Parsons, lead designer Wil Evans, lead character artist Sean Dudley, and animation director Andy Dolan about the heart and soul that was poured into the game. And when the heart and soul of a game is fandom, it has the potential to be something truly special.
Funko Fusion and Fandom
Although Fandom used to refer to sports fans, the term is used more widely now, encapsulating everything from anime to music to trains. It’s funny to think that, however loosely, baseball played some role in a 2024 game that lets Mega Man, Chucky fromChild’s Play, Rick Grimes fromThe Walking Dead, andOmni-Man fromInvinciblerun around in a four-player co-op sandbox. And make no mistake, it is connected.
Parsons describes the original concept ofFunko Fusionas a “real playground for fandom.” The word might apply to more than baseball today, but at the heart of it is enthusiasm and dedication driven by pure love. Because of that dedication,Funko Fusionhas not changed all that much from its original concept—which is nearly unheard of in the game industry. Parsons explained that the gameplay has generally stayed true to that concept, while the game structure itself has evolved in different ways, and the story stuck to the vision of a “variety of different intellectual properties with a Funko narrative.” The end result is that most changes were subtle, mainly revolving around mechanics, character unlocks, collectibles, and the general size and scope of the game.
The Size and Scope of Fandom
Of course, the size and scope of something likeFunko Fusionis going to grow when the core of it is fandom. As Parsons explained, the team had a lot of fun picking franchises and characters to be inFunko Fusion, ranging from classic movies and TV shows to contemporary ones, likeScott Pilgrim vs. The WorldandUmbrella Academy.The team added even more throughout development, such asFive Nights at Freddy’s, Invincible, andMega Manwho all joinedFunko Fusionlater. As is typical for fandoms, this caused some very fun arguments among the development team. As Evans explained,
This sounds like it’d be super easy, but in fact, it caused a ton of arguments! There are some characters that obviously must be chosen, but so many of the IPs have amazing characters that it’s almost impossible to pick one over another. We all have favorites, deep cuts, and personal choices for various reasons, all while trying to predict what the fans will want. You never want to disappoint anyone, but there’s a limit to how many we can do! However, we think the roster we ended on is a mix of all of those things, and there’s something in there for everyone!
Funko Fusion Required a Lot of Trust
It’s impossible to imagine all the legal work that went into taking these IPs, turning them into playable characters, turning them into gamified Funko POPs, and turning them into complete worlds and levels. After all, companies like Capcom forMega ManorSkybound forInvincibleandThe Walking Deadare not just going to let anyone into their playground. Because of that, there is another very important word in this equation, arguably more important than all the legal work:trust. This journey began in 2021 when 10:10 Games CEO Jon Burton reached out and asked Funko for a partnership. Funko placed trust in 10:10 Games because of the core team’s legacy, heritage, and body of work, and that trust grew the whole project, brought in more IP, and sawFunko Fusionbecome the game it is today. Speaking to this trust, Parsons explained,
The most important thing, when working with movie and TV franchises, is that it’s essential to have the creators of that content trust you, trust that you know and love their properties, but also trust that you will give it the care and attention that they have. Gaining their trust means that any conversations then can focus on the creative, and that is how we can get the most from what we are making.
That “most” includes over20 IPs forFunko Fusion, consisting of the following titles:
Funko Fusiontreats Funko as an IP in its own right, as the company is synonymous with both fandom and fun. It’s clear to 10:10 Games and everyone at Funko that “fandom and fun” aren’t just catchphrases but words to live by. The 10:10 Games team did a lot of work early on to ensure thatthey were capturing Funko POPscorrectly, figuring out how to animate them, be expressive with them, and tap into the humor inherent to fandom and fun through these gamified figurines. As any collector knows, though, Funko POPs are more than just the figures; they’re iconic boxes too. As Parsons said,
“The Funko Pop! box is iconic and instantly recognizable, so it had to be a key feature in the game – both from the “Funko Collector” vibe of the character select, through to it being the method of travel between worlds, and also how you change characters. But it doesn’t stop there. We have included pretty much every ounce of Funko within the game…”
This includes important characters and Easter Eggs from Funko’s own characters, NPCs carrying Loungefly bags,Mondo references, and many hidden secrets. The fun and fandom of Funko bled intoFunko Fusion, making the game worthy of its title.Funko Fusioncouldn’t justifiably exist if it were just a Funko skin surrounding a lackadaisical story and lackluster gameplay, and that’s where Funko’s trust in 10:10 Games comes into play. Parsons would also explain that Funko is “not only the glue that binds everything together, that connective tissue that runs through every element in the game, but it is also something that needs to be celebrated and loved throughout the game.”
10:10 Games Has a History With IP
Funko Fusionis the first title out of 10:10 Games, a studio first formed in 2021. That makes the trust even more astounding out of context, but it’s not hard to see why Funko put its trust in 10:10 upon closer inspection. It is a studio comprised of industry veterans. Collectively, Parsons, Evans, Dudley, Dolan, and Burton have credits inLEGO Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, LEGO Batman: The Videogame, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures, LEGO City: Undercover, andLEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7, among others, and each of which is among thebest-reviewed LEGO games of all time. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the pedigree of the team.
WonderWorks: Fun in the Factory
When asked if 10:10 Games took a “story-first” or “gameplay-first” approach toFunko Fusion, Parsons' answer was simple and effective: “We have definitely adopted a fun-first approach.” When players boot upFunko Fusion, they’ll have a choice of seven different worlds inspired by variousIP likeJurassic World, Back to the Future, Masters of the Universe, andInvincible. These worlds are found within The WonderWorks, Freddy Funko’s toy factory, and Parsons promises that there are plenty of surprises for the players within its multiple locations. Each of these worlds consists of five levels, and completing each level gives the player a crown. Players can earn additional crowns through character and mechanic-specific puzzles and challenges, all of which are unlocked through playing the game. Players can tackle the worlds in any order and move onto another at any time, as long as they have enough crowns to unlock them. This freedom in gameplay ensures everyone’s playthrough will be a little different. The secret sauce is in completing that fifth level. As Evans explained,
Completing the fifth level in each world drives the story further, finding out more about what’s going on, why Eddy is evil, and how he can be stopped.
As players play through and finish worlds, they’ll unlock new mechanics and characters, which allow them to progress through challenges and puzzles in other worlds. This includes new mechanics for players to engage with, new weapons to have a blast with, and new soda buffs to give their characters a little fizzle. As Parsons put it, “Effectively, the more that you play the game, the more tools at your disposal, the more hidden funplay you’re able to find and unlock.”
You Play a Funko POP in Funko Fusion
Funko POPsare obviously a key component ofFunko Fusion. The capabilities of each character were determined on a case-by-case basis, as 10:10 Games knew it must understand the character, understand the IP, and meet player expectations. A good example of this is that He-Man is super strong with melee attacks, as he should be. Some characters may be better at melee, others may be better at ranged attacks, but all characters are capable of both. Each weapon and attack is made specifically for the character, such as the speeding-ticket gun ofHot Fuzz. The balance comes down to giving each character strengths and weaknesses, and allowing players to find their preferred playstyle among the roster. Furthermore,Funko Fusiontaps into the innate abilities that any fandom would expect their favorite character to have. As Evans explained,
“Is someone blocking your way and won’t let you pass? Allison from Umbrella Academy can rumor them and get them to move! Need to burn that red vinyl that’s stopping you from getting that collectible? Childs from The Thing comes equipped with a flamethrower that can melt it!”
How Puzzles Work in Funko Fusion
According to Evans:
We knew at the outset that we wanted to challenge the player when designing the puzzles, but that they should not be frustrating. We also wanted to ensure that puzzles fit the flow of the levels they took place in. If a level features heavy combat, any puzzles shouldn’t be too time consuming or difficult to work out, whereas if the player has more to think, we made them more complex and cerebral. We also attempt to ensure that the puzzles have some inherent logic to the world they exist in, that’s not to say just because you know the IP you’ll know the answer immediately, but it might! When it came to designing funplay puzzles, which are the puzzles in the game you come back to solve with the characters and mechanics you’ve unlocked from other worlds, we wanted a scale of difficulty that challenged their knowledge of the game, using mechanics in new ways to solve the problem in front of them.
How Moulding Works in Funko Fusion
Moulding is our version of crafting. While many characters have inherent mechanics, many of our puzzles can only be solved via the use of gadgets. These can only be moulded by the player and are unlocked by finding the blueprints which we call proto-parts, in each level. Moulding costs the player vinyl, which is our game currency collected from defeating enemies and destroying items in the world. As you progress, you unlock more and more gadgets allowing you to complete more puzzles through the world. However, gadgets are not the only things you can mould! Soda’s give the player the ability to heal, as well as fun and interesting short-lived abilities such as super speed or invulnerability, as well as Wonder Weapons which are awesome fun weapons the player can use to devastate enemies. These are all available once the player has found the proto-parts for them.
Funko Fusion’s Post-Game
According to Parsons:
Once the story is completed in Funko Fusion, there is so much more to discover, whether that is the secret cameo quests that span across the worlds, the hidden cameo levels, or the hidden secrets and unlockable hidden characters and variants. The game definitely has a huge amount to play and find and enjoy once the credits have rolled.
Fandom at the Heart of Funko Fusion
Funko Fusionlets players indulge their fandom, but as part of an original story. The simplest way to describe it is that Eddy is the classic villain with a desire for world domination, with dark possession powers that are twisting the various worlds, characters, andIPs present inFunko Fusion. Players will have to stop him; as Evans explained, “Eddy is the prime mover for the chaos that ensues in all the worlds we visit. It’s our own little twist and way of weaving our story into what has already been established.”
Dudley on Eddy
For Eddy Funko, we went through quite a few iterations between Funko, the 10:10 character team, and the 10:10 concept team. We got a brief from Funko about how they compared Freddy and Eddy to characters like Superman and Bizarro. We took inspiration from ’60s Americana. In my head, I always thought about the outfits from the movie “Grease” as inspiration. Some initial designs looked more like a high-school jock, but going back and forth with Funko, we eventually settled on more of a cool biker guy design, going with a messy slick back hairstyle and cool biker jacket with his own Eddy logo on the back, while still keeping a little of bit Freddy by retaining his classic bowtie.
Dolan on Eddy
We were given the brief to make an evil, corrupted version of Freddy with this character, and it was great to reflect that in his movements in a fun, over-the-top way. A lot of his posing involves him hunching over, wringing his hands together, or generally looking like he’s up to no good. Even when walking and running around, he leans forward with his arms outstretched like a cartoon villain chasing someone down a corridor.
What’s interesting is howFunko Fusionstill extends the love of fandom to Eddy. In a prior Game Rant interview, Jason Bischoff, VP for Licensing and Business Development at Funko, explained thatEddy is meant to be Freddy’s antithesis, to “personify the opposite of a Funko fan. If Freddy is the ultimate fan, then Eddy is the ultimate critic…because ultimately, everybody has a place at the Funko table.” Eddy, in many ways, sounds like the anti-fan, which is an interesting story direction forFunko Fusion. But, at the heart of that is still the conscious choice forFunko Fusionto keep fandom at the fore of every aspect of the game.
Fandoms often celebrate the games or IPs they form around, butFunko Fusionis a celebration of the very core idea of “fandom.” That idea has been around for over 100 years, from baseball to Funko, and fandom itself is definitely something worth celebrating. If nothing else, it seemsFunko Fusionwill be the herald for a Golden Age of Fandom.
