"While Gunbot Diplomacy is a great-looking game, it feels like such a direct copy of Brotato that it makes me want to play that instead."
Singleplayer.
While the topic of developers releasing “clones” of other, more popular games is very controversial, I feel it must be addressed.
Unless a title uses patented gameplay mechanics, such as the Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor, or characters, trademarks, code, or imagery from another title, making a game that looks and plays similar to another title is not legally questionable, in fact, from a purely legal point of view, it is entirely permissible.
Ethically, there is something to be said about copying someone else’s homework.
However, much of the art we see, gadgets we use, and language we speak have been inspired by, borrowed from, or directly copied from other sources.
For example, over 30% of the English language is borrowed from French; George Lucas was inspired by The Hidden Fortress (1958) when writing Star Wars, and the MOBA genre derived from a mod for Warcraft III.
With that in mind, you must understand that Sleepy Sentry did nothing wrong when creating Gunbot Diplomacy, despite it appearing to be a “clone” of Brotato, with near identical core gameplay mechanics and level design.
Gunbot Diplomacy looks fantastic, and from a purely aesthetic point of view, it looks even better than Brotato.
The art style is gorgeous, and the quality of the assets is second to none. Even the levels, which are purposely pretty sparse, look much better than those found in Brotato.
Visually, Gunbot Diplomacy is second to none, and it’s clear that Sleepy Sentry were passionate about making it look good, while ensuring it still performed very well (which it does).
Mechanically, Gunbot Diplomacy plays almost exactly like Brotato, albeit with slightly less fluid gameplay and combat mechanics.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still fun to play, as it copies one of the best games in recent memory, and there is something to be said for “learning from the best”.
Unfortunately, it cheapens the overall feel of the game, which is a pity.
If the developers had put as much effort into making Gunbot Diplomacy as mechanically excellent as it was visually stunning, it would have not only avoided accusations of being a “Brotato Clone” but would have had a good chance of surpassing its inspiration (Brotato).
Gunbot Diplomacy’s upgrade system is very similar to the one found in Brotato. While the developers have made great efforts to make it unique and add on additional layers of complexity, the grid-based system they used feels convoluted and less user-friendly than that used by Brotato.
While I am a fan of complex upgrade and build creation systems, I must admit that, at times, they only add additional steps to reach the same final result, which happened here.
While Gunbot Diplomacy‘s upgrade system is unique and functional, it is no better than the one found in Brotato, and its additional layers of complexity may prove daunting for casual players.
Gunbot Diplomacy is a action rogue-like video game developed by Sleepy Sentry and published by GrabTheGames, it was released on 13 May 2025 and retails for $4.99.
Gunbot Diplomacy is available exclusively on PC.
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Gunbot Diplomacy is unrated and contains:
If you have never played Brotato, you will undoubtedly love Gunbot Diplomacy. It’s a lot of fun to play, is fairly priced, and looks amazing.
Unfortunately, for anyone who has played and loved Brotato, Gunbot Diplomacy feels like a slightly worse version of a game you enjoyed.
For that reason, despite finding Gunbot Diplomacy to be a decent enough game in its own right, I cannot overly recommend it.
We found Gunbot Diplomacy to be a mediocre game, meaning that while it has some redeeming qualities, it's held back by noticeable flaws that prevent it from being truly enjoyable.
