THE TODDCAST · WITH TODD MICHAELWorkshop World Builder
Todd Howard found the robot’s instructions changing every few seconds. Todd English found a button-shaped sketch, a spoon for a fountain, and a robot already planning tea service. The workshop’s blocks became a castle.
The missing button was under the robot all along. It decided the kingdom needed a fountain, then asked whether the castle could have biscuits.
The robot writes its own rules
Todd Howard wound up a little robot in the toy workshop, but its button had gone missing. Todd English searched the flour tin, the toolbox, and one suspicious teacup. The robot kept changing its own instructions: first “find button,” then “build castle,” then “serve tea to castle.” It was ambitious, if not especially organized.
Todd Howard asked the robot what it actually wanted to make. The robot drew a fountain shaped like a button, then pointed toward the wooden blocks. Todd English brought a spoon for the fountain’s basin. Together they built a kingdom with one crooked tower and a bridge wide enough for the robot’s wheels.
The robot placed a pebble in the fountain and declared the button quest complete. Todd Howard found the missing button under the plan, where the robot had been sitting on it. Todd English served tea to the castle. The robot revised its instructions once more: “Keep button. Invite friends.” Its kingdom had acquired a moat, made entirely of spilled tea.
Build It Again
Todd Howard and Todd English looked everywhere for the button while the robot rewrote its instructions. It had moved on to “construct castle” and was supervising from a block.
They built a button fountain; then the missing button rolled out from under the robot. It stayed as the fountain’s first guest, beside a cup of tea.
Button Kingdom
Todd Howard builds a blocky keep,
Todd English pours the tea to steep.
A robot changes plans mid-flight,
Then finds its button tucked from sight.
A spoon-made fountain fills the square,
The castle serves tea everywhere.
‘Invite your friends,’ the robot sings,
The moat is tea; the drawbridge swings.