Unlock a hidden layer of PlayStation nostalgia by tracking down all of Astro’s Playroom’s elusive special bots-each a tribute to iconic PlayStation franchises-and seamlessly import them into the upcoming Astro Bot game to enhance your adventure like never before. Ready to solve riddles, explore secret corners, and expand your robotic crew? This guide reveals exactly where to find these VIP bots and how to bring them along for the ride in Astro Bot.
These four bots are completely optional, so if you don’t have the time (or the storage space to redownload Astro’s Playroom), know that they won’t give you much of an advantage in Astro Bot. Bots are used to access new areas and puzzles, and since you’ll encounter most of the 300 bots in the sequel without too much effort, you can unlock what you need without what Astro’s Playroom can give you.
That said, for completionists who want to unlock everything, it’s something you’ll want to add to your save file – and the cherry on top is you’ll also unlock five additional Astro’s Playroom trophies (four bronze, and an additional silver for finding all four) for the effort.
GPU Jungle Special Bot location
The GPU Jungle Special Bot, known as the Hunted Down Special Bot, is found in the Renderforest area, the first stage of the GPU Jungle in Astro’s Playroom. It only appears after completing the 1994 Throwback level. To locate it, follow the wooden path through the grass to Checkpoint 2, then pull cables to reveal steps leading up. After defeating some enemies, turn left near an elevated stone circle to find a VIP Bot in a black hat and cloak filming at the base of a tree. Standing behind this Bot in a bush will trigger a platform with the Special Bot encased in glass. To free it, you must solve a puzzle involving a clock nearby by inputting the release date of Bloodborne, November 24, 2015, using the Options button. Successfully solving the riddle releases the Special Bot and awards the Hunted Down Trophy.
To find the special bot in GPU Jungle, head to the Renderforest area.
From the start, climb the first ledge, and instead of progressing on the critical path to the wall ahead, go through the grass on the left, and you’ll find a Bloodborne bot.
From here, stand at the very corner on the edge – as shown in the image below – until a platform appears ahead of you, revealing the special bot and a clue to the riddle: a clock.
To solve the riddle, jump up to the circular platforms above this area, where on the far side, you’ll see a little clock on the column.
Standing next to it, press the menu button. Instead of opening the world navigation selection, you’ll come to a date entry screen. Change the date to Nov. 11, 2015. This is the release date of Bloodborne: The Old Hunters, and doing so unlocks the Bloodborne Special Bot and the “Hunted Down” trophy.
SSD Speedway Special Bot location
In SSD Speedway, the Special Bot known as the Returnal-themed Bot can be found in the Deep Dataspace area after completing the final boss of the stage. To rescue this bot, you need to open the pause menu, fast-travel to SSD Speedway, and head to the gun chest on the left side near the edge. After obtaining the gun, avoid killing certain slime enemies and stand in the circle near a spaceman statue to get hit by the enemies’ attacks, which will unlock the bot. This process is part of a complex riddle and requires precise actions to free the Special Bot, which then becomes available for import into Astro Bot.
To find the special bot in SSD Speedway, head to the Deep Dataspace area.
Progress through this level for a minute or so, until you come to the glass bridge where you have to grab the gun from the chest to proceed.
Before you do that, stand on the edge just to the left of where you need to pull the chest from the ground. Doing so reveals the riddle for this area, which is a rather cryptic space outfit.
As the riddle is based on Returnal, the task here is to die in a specific spot and respawn again.
Grab the gun from the chest, and blast through the enemies until you get to the stairs going up. You’ll ideally want to keep at least one of these green projectile-firing enemies alive, as they’re your means of dying momentarily.
At the top of the steps, turn around, and come back on yourself so you’re walking across the white beams at the edges. You know you’re in the right place when a series of coins appear.
Stand where the big coin appears, as shown in the image below, which is where a blue circle appears beneath you. Wait here until you’re hit by a projectile.
Once you respawn, the Returnal Special Bot and the “Déjà phew!” trophy is yours.
Cooling Springs Special Bot location
The Cooling Springs Special Bot, known as the Grand Tourist Special Bot, is found in the Bot Beach area of Cooling Springs but only appears after completing the 1994 Throwback challenge. To reveal this Special Bot, players must step on several starfish scattered across the beach in a specific order, indicated by a ringing sound upon correct activation. After activating the starfish, players must travel along a specific path on the beach, guided by racing sounds from the controller, to free the bot. This bot is themed as a driver and is one of the more challenging Special Bots to unlock in Astro’s Playroom.
To find the special bot in SSD Speedway, head to the Bot Beach area.
Proceed down the slide to the beach area. From here, the task is to find four green starfish embedded in the stand, and stand on them in sequence.
- The first starfish is found just to the right of where you first drop onto the beach, underneath the jetty.
- The second starfish can be found going left from where you first drop onto the beach, next to two shells.
- The third starfish requires going back to where you dropped onto the beach (so anti-clockwise from the second starfish), where it’s a little inland, next to a palm tree.
- The fourth and final starfish is tucked away behind the giant blue pipes and the sandstorm at the far end. Go along the outside of the left pipe, into the shallow water, to find the starfish.
Upon touching the fourth starfish, you’ll come across the special bot, and the clue for the riddle – an arrow following a specific route.
Go back along to the front of the blue pipes and the sandstorm, and this time, go along the outside on the right. Go past the PlayStation face button symbols in the sand, and punch the shell tucked away under the pipe towards the end. It’ll reveal a steering wheel.
Press the menu button to open the world navigation selection screen. However, you’ll notice something different – the sound of cars. The aim here is to follow the route shown in the riddle’s clue on this screen, like so:
If done successfully, the Gran Turismo Special Bot and the “Grand Tourist” trophy will unlock.
Memory Meadow Special Bot location
In Memory Meadow, the Special Bot can be found in the Gusty Gateway level. To locate it, head under the bridge and pull the exposed cable cords on your right to obtain a throwable canister containing a net. Then, cross the controller cable bridges to reach an island with strong wind, where you’ll find an Astro Bot in Ape Escape cosplay hiding in a bush. Look over the edge of the island to spot a blue aura in the clouds. Throw the canister with the net at the blue aura when the lock-on symbol appears to reveal and free the Special Bot.
To find the special in Memory Meadow, head to the Gusty Gateway area.
First, activate the first two rope bridges by pulling the wires out of the ground. Now, return to the starting area, and to the side, you’ll find another set of wires, which gives you a projectile with a net inside.
Travel over the two rope bridges – if you didn’t activate them, drop the item, get the bridges up and running, and collect the item again – and, just after the second bridge, you’ll see an Ape Escape scene at the end, and something glowing blue in the clouds just beyond.
Stand at the edge of the level and throw the projectile towards it to reveal the location of the bot.
The riddle clue here is. bananas. Before you proceed, we recommend you play around with the D-Pad, which will cause Astro to perform four different dances through the four directions. Familiarize yourself with these, as you’ll need to remember them shortly.
Back to finding the bananas. They are located high up above at a tree on the hill top just ahead. To reach the tree, progress the level so you end up behind the hill, and use the PS1-shaped clouds and the steps on the rock face to climb up the wall.
Use your powered-up punch (hold the Square button) on the tree to drop the bananas.
Carry the bananas back to the bot, and you’ll then have to play a dancing mini-game. This requires you to match the dances the ape bot performs in sequence. Note the order is seemingly random, so you have to know which dance corresponds to the button input, and react in-kind. They are:
- Up: Flossing
- Left: The Carlton Dance
- Down: Toe taps and dabs
- Right: Saturday Night Fever
If you get it wrong, then you’ll need to scale the hill again, grab another bunch of bananas, and retry the dance minigame. If you’re successful, you’ll unlock the bot and get the “No Escape! Trophy.
How to import the special bots in Astro Bot
To import the special bots in Astro Bot, you first need to find and rescue all four special bots hidden in Astro’s Playroom by solving their unique riddles in each of the four worlds: GPU Jungle, SSD Speedway, Cooling Springs, and Memory Meadow. After completing all levels of Astro’s Playroom, including the 1994 Throwback and defeating the T-Rex Boss, these special bots will automatically transfer to your Astro Bot game if you are playing on the same PlayStation account. In Astro Bot, you can then find these bots trapped under rocks in the Crash Site hub planet, where you need to recruit two other bots to lift the rocks and add the special bots to your collection.
To add the four bots to Astro Bot, play until you’ve completed the first nebula and unlocked the Crash Site hub. Here, you can continue to unlock additional collectibles, including puzzle pieces and bots to add to your totals.
Around the edge of the main hub area is where you will find the bots from Astro’s Playroom. These will appear automatically once they have been unlocked them; there is no specific importing process or menu screen to go through first.
When you are ready to unlock them, approach their locations in the Crash Site hub. Their locations can be seen on the map below, as indicated by the “2” icon.
Simply interact with each one, help the bots lift up the rock, and they will be added to your collection.
The Astro’s Playroom Special Bots you unlock are as follows:
- Nightmare Guardian (Bloodborne)
- Greedy Ape (Ape Escape)
- Pro Driver (Gran Turismo)
- Stranded Scout (Returnal)
How can I identify all the special VIP bots in Astro’s Playroom
To identify all the special VIP bots in Astro’s Playroom, you need to locate four hidden bots scattered across different biomes, each representing a VIP Bot from the upcoming Astro Bot sequel. These bots only appear after you have completed the 1994 Throwback level and can then be found in the Mission Control Room of the new Labo Basement area.
Each special bot is hidden in a specific world and requires solving a riddle or performing a particular action to reveal them. For example, the GPU Jungle special bot is found in the Renderforest area by punching the grass behind a Lady Maria-style Astro Bot. The four special VIP bots and their locations are:
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“Hunted Down” in GPU Jungle Renderforest
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“Déjà Phew!” in SSD Speedway Deep Dataspace
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“Grand Tourist” in Cooling Springs Bot Beach
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“No Escape!” in Memory Meadow Gusty Gateway
By exploring these areas carefully, interacting with environmental clues, and solving puzzles, you can rescue each special bot. Once found, they will be available to import into Astro Bot, enriching your gameplay experience with characters inspired by iconic PlayStation franchises.
What specific actions or activities unlock each VIP bot in Astro’s Playroom
Here are the specific actions or activities required to unlock each of the four VIP special bots in Astro’s Playroom:
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GPU Jungle Special Bot (Renderforest area)
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Travel to Renderforest in GPU Jungle.
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Climb to higher ground and find the Lady Maria-style Astro Bot practicing swordplay.
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Punch the grass behind her to reveal the trapped special bot inside a capsule.
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SSD Speedway Special Bot (Deep Dataspace area)
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Go to SSD Speedway and proceed to Deep Dataspace.
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Reach the first dynamite enemy, then head to the raised platform behind a pink plant.
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Stand there to make the special bot appear (Selene from Returnal).
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Pull nearby wires to open a chest and get a weapon.
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In the next room filled with green projectile-shooting enemies, stop shooting to keep them alive and complete the challenge to free the bot.
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Memory Meadow Special Bot (Gusty Gateway area)
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Go to Gusty Gateway in Memory Meadow.
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Pull exposed cable cords under the bridge to get a throwable canister with a net.
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Cross two controller cable bridges to reach an Astro Bot in Ape Escape cosplay hiding in a bush.
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Throw the net canister at a blue aura in the clouds when the lock-on symbol appears to reveal the special bot.
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Cooling Springs Special Bot (Bot Beach area)
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Head to Cooling Springs, specifically Bot Beach.
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Step on four starfish in a specific order to proceed:
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Under the bridge near fishing bots
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Near Kratos’s boat on the left side
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Beside a tree in the middle of the beach
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In the far left corner beside a building’s wall
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Completing this activates the special bot and earns the “Déjà Phew!” trophy.
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Additionally, to unlock these special bots, you must have completed all levels of Astro’s Playroom, including the 1994 Throwback level and the T-Rex boss fight, as the bots only appear after these milestones.
Successfully rescuing each bot will unlock them for import into Astro Bot, enhancing your gameplay experience.
