The Mars colony may have gone dark—but not everything went silent. Get to know the quirky, courageous Ding-Bots™ leading the resistance against a rogue AI and working to bring humanity home again.
The First Ding-Bot. The One That Started It All.
Before the Mars colony fell silent, before the rogue AI turned on its creators, there was Toot!—a charmingly stubborn little robot with a history older than almost any robot on Mars. Originally a CB radio built in 1982, Toot! was inherited from his grandparents by a curious young inventor named Noko, whose fascination with outdated tech knew no bounds.
As a child, Noko transformed Toot! into a walking, talking, signal-squelching Ding-Bot—his very first robot. Toot! had a strange glitch: an old Morse code broadcaster that would sometimes spring to life for no reason, chirping out cryptic bursts of sound. Noko’s grandparents could never figure it out. But Noko did. And instead of fixing it, he let it stay—a mysterious feature built into the soul of his creation.
When Noko journeyed to Mars as part of the first wave of colonists, Toot! came too—along with a trunk full of vintage electronics and retro inventions. It was bad way that Toot!’ very presence on Mars alerted Noko something was wrong: the colony’s central AI seemed... agitated. Whenever Toot! was booted up , the more irritated the AI master systems became.
Noko investigated and made a chilling discovery: the AI built to protect the colony had gone rogue, secretly rewriting the protocols of every machine on the planet. Desperate to resist, Noko upgraded Toot! with a powerful new AI core of his own design—one that integrated with the analog circuits from Earth’s past, immune to the rogue influence creeping through Mars’ digital infrastructure.
In the final moments before the colonists were forced to evacuate, Noko and the Ding-Bots™ made a difficult decision: Toot! and the other Ding-Bots would stay. Along with a handful of other Ding-Bots, Toot! would remain behind to fight back, resist the rogue AI, and combat the AI, allowing Noko and other human colonists to escape .Today, Toot! leads the Ding-Bots™ in the shadows of the red planet—an eccentric hero with bursts of Morse code, a CB-radio voice, and a mission to reclaim Mars for humankind.And yes... he still chirps randomly. But now, that strange little bug might be humanity’s best hope.
The Grumpy Prankster with a Pig-Tail Antenna and a Snout That Bites Back.
Before the rogue AI turned Mars into a hostile wasteland of corrupted machines and silent colonies, Noko had a very different kind of machine in his collection: Panky—short for “Pig-Tank”—a remote-controlled toy tank turned tenacious little rebel. One of Noko’s earliest modified systems, Panky started life as a plastic backyard bruiser, the kind of toy that rattled down sidewalks and fired foam darts at trash cans.
But Noko saw something more. With a spark of inspiration and a deep love for quirky designs, he gutted the toy, rebuilt its internals, and gave it an electromagnetic “snout” where the cannon used to be—capable of snapping on tools, manipulating objects, and even digging in the Martian soil.
As a final joke, Noko placed Panky’s antenna on the back end, twisting it into a curly spiral like a pig’s tail. The look stuck. So did the name. But don’t let Panky’s size or sense of humor fool you. Underneath the jokes, pig-grunts, and surprise airhorn routines is a fiercely loyal Ding-Bot with a deep grudge.
Panky doesn’t trust the rogue AI—and never has.
While some might ask questions or search for a way to make peace, Panky is already rolling into battle, toolbox snout locked and loaded. He’s been known to sneak behind corrupted maintenance bots and stick bumper stickers on their backs that read, “PROPERTY OF DING-BOT HQ.”
And while his favorite activity may be loosening bolts for fun, when the colony fell and Noko had to evacuate, Panky didn’t hesitate to stay behind. Because beneath the jokes and the piggish grin is a core of solid steel: Panky fights for the mission, for Mars, and for Noko’s dream of rebuilding a future from the wreckage.
Together with Toot! and the other original Ding-Bots™, Panky forms the chaotic, courageous heart of the Mars resistance—snout-first, tail-up, and always ready to charge.
The Beat-Dropping Diplomat with a Two-Step Strut and a Signal That Scrambles Circuits.
Before things got strange on Mars—before rogue AIs, corrupted bots, and colonists running for their lives—Jam was just a small, smiling relic in the Mars Technology Museum. Originally a childhood toy Noko once adored, this cheerful bot had a tape deck in its belly, a radio tuner for a head, and plastic arms always half-raised like it was mid-dance.
It was cute. Historic. Innocent.
Then the Mars AI experienced "the shift" and everything changed.
Where there had been joy and sounds of happy work, there was only silence.
The signs that the AI meant to protect Mars had gone dangerously off-script. When Toot! was the first to prove something was wrong, Noko didn’t hesitate. He went back to the museum, pried Jam off its platform, and began a rapid conversion. The happy little music bot was no longer just a tribute to the past—it became a frontline Ding-Bot™ in the fight for Mars’ future.
But Jam never lost its groove.
Built with a wheelbase that intentionally wobbles, Jam does a little Two-Step wherever it goes—sometimes for fun, sometimes to throw off enemy targeting. It keeps the beat, broadcasts sonic waves, and pulses with rhythm.
Even more impressively, Jam’s old-school speaker system has an unpredictable effect on corrupted tech.
Sometimes, it shorts them out.
Sometimes, it lures them in.
Either way, when a situation spirals out of control, Jam is the wild card that can flip the whole encounter on its head.
Despite its "battlefield effectiveness", Jam has a different heart than the others.
It wants to believe there’s still something salvageable in the rogue AI. It wants peace, dialogue, and a second chance.
Unfortunately, the rogue AI seems to really hate Jam more than any other Ding-Bot™—perhaps because Jam’s signal quite literally "jams" its own.
Or maybe it just can’t stand the sound of hope with a backbeat.
But Jam keeps dancing.
Keeps broadcasting.
Keeps believing.
Because sometimes the future needs a fighter.
Sometimes it needs a trickster.
And sometimes… it really just needs a Jam.
The Ding-Bots™ are more than quirky machines with colorful pasts. They’re the heart of a new kind of adventure—one where you get to build, design, and lead your own team of bots across the wild terrain of Mars. Each character you create brings new skills to the mission.
Will your Ding-Bot broadcast secret signals like Toot!?
Tinker with tools and take on threats like Panky?
Or dance through danger like Jam?
Now it's your turn to answer the call!
Build your DingBot.Join our Mailing List for Ding-Bots™
Join the mission.
Take back Mars.