RoboRally



Designed By: Richard Garfield (1994)

What would you do if you were a bored supercomputer in a factory? You would probably get your buddies together for a good ole romping race through the factory of course! This is the basic premise of a really fun game called, "RoboRally". While it has relatively simple game play, the chaos and confusion which can occur makes this a great game and one of my favorites.

Game components:

Everything about this game is just really cute and clever! The little robots are cute, the game boards are cute and clever, as are the other bits making up the game. Not in a little kid sort of way, but a grown-up sort of way. Personally, I really enjoyed opening up this game for the first time and exploring the game bits.
(Note: There are several different versions of this game out and about with slight variances between them. They are all essentially the same game. This review is based on the Amigo version)



The components are:

 4 game boards
 4 quick reference (crib) sheets
 36 damage points
 12 life tokens
 4 programming aids
 4 safety (back-up) chits
 6 checkpoints
 4 robots
 84 programming cards



Game Idea: Each player is a robot that is racing over a very dangerous factory floor. You compete against your fellow robots to be the first to reach checkpoints (flags) across the factory. The robot reaching the final checkpoint (capturing the flag) first wins!

Game preparation:
1) Firstly, each player needs to choose a color and its coordinating robot.
2) Each player receives the following:
 3 life tokens for his/her robot.
 1 back-up safety chit of same color
 1 player-aid (directional aid)
 Safety copy with same color
 1 Quick reference aid (crib sheet)
3) Players decide on how many game boards to play with and the layout. You can choose to play with 1-4 boards and layouts can vary greatly.
4) Design the race course. Choose how many flags (checkpoints) you wish to play with and where to locate them on the game board. Flags can only be placed on open spaces, spaces with walls, and spaces with repair/health stations upon them. They cannot be on pits, lasers, or conveyor belts.
5) The oldest player shuffles the programming cards and deals 9 cards to each player. The card dealer (shuffler) will change in a clockwise manner with each deal.

Now we are ready to race to the finish!!

Game play:
Firstly, let's discuss and define a bit about some of the game elements as this will make it easier to grasp onto the game play.

Programming cards: There are 84 programming cards. These have two elements upon each card which effect game play. Each card depicts a movement that the robot will do, which is one element. There are several options within the deck:



 Forward 1 space
 Forward 2 spaces
 Forward 3 spaces
 Backwards 1 space
 Turn right
 Turn left
 Turn 180 degrees

Priority Points: Each programming card has a small box at the top of the card. This box contains the "priority number" for that card. This comes into play with each round. The player with the highest priority points goes first for that movement. Priority points can affect your robot if other robots get in the way. You can be bumped, shoved, etc.

The dangers in the factory: As your robot races to capture the flags, he will come across many pitfalls and dangers along the way. Some only damage him while others cause him to loose a life point. All of this must be taken into consideration as you program your robot.

The Pits: One of the obvious hazards for your robot is the Pit. Here, our poor little robots can fall into oblivion. This causes our wee robots to loose a life point and should be avoided. Of course, we never choose to jump into a pit, but other robots can sometimes cause havoc.


Conveyor Belts:
What factory does not have a conveyor belt? They are a quick mode of transport for our little robots. While they do allow for zippy movement, they can be tricky to program. There are twists and turns along the way. Occasionally, we can miscalculate and end up in a pit, a laser beam, or completely off the board. Falling off of the board causes us to loose a life point as well. There are two different types of conveyor belts within RoboRally. The differences are only within speed. One moves you twice as fast.

Walls: Walls are rather self-explanatory. Basically, they can block our paths. Then, we have to program our little robots around them. They do not cause damage, but can be a nuisance.

Lasers: While our little robots are brave and strong, they cannot completely withstand being caught in a laser beam. If our robot lands in the path of a laser beam, it becomes damaged. Laser beams can have multiple beams as well. So, our poor robot can be damaged greatly. For each time we are caught in a laser beam, we receive 1 damage point per beam.
This does not make for a happy robot.

Pushers: Pushers push. Unfortunately, they do not normally push us into places where we wish to go. More often, we normally get pushed into laser beams, pits, or crushers. So, we need to try to program our robots to avoid pushers usually. Occasionally, it is beneficial to push our opponent's robots towards the pushers too.

Gears: Along our robots path, they will also come across gears. Gears can be useful to turn us into a better direction. Of course, they can also turn us into the wrong direction too if we aren't careful with our programming. Luckily, they do not cause damage points, but only rotate us 90 degrees.

Crushers: The name doesn't even sound like it would be good for our little robots and it lives up to the name. Crushers will crush our robots and cause us to loose a life point. Again, we need to try to avoid them, but havoc can occur. If our robots are destroyed, we have to begin again at our last safety/backup point.

Damage Points: We receive damage points whenever our little robots are damaged. When a robot is damaged, its memory is less effective. So, the robot receives one programming card less per damage point. Basically, he is limping along mentally. Collecting 10 damage points causes your robot to be destroyed because he is unable to perform any actions. It is a good thing to try to stop by a health/repair station after receiving a damage point.

Health/Repair: With all of the hazards which our robots face, it is only fair that there are some safe havens for them as well. If our robots have been damaged, it is a good idea to aim towards a repair/health station. These are indicated by a wrench or wrenches. A square with 1 wrench restores 1 damage point.

Safety Copy: Avoiding all of the pitfalls and dangers, our robots finally make it to a checkpoint and capture the flag. Before he moves on, we leave a safety copy on the checkpoint. This is a colored chit and there is one for each robot. If for some reason our robot is destroyed, we start over at our safety point. This can be really helpful.


Game play begins:
Now that we have defined some of the elements of the game, we are ready to begin. While it may seem that there are a great many factors to consider, the game play really does go quite easily. RoboRally really is quite easy to learn and only takes a short while to get a feel for. So, don't be intimidated by the amount of rules and elements.

I. Program your robot: So, each player now has their 9 programming cards, he/she looks at the starting point and decides what could be the best route to the second checkpoint (flag). Then, we look at our cards and think how we can program our robot to get there using 5 of these cards. Here is where the luck element comes into play. You are hoping that you get helpful cards that allow you to make progress. We quite often will have to change directions due to the cards we are dealt. That all adds to the challenge and fun of this game.

You need to select the 5 best cards for your robot and put them in order face down. The program will go from left to right. Each card will be one specific movement for your robot. All players will perform their first card movement before anyone moves onto the second action. Again, the player with the highest priority number goes first. The remaining players go in descending order of priority numbers.

Once you have selected your 5 program cards, return the remainder of the cards to the deck. Once all players have done this, we are ready for action. Once the programs have been selected, no changes can be made to the programs.

The First round: Now it is time for our robots to begin their programs and move. After everyone turns over the first program card, everyone announces what their priority number is upon their card. The player with the highest priority points for the first card goes first. The robot performs the specified action upon the card and then waits for the other robots to move before moving onto the second card. The other robots all perform their action as well in a descending order of priority numbers. Now, it is time to activate the factory.

II. Factory activation: After each movement, the factory is activated. This would start up conveyor belts that will move you along further. It will also activate lasers, crushers, gears, and pushers. If your robot was unfortunate enough to land on one of the damaging elements, your robot will be damaged. Sometimes, we are pushed or carried off of the board or into a pit. Then we are destroyed and begin at our last checkpoint. After the activation has occurred, it is time to continue to the next program card.



III. Game play continues: The game play continues in the same fashion throughout the game. There is a round for the program card and movements, and then the factory activation. This continues until one robot wins. Here, the game play is actually pretty simple without too much variance and is quite easy to learn.

IV. When does the game end? The game ends when a robot reaches the final checkpoint. Whichever robot captures the flag first is the winner! Depending on the number of players, number of game boards, and number of checkpoints the game can go rather quickly or take up to about 120 minutes.

Strategy of Roborally: RoboRally really is a race. The challenge is how to get your robot to the end first and preferably in one piece. All the while, you have to keep in mind your opponents and what their robots are going to do. This is especially true at the starting point.

In the beginning, all of the robots are trying to move away from the starting point as quickly as possible. This can often cause chaos as robots shove each other out of the way. Suddenly, your wonderful plan is completely shot and you are being zapped by a laser beam. Then, it is time to re-group and make a new plan with our next program. With that in mind, it is often beneficial to pick an alternative route in the beginning. Which is the route that the others probably will not choose? Of course, they could be thinking the same thing.

During the game, you will want to look for the quickest, most effective routes. Is it with the conveyor belts? Is it along the side of the board or some combination? Where are the other robots going? Will they get in your way and make life more difficult? What programming cards are we dealt? Do we have to move backwards before turning? Did we miscalculate around that pit?

Creating havoc: Occasionally, other robots are just in the way. Other times, one robot is moving along way too fast. How can you slow them down and get them out of the way? How can you throw a wrench into the works? Can you shove them into a pit or a laser? Is there a chance to shove them off of the board? They loose a life point, but also have to return to their last safety point. This gives you a big advantage and lead. Granted, it will not please your opponents, but it is all part of the game. They will also be monitoring your actions and looking for those same opportunities.

Final thoughts: I played Roborally for the first time several years ago. Immediately, I was taken by this game and found it very cute and clever. It is well thought out and has a simple game play which is quickly learned. Now, I play it any chance that I get really.

Roborally is a really good game for several reasons:
*The luck factor is not great and does not get in the way of the game play. Everyone contends with the same luck variable, which makes for a balanced game.

*It is highly replayable and has a great deal of variety with the interchangeable boards and elements. You choose what board combinations to play and what the course will be. This all makes for a very interesting game which does not get tiresome or old.
*The rules come in a fun format and are easy to learn.
*There is also room to add your own variations to the game. This allows for endless variety and lively games.



My only negative thought about Roborally would be the production quality of the robots. This is only applicable in the later editions. The original editions came with metal robots which were much more durable. The current editions come with little plastic robots. These could potentially get broken. It is a shame that they skimped on the little robots since they add such charm to the game.

Personally, I think that RoboRally would be a great gateway game, but also appeal to more seasoned gamers. It is a terrific choice for people wanting to branch out from the classic board games like Monopoly, Scrabble, etc and try something new. There is more than enough appeal for families and people of different ages. Who doesn't like a cute little robot?

Expansion sets available for RoboRally:
RoboRally: Crash and Burn
RoboRally: Grand Prix
RoboRally: Armed and Dangerous
RoboRally: Radioactive]

nice review

minor quibble: the game links at the bottom are not working

Good review, but I'm going to counter about the metal robots. I own one of the original games, and a major issue with the metal robots is determining which direction some of the robots face. There are two major offenders.

One is this "flipping robot", which is nearly symmetrical from front to back. It does have a hand pointing in the direction it is going and at first This would seem to be good enough, except the hand is only on one side and, being metal, it blends in too well with the rest of the piece.

The other robot is completely symmetrical, but it "tilts" in one direction. However, the bases don't hold the robot tightly enough and the tilt isn't great, so it often looks like it is standing upright. This makes it nigh impossible to determine which way it is going.

A little paint cleared this up, and now I have a nice set of painted roborally minis, but I shouldn't have had to do that to play the game right out of the box.

Otherwise, roborally is a good game. It tends to suffer from a runaway leader problem, but its still fun.

Thanks for pointing that out My only real experience with the metal robots is from my Brother and he had painted them immediately. So, I didn't have experience with them as they came from the box. That would certainly be annoying.

Thanks Since they weren't working, I just took them out.

I don't own the game, but as far as feedback goes, I found the constant use of "our" instead of "your" when referring to robots pretty annoying.

Everyone has their own writing style and it will not appeal to everyone. Some people are just more particular about things and others are not.