Bored supercomputers running a fully automated widget factory- What could possibly go wrong?

Instead of brush, ditches, a variety of upright fences, and other horses, there are conveyor belts, crushers, pits, gears, lasers….and other robots.

Assuming the role of said bored computer, you program your robot from a selection of movement cards, and maneuver its way from a starting bay past numbered flag checkpoints. There’s damage and obstacles, skills and thrills, strategy and luck, possible teamwork, weapons, plus it’s also a race against time. The winner reaches the final flag first, or is the last robot standing.

RoboRally was designed in 1985 by Richard Garfield (who later created the card game Magic: The Gathering), and originally published from 1994-99 by Wizards of the Coast (WotC). The board game was re-released by Avalon Hill in 2005, to much fanfare, and a bit of grumbling about the decline in material quality of the game boards and the robot pieces. (You’ll have to look for the originals on eBay or through roborally.com) The newer boards are compatible with the original and expansion sets.

BTW, there is also an online version to help you with all that spare time in your day that you’ve just recently noticed. Go ahead, view the demo. And turn it UP!!

From the FAQ:
Q: What can a robot do when it is powered down?
A: Nothing. A powered down robot cannot fire weapons, receive option cards, tag checkpoints (if pushed onto them), update archive locations (ditto), or use turn programmed cards (for example, Shield). It cannot use any options unless the options specifically say they can be used while a robot is powered down. The robot basically becomes a lump that can be pushed around and suffer damage.

Q: If you fire and move in front of a missle, can you hit yourself?
A: Theoretically, yes. It’s fairly tough to get hit by your own missile, though, unless you are both unlucky and careless.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 3:49 pm and is filed under History, Robot Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.