Tuesday, August 30, 2005
New daily blog in town. RoboRally review.
There is a new, nearly daily game blog for your reading enjoyment "A Gathering of Engineers" http://pdxgaming.blogspot.com/ . The contributors include established boardgame bloggers Chris Brooks, Mike Deans (Chairman Mike) and Eric Landes (Incunabula). I guess all the contributors are from the same game group, Rip City Gamers, (is that correct?) and all hail from Oregon. I'm looking forward to reading another daily boardgame blog.
As with all Oregonians, all I want to know is... Can they pump their own gas? There are two levels of Oregonians, those who can run a gas pump, and those who were born there. Those who can pump their own gas are actually Californians who moved north at some point.
-----------------
I got to play RoboRally several times this last weekend. I played with one other adult and two of his kids. The kids loved it. I liked it.
RoboRally is a reprint of the 1994 version of the game of the same name. I understand that boards are compatible between the old and new versions, but I am not certain.
In RoboRally each player controls a robot. Each robot is preprogrammed with 5 moves. The first robot to finish an obstacle course is the winner. Robots must touch a series of flags in order to complete the course. The catch is that robots can push other robots around, thus rendering their preprogrammed moves moot. Certain obstacles and robots fire lasers at other robots, causing damage. When a robot receives 9 points worth of damage, drives off the board, or falls into a hole the robot is dead. A robot can come back to life 2 times before the player is eliminated.
The owner of an undamaged robot will get 9 cards from which he chooses his 5 programmed moves. For every point of damage that the robot incurs, one less card is dealt to the player. If a robot receives less than 5 cards, he makes less than 5 moves. A player can choose to powerdown his robot for an entire turn in order to take away all the damage points.
Certain obstacles, such as conveyor belts and gears, move robots in a predictable fashion. Although it is a chaotic game, it is not a luck based game. Although players do draw cards that will determine what his preprogrammed moves will be, the cards aren't too limiting unless a robot has received more than 3 or 4 points of damage. A sand-timer is included with the game, when there is only one player left contemplating what his preprogrammed moves will be the timer is started. Downtime is not the issue with the game that you might expect.
There are certain spaces on the board that will gain a robot an option card if he stops on them. Option cards represent powerful pieces of equipment that give the robot a significant advantage. I found the option cards to take a relatively luck free game and crank up the luck factor. I would recommend at least playing a learning game without the option cards. Kids will like the options because they cause more chaos and mayhem. I don't find games with chaos and mayhem to be fun. RoboRally is already right on the edge of enjoyable to me. Any excess chaos would tip it to an unfavorable rating.
The various game boards can be combined in many different combinations. Flags are placed on the game board anywhere the players may choose, so there are nearly an infinite number of courses that players can construct.
I wouldn't suggest playing with a group of adults, but it is good fun for a mixed group of kids and adults. The game is a fun way to kill an hour, but I wouldn't call it mindless fun. Calculating moves can be agonizing, but it is in no way a brainburner either.
Good game. I'll give it a 7 for now. It will never go any higher, and it will probably slip to a 6 after a half-dozen plays.
Give it a 5 with the option cards.
Coldfoot
As with all Oregonians, all I want to know is... Can they pump their own gas? There are two levels of Oregonians, those who can run a gas pump, and those who were born there. Those who can pump their own gas are actually Californians who moved north at some point.
-----------------
I got to play RoboRally several times this last weekend. I played with one other adult and two of his kids. The kids loved it. I liked it.
RoboRally is a reprint of the 1994 version of the game of the same name. I understand that boards are compatible between the old and new versions, but I am not certain.
In RoboRally each player controls a robot. Each robot is preprogrammed with 5 moves. The first robot to finish an obstacle course is the winner. Robots must touch a series of flags in order to complete the course. The catch is that robots can push other robots around, thus rendering their preprogrammed moves moot. Certain obstacles and robots fire lasers at other robots, causing damage. When a robot receives 9 points worth of damage, drives off the board, or falls into a hole the robot is dead. A robot can come back to life 2 times before the player is eliminated.
The owner of an undamaged robot will get 9 cards from which he chooses his 5 programmed moves. For every point of damage that the robot incurs, one less card is dealt to the player. If a robot receives less than 5 cards, he makes less than 5 moves. A player can choose to powerdown his robot for an entire turn in order to take away all the damage points.
Certain obstacles, such as conveyor belts and gears, move robots in a predictable fashion. Although it is a chaotic game, it is not a luck based game. Although players do draw cards that will determine what his preprogrammed moves will be, the cards aren't too limiting unless a robot has received more than 3 or 4 points of damage. A sand-timer is included with the game, when there is only one player left contemplating what his preprogrammed moves will be the timer is started. Downtime is not the issue with the game that you might expect.
There are certain spaces on the board that will gain a robot an option card if he stops on them. Option cards represent powerful pieces of equipment that give the robot a significant advantage. I found the option cards to take a relatively luck free game and crank up the luck factor. I would recommend at least playing a learning game without the option cards. Kids will like the options because they cause more chaos and mayhem. I don't find games with chaos and mayhem to be fun. RoboRally is already right on the edge of enjoyable to me. Any excess chaos would tip it to an unfavorable rating.
The various game boards can be combined in many different combinations. Flags are placed on the game board anywhere the players may choose, so there are nearly an infinite number of courses that players can construct.
I wouldn't suggest playing with a group of adults, but it is good fun for a mixed group of kids and adults. The game is a fun way to kill an hour, but I wouldn't call it mindless fun. Calculating moves can be agonizing, but it is in no way a brainburner either.
Good game. I'll give it a 7 for now. It will never go any higher, and it will probably slip to a 6 after a half-dozen plays.
Give it a 5 with the option cards.
Coldfoot
# posted by Coldfoot @ 2:53 PM 
Comments:
As with all Oregonians, all I want to know is... Can they pump their own gas? There are two levels of Oregonians, those who can run a gas pump, and those who were born there. Those who can pump their own gas are actually Californians who moved north at some point.
Ha ha. Oregon has this bizarre politic with the following logic: not all citizens are capable of pumping their own gas (disability, intelligence, etc.)(but they can drive cars??), so therefore it would be wrong to force those that can't to pay more for full service than those that can. So... make everybody use full service, and pay for it.
<< Home
"If a robot receives less than 5 cards, he makes less than 5 moves."
This isn't quite correct. The owner of the robot programs less than five moves but the extra cards remain from the previous round.
For example if your robot has taken 5 points of damage and the last card in your program is a turn left, you discard your first four program cards. On your next turn you will receive four cards to program and your last card will still be a turn left until you repair the fifth damage.
I enjoy your blog, keep up the good work.
-Mike
This isn't quite correct. The owner of the robot programs less than five moves but the extra cards remain from the previous round.
For example if your robot has taken 5 points of damage and the last card in your program is a turn left, you discard your first four program cards. On your next turn you will receive four cards to program and your last card will still be a turn left until you repair the fifth damage.
I enjoy your blog, keep up the good work.
-Mike
As with all Oregonians, all I want to know is... Can they pump their own gas? There are two levels of Oregonians, those who can run a gas pump, and those who were born there. Those who can pump their own gas are actually Californians who moved north at some point.
Ha ha. Oregon has this bizarre politic with the following logic: not all citizens are capable of pumping their own gas (disability, intelligence, etc.)(but they can drive cars??), so therefore it would be wrong to force those that can't to pay more for full service than those that can. So... make everybody use full service, and pay for it.
I was driving through Oregon one time. I pulled off the interstate to get some gas. I went to 5 different stations looking for the self-serve pump before I figured something was up.
Later in life I worked at a couple different convenience stores in Montana. Had a couple people with Oregon plates come in the store and ask how the pump worked.
Post a Comment
Later in life I worked at a couple different convenience stores in Montana. Had a couple people with Oregon plates come in the store and ask how the pump worked.
<< Home
