Ricochet Robots
1-16
13+
30
Warning! Warning! The central computer has failed. The robots are unable to reach their destination on their own. Help them by planning their trajectory as efficiently as possible. Optimize your moves and ricochets to arrive at your goal. Remember: robots are obstacles too; and they can easily be moved. Can you find the shortest trajectory before the other players?
The classic returns! This new edition of Ricochet Robots contains every released board in one box.
User Reviews (3)
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WHO MAY/NOT LIKE IT
This is a competitive real time board game. Players will be required to be “on their toes”, so to speak, as you will have little time before you must think under pressure. If you would like to test your mental assertiveness against your friends, this is the game for you.
Players that know SET (http://boardgaming.com/games/card-games/set) may enjoy this too.
I don’t recommend this if you like taking your time, as you will not be able to do this. Also, if you dislike the Zelda puzzles where you need to push blocks on ice (with a timer).
GAMEPLAY
As mentioned, this is a real time board game. Each round, players must find a way to get a certain robot to a specific symbol, on a grid like board. The robots can only move in straight lines, and must continue “sliding” until they hit a wall or another robot (this is called a “move”).
When you have figured out a solution, you must announce to the other players the numlber of “moves” it took you, and flip an hourglass. The other players now have a short amount of time to announce a solution of their own. Once the timer is over, the player who has announced the shorted number of moves must attempt to reproduce their solution. If they succed, they get the symbol (randomly chosen at the start of the round). When all the symbols have been collected by players, the one who has the most wins.
The key points are:
– You must figure out the “solution” in your head. This means you have to memorize it too.
– More often than not, you will rely moving other robots in order to create the proper path for the desired robot.
– It is common to announce your first solution to pressure the other players, and to use the time left to find a better solution.
There are a few more intricate details, but none of them are essential to the further understanding of the game (at least I believe so).
COMPONENTS
Overall, there are very few components for this game, of standard quality. Good enough for you to play indefinatly, and cheap replacements in case of loss allow the game to be played without issues.
– 17 symbol tokens are printed on small cardboard disks, standard. One of them is a multicoloured symbol, which allows any robot to go on it as a valid solution (to mix things up).
– 4 thumb size robots and base token. The robots themselves are easy to handle and hard to lose. The base tokens are used to set the robots’ starting point at the start of each round (and game).
– 4 reversible game board pieces and a plastic junction piece. Same standard carboard quality, the aim being that you can choose any 2 by 2 board layout to create a variety of levels.
– 1 hourglass, pretty cheap but it does the job.
– 1 rulebook, decent quality (though this may vary based on the edition you get).
FINAL THOUGHTS
I found this game very accessible, and good to play with a younger audience as well as a middle aged one. I don’t think it suits every one’s taste, but it did the trick for me. I think it is a good way to show novices that board games can be very different from what they usually see. And if you are really good at this game, playing zith first timers, don’t go all out, it can really push people away from something they would enjoy.
Intro:
I first came into contact with RR back in 1999 when a friend of mine had picked it up. This was the time when it was called Rasende Roboter which does have a different meaning altogether in Norwegian as the word rasende means angry in my native language.
It was explained to us that the game was all about a warehouse using robots to fetch the needed items which also was a seller as we were all working at a furniture warehouse at the time.
Gameplay:
Ricochet Robots is a very clever game hidden behind few components. There are 8 corners with 4 or 5 target squares, 17 target squares in 4 colours + 1 rainbow target, 5 robots and a timer. Each corner is double sided with each target appearing on a total of 4 boards. A complete board is built up using 4 corners in a way that all 17 targets will appear once giving a lot of replayability in the different setups. The robots are placed in random locations on the board (we usually dropped them from about a foot high) and the 17 targets are mixed face down.
One target chit is flipped and revealing a target and the goal of the game is to find the shortest number of moves in which the robot of the target’s colour can reach said target. The problem is that the robots can only move in a straight line until it hits a wall or another robot so often you’ll have to move several robots around to find the shortest solution. Of course there isn’t unlimited amount of time either. As soon as a player finds a solution everyone will have one minute to come up with a shorter solution. The player with the best solution will earn the chit as a point and then a new target is flipped and counting starts all over again from the new positions of the robots.
After all 17 targets have been recovered the winner is the one with most chits.
Strategy:
RR doesn’t have a lot of room for strategy because it moves so quick and you’ll never know where the robots will be at when a target is drawn. This game is all about logic and seeing the possibilities as fast as you can. While the majority of solutions will be in the 5-8 region it is not uncommon with neither a 3 nor 15 mover now and then.
However, experience will be of great advantage in this game and an experienced player should quite easily beat a rookie player simply because he will recognize patterns on the board and how to best use robots to reach several targets. From what I’ve seen new players will often focus on two robots at most which often will lead to longer solutions.
Conclusion:
I’ve always been a fan of deduction and logical puzzles and thus this game found a sweet spot for me which I happened to do well at. In fact, my last live loss in this game came back in 1999 on the second game we played. Nowadays when it hits the table with people I know it will be a two team challenge, me vs everyone else…and this is my biggest issue with the game. It is very dependent on people being of similar skill level. Other than that it is almost a piece of art in all it’s simplicity.
This game is played in real time. Everyone strive to solve a single puzzle using the colored robots on the board. There are small symbols strewn around the board. When a chip is flipped, you start searching for the shortest way to get the properly colored robot to that mark, for example red robot to red sun. The robots can`t go diagonally, and they need to go all the way to the wall, or to other robots. Moving one length is 1 move. Then the robot needs to take another way for the next move. Or another robot moves into its way.
When one player finds a route he calls out the number, for example 8. Now they all fight against an hour glass finding a new route that is shorter before time runs out. The one who has called out the shortest route gets to try it out on the board. If it is correct he gets the chip as a VP. The game is then played till all chips have been solved.
Ricochet Robots is one of the first games I got in touch with becoming a gamer, and I still fancy it quite much. There`s something special about multiple gamers gathered around a board watching robots. You really get engaged in playing the game. Very good as a filler, or just to have a nice time.