Ricochet Robots

[Freeman]

Four robots move on the floor of a warehouse. As they have no brakes, they rely on obstacles such as walls and other robots to stop. Once stopped, they can turn left or right and move again. On each turn, a target is chosen and the players search for the route with the fewest moves to the target. The player who finds the most efficient route receives the chip as a reward. When the chips have been all taken, the player with the most is the winner! Any number may play this game, making it a great party game.



Ricochet Robot is a tough game for people who enjoy puzzles. Like Boggle and other word cube games, Ricochet Robot requires players to analyze a randomly generated board, find a solution, and score a point. Players are racing against the timer and each other. Although this is not a strategy game, and some have derided this game for what it is, players who enjoy beat-the-clock games will enjoy this gem from Alex Randolph.

Courtesy of Mik Svellov
The rules are simple. The object is to get a robot of a given color to its goal in the time alloted. Four double-sided boards form the playing field. The boards abut in different combinations to alter the playing field with each game. Various colored symbols are scattered around the boards along with walls and a large central barrier. The four colored robots are randomly scattered on the board to begin the game.

A random token is uncovered to determine the goal and to begin the round. Players can move any of the four robots along the ranks: the same as a rook in Chess. Unlike a rook, the robot must move as far as it can until it crashes into a wall or another robot. Using combinations of robots and wacky routes around the board, players desperately race each other to find a solution. Once realized, the player shouts out the number of moves required for the solution and turns over the egg timer. Other players have exactly one minute to come up with another solution and shout out the number of moves required. When the timer runs out, the lowest bidder gets to demonstrate their solution to the other players. If the solution is valid and equal or less than the bid, the player scores a point and gets to keep the token to keep track of the score.

What is interesting is secondary bids are not always lower than the original bid. Players sometimes bid higher in the hope that the original player cannot demonstrate a solution. If this is the case, the next highest bid attempts to win the point. If two or more players have an identical bid, the player in last place gets to show the solution. This rule helps the last place player keep up with the leaders. Since the solutions are sometimes obvious, this rule also keeps players involved and struggling to see the solution before the timer runs out.

When playing Ricochet Robot it is important for players to agree on certain protocols not mentioned in the rules. For instance, if a token is revealed that requires one simple move, I suggest the round be declared void, and the token reshuffled into the mix. The Rio Grande Games rules for this game require that a robot move left or right before taking the goal. This requirement rules out a bid of one, but experienced players reflexively bid three, knowing that the robot can move on the goal, off in another direction, and back onto the goal. Another area for protocol requires players to actually have a solution before bidding. As pointed out in the rec.games.board forum, the game leader could bid immediately some ridiculously high amount in order to start the timer and short-change the other players. When the timer runs out, the leader can futz with the robots until a solution appears. Our group plays with etiquette to rule out this behavior.

Since this game is so mentally intense, another area for protocol involves the behavior of the player's behavior during the playing round. Our gaming group is especially competitive with this game, and the bidding and the scoring is always close and quick. During the game, one player would disrupt my concentration by whispering a mental count, pointing with his fingers, and nodding with his head. To counter these distracting actions, I also started moving my head from side to side, and nodding up and down as I visualized my moves. Although we played several rounds with me gesticulating with my head like a break-dancer, my nemesis finally broke down and shouted "STOP IT WITH THE HEAD." What's funny is that everyone noticed my actions, but no one mentioned them because they were so immersed in the game. The meta gaming etiquette point was taken, and everyone in our group now sits silently and motionlessly while figuring out a solution and waiting for the timer to run out.

Many in our gaming group are engineers and are fascinated by the process by which the human mind assembles a solution. We've noticed that complete solutions are often assembled in parts. Sometimes the goal is reachable if only a certain path is blocked. Thus the solution requires two stages: assembling the path blocker and getting the appropriate color robot to the goal. Or getting to the goal may require three robots and the solution requires three stages: getting two random robots to form a traffic jam while the third tags the goal. Each of these stages often require two or three attempts before being solved. So, it is interesting how the mind can hold a solution for one or more stages while trying two or three solutions for another. Often when the winning move is revealed, you see congruence with other players in some stages and alternate solutions for other stages. We have fun post-analyzing and comparing the solutions.

Strategy gamers may pooh-pooh this game, but I think Alex Randolph has designed a great social game. Since 10 or 20 players can play at once, this is a useful game to have in the game closet for when large groups want to play together. Our group has found that people love to spectate at this game as well. Whether spectating or playing, everyone agrees that the timer and the complexity of the visualization make this a mental barn-burner. Many have walked away feeling frazzled and in need of a beer.

Randolph, who was born in 1922, has over 80 game designs to his name, including such classics as Twixt (1962) and Oh-Wa-Ree (1962). More recent popular Randolph designs include Hols der Geier (1988), Jagd der Vampire (1991), In Teufel's Küche (1993), and Halunken und Spelunken (1997). This man has been releasing excellent game designs for nearly 40 years! Unlike Sid Sackson and Reiner Knizia, Randolph appears under-appreciated, especially in light of the fun we are having with this game. Recommended for people who like timed puzzles and social games.



This game is less of a game and more of a puzzle, which explains why there's such an odd number of players possible. There's a four-piece modular board that forms a large room with walls spread around the board. There are also color-coded targets on boards. Placed on top of the surface are four robots. The idea for each turn/puzzle is to get the like-colored robot to randomly selected target. The trick is that once a robot starts moving, it will continue to move until a wall or another robot stops it. Therefore, players are seeking a sequence of moves for the robots which will enable them to move the required robot to the target in the fewest moves.

There are two versions of this game: Ricochet Robot (the original, in a maroon-ish box), and the reprint Ricochet Robots (in a blue box). Gameplay is identical in both cases, but the Robots version has slightly more involved maps, with reflectors that will affect some colors of robots but not others. The components from the two versions can be mixed and matched to produce many new boards.



LINKS:
Play online
http://www.braunston.com/kevin/rrobot/rrobot.html
http://www.ricochetrobots.com/RR.html

[Xouanita]

ααααααααααααααα οκ, και τι άλλα, στο σπίτι όλοι καλά?

[Aetonail]

Ωπα ! Play online ;

Αλλά τι να το κάνεις, αμα δεν το έχεις μπροστά σου τι να πει

[Freeman]

Ναι το ονλαιν δέν λέει. Λεπός. Το παραγγείλαμε με τον αετό απο το ιμπέι. Σε καναδεκαπενθήμερο θα σκάσει μύτη. Λοιπόν θα μαζευτούμε σε κάποιο σπίτι για δωρεάν εκπείδευση.

Χουανίτα βαριόμουνα να μεταφράζω ρέ συ

[Piggy]

ααααααααααααααααααααααααααα γι αυτό λέγατε?

[Aetonail]

Yeah ! Robots και taboo !

[Piggy]

ΘΑ ΦΑΤΕ ΤΗΝ ΣΚΟΝΗ ΜΟΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥ

[Xouanita]

Αρχικό μήνυμα απο Freeman

Χουανίτα βαριόμουνα να μεταφράζω ρέ συ

δεν πειράζει καλό μου, θα το διαβάσω στον ελεύθερο μου χρονο.

[Aetonail]

Αρχικό μήνυμα απο Piggy

ΘΑ ΦΑΤΕ ΤΗΝ ΣΚΟΝΗ ΜΟΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥΥ

Προβλέπονται μεγάλες μάχεεεεεεεεεεεεεεες λέμεεεεεεεεεεεεε !

[Freeman]

Αρχικό μήνυμα απο xouanita

δεν πειράζει καλό μου, θα το διαβάσω στον ελεύθερο μου χρονο.

Και σε καναν ακόμα ελεύθερο χρόνο... δέν χτυπάς και καμιά μετάφραση γιατί βαριόμουνα και να το διαβάσω;