Robo Rally

About this board game

Robo Rally is a robot racing game for 2–6 players, with each race taking about 120 minutes. Players program their robots to speed through a hazardous automobile factory, navigating corridors and reaching checkpoints in numerical order.

Each player has a personal deck of twenty cards containing the same set of cards as every other player. At the start of a turn, draw nine cards, program five of them, and discard the rest. Your programmed cards reveal how your robot moves, while two “Again” cards repeat the action in the previous register slot.

Movement order is no longer determined by priority numbers in this edition. Instead, the robot closest to a transmitter on the board moves first, adding a positional consideration to every turn. An “Energy” card provides an energy cube that can be used to buy options.

The factory is packed with obstacles that can disrupt even the best-laid plans. Industrial lasers, gaping pits, and moving conveyor belts can make or break the race, while rival robots and sabotage create further dangers on the course.

• Program five cards from a nine-card hand each turn.
• Race through the factory toward checkpoints in numerical order.
• Use transmitters to determine movement order.
• Manage damage cards that enter your deck and interfere with programming.

Damage in Robo Rally is handled through cards shuffled into your deck. Ordinary board or laser damage gives you “spam”; when programmed, it is removed at the appropriate time and replaced in the register by the top card of your deck. Other damage includes a Trojan horse, which grants two spam, a virus that infects nearby players, and a worm that forces a reboot and gives you even more damage.