Reading Time: 4 minutes
ROBiTS is a fast, family card game designed by GeekDad John “Hex” Carter and Mat Nicholson. Players compete to take the robot pieces they need from the production line, earning bonuses for matching colors.
Components
- 91 Cards:
– 20 Green “Big Henry” Parts
– 15 Purple “Klunc” Parts
– 15 Pink “Jenny-5” Parts
– 15 Gold “N-Watts” Parts
– 10 Blue “BT-4” Parts
– 6 Sparkeez
– 6 Junk
– 4 Overclock - 5 Rules Sheets (English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese)
How Do You Play ROBiTS?
Setup
All the ROBiTS cards are shuffled together then dealt out into a grid. Each row of the grid contains seven cards but the number of rows is determined by the number of players. Cards in the bottom row are face up, all other cards are face down. The remaining cards are left in a draw pile.
Gameplay
ROBiTS is played over seven rounds. During each round, each player will select a single card from the production line and add it to their hand. Bot pieces, junk cards, and Sparkeez cards are held until all the cards have been taken from the production line. Overclock cards are immediately exchanged for the top two cards in the draw pile and the player gets to keep one of these two cards.
Players may choose to take any card from the production line, regardless of whether it is face up or face down. If a card is taken which still has other cards in the rows above it, those cards slide down and the card now on the bottom row is flipped over to be face up. If you’re confused by how this works, I filmed a demonstration to show how choosing different cards from the production line affects the remaining cards.
Once all the cards in the production line have been chosen, it’s time to build your bot. Every ROBiT is made from exactly one head, one torso, one pair of legs, and two arms. Junk cards can be substituted for any of this pieces; they score zero points but may allow you to complete your bot and become eligible for bot bonus points. After all the players have created their bots, final scoring begins.
Scoring
There are three parts to scoring a game of ROBiTS.
- The scores on all cards inside a player’s bot are added together, even if the bot is incomplete.
- If the bot has completed (it contains a head, torso, legs, and two arms—including junk if required), then a bot bonus may be added.
- Any Sparkeez cards add three points to the player’s score.
Bot bonus points can be earned by having multiple bot cards of the same color in your ROBiT. Blue cards earn the least bonus points (1 point for three matching cards, 3 points for four matching cards, and 5 points for five matching cards), Green cards earn the most bonus points (5 points for 3 matching cards, 10 points for four matching cards, and 15 points for five matching cards). Purple, pink, and gold cards all score in the middle (3 points for 3 matching cards, 5 points for 4 matching cards, and 10 points for five matching cards). These bot bonus points usually decide the winner of the game, so it pays to work on getting those bonuses when you are choosing cards from the production line.
Why Should You Play ROBiTS?
ROBiTS is a cute little game with some of the most fun artwork I’ve seen in awhile. It’s very simple to learn and plays in around 10 to 15 minutes, making it a perfect filler between longer games or great if you want something to grab for a quick pre-bedtime game. The game can take up to seven players which is good news for larger families who are rarely catered to; a large number of possible players, small box size, and simple rules also makes this a good choice for youth groups.
The age recommendation from the designers is for age ten and up; personally, we found this to be far too high. My eight-year-old told me that he already found the game a bit too young for him, although given that he is already playing age 13+ games, his opinion may be something of an outlier. My husband and I agreed that we thought the game would be good for age six and up, although some younger players will need help calculating their scores and understanding the bonus points system.
We enjoyed playing ROBiTS and liked the way the game’s points system challenges you to really think about which cards to select from the production line in order to maximize your score. The fun, brightly colored artwork appeals to kids and adults alike with its retro-Futureworld style, and although the game is easy enough to explain and play with younger kids, there’s also enough going on to hold the interest of parents too. At only around $10-12, ROBiTS is a great addition to your family gaming shelf.
GeekMom received this item for review purposes.
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