Robo Rally
Created by: Renegade Game Studios
Contributors: Richard Garfield
Published: Wizards of the Coast, 1994
Genre: Strategy
Number of Players: 2-6
Play Time: 45-90 minutes
Keywords
strategy, multiplayer, programmed movements, robots, card game, technology, board game, family-fun, complicated, time-consuming
Short Description
This game is a fast-paced strategy game. The goal of the game is to be the first one to get your robot through the pre-designed maze, done by following a pre-determined set of tasks. The game is played in phases, and each player follows the same set of phases at the same time.
Themes
The central theme of the game is to tag the most checkpoints while upgrading your robot and building a warehouse.
Type
This is a fast-paced strategy racing game, with the goal to be the fastest to complete a set list of tasks.
Mechanics
The game is played in rounds, and each round is made up of three different types of “phases”. Every player completes all the steps of the phase at the same time before moving onto the next phase.
Key Components
- 4 Game Boards
- Robot Figures
- Strategy Cards
- Tracking Tokens
- Rulebook
Annotated Bibliography
- Geek, Board Game. “Robo Rally.” BoardGameGeek, 2016, boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/216201/robo-rally.
The purpose of this website is to provide a summary of everything about the game. From the instructions, to ratings, to images, and history of the game, this website breaks down everything you would need to know about the game. This is relevant because it has something for everyone, new and experienced.
- Game Studios, Renegade. “Robo Rally.” Renegade Game Studios, 7 July 2023, renegadegamestudios.com/robo-rally/.
-The purpose of this website is the video trailer. Prospective players get to see a video of the same actually in action, and see players having fun in the game. This is relevant because it is important to actually see the game in action when deciding whether or not to purchase the game.
- Unknown. “RoboRally.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RoboRally.
The purpose of this article is to provide basic instructions, along with some history of the game. They list the rules and pieces of the game, and then provide some history on the story of the game, along with it’s design and publication history. This is relevant to people new to the game because it shows how the game is actually played, and to experienced players because they can understand the backstory to the game they love to play.
- Amazon.com. “Amazon.Com: Renegade Game Studios | Robo Rally |strategy Board Game.” Amazon, 1 July 2023, www.amazon.com/Renegade-Game-Studios-pre-Painted-minutures/dp/B0BRYNYK2H.
The purpose of this website is the review section. This gives honest, real-world reviews about the game from real people who have actually purchased the game for themselves. It is rated a 4.7 out of 5 stars, so the people who have purchased it have really enjoyed it. It is relevant because you have to know what other people who have tested the product think about it, good and bad.
- Duffy, Owen. “Classic Bot-Programming Game Robo Rally Has Not Aged Well.” Ars Technica, 11 Mar. 2017, arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/03/board-game-review-robo-rally-is-bot-programming-chaos/.
The purpose of this website is simply to critique some of the errors of the game. Most commonly, it references how the old version of the game was widely-enjoyed, and how the new game is missing some of the features that made the old one fun. It is relevant because you always wanna know the bad parts of things, not just all the good.