How to Play Ricochet Robots

Basics

• 1

  Grab a copy. Ricochet Robots retails for around $20, and can either be found at your local game store, or online.

• 2

  Find some players! Ricochet Robots can be played with two or more players, and the more the merrier!

• 3

  Lay out the board. There are four pieces to the board, each of which has two sides. Feel free to place them in a random combination and orient the board pieces in any way you wish. This is part of what makes it interesting: there are dozens of board combinations. Place the grey plastic piece on the center of the board when you've got a board you like.

• 4

  Lay out the four colored chips. These indicate the starting positions of the robots. Simply toss one onto each quadrant of the board.

• 5

  Grab the timer and the circular chips from the box. Turn all the circular chips upside down, then place one on the grey tile in the center.

• 6

  Let the fun commence!

Gameplay

• 7

  Turn over the circular chip in the middle. On the other side, you will see a symbol (star, compass, etc.) that corresponds to a similar symbol on the board and a color of one of the robots. Your goal is to get the specified color robot to the symbol you just turned over in the least number of moves possible.

• 8

  Remember that robots can only be moved one at a time.

• 9

  Mentally map out a route for your robot to get to the goal. There are some catches, however. 1) Robots can only move in straight lines, up, down, left and right. They CANNOT move diagonally. 2) When you move a robot in a certain direction, it keeps traveling in that direction until it encounters an obstacle. Robots do not stop without another object to stop them (colored bumper, wall, another robot) 3) You can move as many robots as you wish, and finally 4) The player who makes it to the goal in the fewest moves calls out the number of moves it takes them.

• 10

  Use the color bars in one of two ways. Bars that are the same color as the robot approaching them act as clear tiles; the robot will simply pass through them. Bars that are not the same color as the approaching robot act as bumpers, and will bounce them off at a 90-degree angle.

• 11

  Turn over the hourglass timer when someone calls out a number. The other players have until the timer runs out to figure out a shorter route. At the end, the player who calls the lowest number shows how they did it. If it works, they are awarded the circular chip in the center, and the next one is drawn from the pile.

• 12

  Gameplay ends when the last chip is awarded. Whoever has the most chips is the winner!