Robogem Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Preparing to Play
• The Aim of the Game
• Command Cards
• Taking Your Turn
• Capturing Diamonds
• Ending the Game
• Upping Your Game with a Function Call!
• Variations

Preparing to Play

• Place the 12 spaceblockers and the 10 diamonds on the board as shown in the picture. All the diamonds are of equal value.

Board layout

• Each player chooses a robot and places it on the corresponding base in each corner of the board. Each robot is placed on its base so that the black arrow points towards the base opposite, as shown above.

• Remove all the Function cards (10) from the 'command card pack'.

• Shuffle the pack.

• Deal 5 command cards to each player face up.

• Place the pack next to the board face down.

The Aim of the Game

The youngest player starts. Taking turns, each player moves their robot according to their command cards. In this way, each player's robot executes its program.

Command Cards

You command your robot with four different command cards:

• FORWARD – the robot moves one square forward. (50 cards)
• LEFT – the robot turns 90 degrees anticlockwise on the spot. (25 cards)
• RIGHT – the robot turns 90 degrees clockwise on the spot. (25 cards)
• FUNCTION – with a Function or 'F Card', you can save a series of 1–5 command cards. (10 cards)

Illustration captions: Executing a 5-step program. Starting position. Example of a series of command cards (program): the robot turns on the spot in the direction indicated by the orange arrow on the robot; the robot moves one square forward in the direction indicated by the black arrow on the robot; the robot turns on the spot in the direction indicated by the yellow arrow on the robot; the robot moves one square forward in the direction indicated by the black arrow on the robot; the robot turns on the spot in the direction indicated by the yellow arrow on the robot.

Taking Your Turn

1. When it's your turn to play, arrange your cards in a row in front of you so that they form a series of commands, namely the program. You can use all your cards, or get rid of any you don't need by putting them in the 'spare pack'. After arranging your cards, your program is ready and you are not allowed to change it anymore!
2. Execute your program from left to right one card at a time by moving your robot accordingly. If you can't proceed (e.g. a 'spaceblocker' is blocking your path), the program is terminated and you continue from point number 5 below.
3. If your robot reaches a square with a diamond on it, your robot picks up the diamond and keeps going.
4. If your robot reaches a square with another robot on it, you can push the other robot onto the next square. If the robot you push has a diamond, you can capture the diamond.
5. After you have executed your program, put your used cards in the spare pack and take five new cards from the command card pack. Then it's the next player's turn.

If you can't form the program that you want from your cards, you can simply 'rest and recharge' by missing a turn: put your cards in the spare pack and this time take 7 cards from the 'command card pack'. Then the turn passes to the next player.

When the command cards run out, shuffle the spare pack. This then becomes the new command card pack. Note: This can only be done once during the game. The game ends when the command cards run out for the second time.

The youngest players and beginners can use just one command card at a time instead of the whole program. More experienced players can help beginners to give their robots good commands.

Illustration captions: Executing a 4-step program: the green robot moves two squares forward, turns to the right on the spot, and then moves one square forward. Bug in the program!: the third command for the red robot cannot be executed because it would lead the robot off the board; the robot has to stop where it is after the second move. Capturing a diamond: the red robot pushes the green robot forward before turning to the right and continuing on its way. During the push, one diamond is transferred from the green robot to the red robot.

Capturing Diamonds

• If the robot you push has several diamonds, you can capture one diamond for every square that you push the other robot forward.
• Capturing a diamond is possible only if the opposing robot can be pushed according to the rules (e.g. pushing off the board or pushing into a spaceblocker is forbidden).
• If the robot enters its base with diamonds, the diamonds are left at the base and the robot can return to collect more diamonds.
• Warning! If you push a robot onto a square that contains a diamond, the pushed robot gets the diamond.
• The arrows on the pushed robot have no effect.
• A robot cannot push two robots at the same time, or push spaceblockers.
• If the pushing robot already has three diamonds, no more diamonds can be captured. But pushing is still possible in this case.
• If a robot is carrying three diamonds, it can't collect any more. This robot can no longer enter squares that contain diamonds because they then turn into obstacles.
• A robot cannot move or be pushed outside the limits of the board or pass through a spaceblocker.
• A robot cannot enter another robot's base.

Ending the Game

The game ends when the first player has brought three diamonds at his or her base. But the game can also end when the command card pack runs out for the second time. In this case, the round continues until all the command cards still in play have been used. Then the game is over.

If the game ends before anyone has three diamonds at their base, the winner is the one who has the most diamonds at their base. In the event of two or more players having the same number of diamonds back at base, the winner is the one whose robot is carrying the most diamonds.

Upping Your Game with a Function Call!

Skilled players can add a further challenging element to the game – function! In this case, the ten F Cards are also shuffled in the command card pack at the start of the game.

Instead of discarding unused cards in the spare card pack, the player can form a function with them, which is a separate series of command cards placed face-up next to the main program that the player creates (see below). The cards that form the function remain on the table until the end of the game and will not be put into the spare pack at any time.

When a player is dealt an F Card and decides to include it in his or her main program, the F Card will always 'call' and execute the whole function. The execution of the program will, however, always stop at the first 'inoperable command'.

A function can consist of a maximum of 5 cards. If you want to add more cards to the function, they can only be added to the end of the function, not at the beginning or in the middle. Cards cannot be removed from the function.

Note! A function itself can also end in an 'F Card', in which case the function will be executed repeatedly until the first 'inoperable command'. A function that calls itself in this way is called a recursive function.

Illustration captions: Executing a function within a program: the green robot executes the function, moving the robot two squares forward. Then the robot turns to the right and moves one square forward. A function 'called' by an F Card in the upper row (main program); the whole series of commands that will be executed is shown below.

Variations

You can change the layout on the board by placing spaceblockers and diamonds in a different formation.

If the game seems too challenging, you can play without the possibility of capturing diamonds from your opponents.