Robot Rampage: Rise of the Appliance
Robot Rampage: Rise of the Appliance Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Contents
This package contains:
- 1 instruction sheet (you're reading it now)
- 36-card Build Deck (with the yellow & black striped edges)
- 84-card Battle Deck (with the dark edges)
You'll also need about 30 wound markers. These can be pennies, paperclips, or whatever other small objects you have around the house.
2. The Basics
Play begins with a Build Phase during which players build the robots that will become embroiled in the raging melee that takes place in the Battle Phase. During the Battle Phase, players take turns wreaking destruction on their opponents until only one robot remains. The last robot standing is the winner!
3. What's in the Cards
Build Cards represent individual pieces of robots. Each robot is composed of one of each part. The text on a build card tells you everything you need to know about the part.
Some of the Build Cards are Torso cards. Torso cards determine a robot's color as well as the number of wounds that the robot may take before being destroyed.
Battle Cards represent things that happen as the fight. The top half of a Battle Card, the half with the gray background, contains the information that you need when using the card to make an attack. The bottom half of a Battle Card, the half with the white background, contains a text area that describes how the card can be used in other ways before you make your attack during your turn.
Battle cards are further divided into several different kinds as indicated by the type heading in the text area. The types of action cards are described below.
- Actions may only be played during your turn. Players must perform the game text of the card as written to the best of their ability. Action cards are placed in the Discard Pile once resolved.
- Boosters are played along with an attack to make the attack more effective.
- Responses may be used according to the text on the card. They are generally played during someone else's turn.
- Replacement parts may be placed on your robot if your robot has lost the corresponding part.
4. What are you talking about?
Battle Deck: the deck of Battle Cards in the center of the table from which players occasionally draw cards. When the Battle Deck is empty, just reshuffle the Discard Pile.
Discard Pile: the pile next to the Battle Deck where players discard Action cards and Hit Location draws.
Discard a card: putting a card on the table, resolving its effects, and placing it in the Discard pile.
Play a card: putting a card on the table, resolving its effects, and returning it to the bottom of your stack.
Point value: the sum of the values of all of a robot's parts; each part's value is the circled number on the part's Build Card.
Stack: your personal pile of cards that lies, face down, on the table next to your robot.
Wild card: A card whose Strength value color does not match the color of any robot torso in play is wild and may be used to attack any robot.
5. Preparation
Remove the 6 torso cards from the Build Deck and place them face up in the center of the table. The dealer shuffles the remaining cards in the Build Deck and places the Build Deck in the middle of the table.
6. Build the Robots
Starting with the player to the dealer's left and going clockwise around the table, each player draws 1 card from the top of the Build Deck and places it face up on any available torso card. Each robot must have exactly 1 right arm, 1 left arm, 1 accessory, 1 head, and 1 leg card (1 of each part).
When you complete a robot by laying the final card on a torso, take the completed robot from the center and lay it out in front of you as pictured in the diagram. This is your robot for the fight. The remaining players continue this process until each player has one robot. Place any remaining parts to one side; you will not need them for the rest of the game.
7. Are You Ready to…
The dealer shuffles the cards in the Battle Deck and deals the battle cards. Each player gets a number of cards equal to the point value of his own robot. The cards dealt to a player go face down on the table to make the player's Stack. Players may not look at the cards in their Stack.
Once each player's Stack has a number of cards equal to his robot's point value, place the Battle Deck in the middle of the table. Each player then draws the top 3 cards from his own stack as his hand.
8. …Rrrrrrrampage!
Play begins with the shortest player and proceeds clockwise around the table. A robot is destroyed when its player runs out of cards or when it takes its last torso wound. The player with the last robot standing is the winner!
First of all, take a look at the Battle Cards. Notice that every card in the Battle Deck has a Strength, a Hit Location, and a Text Area. The content of the Text Area is an Action, a Response, or a Replacement Part.
When it's your turn, do the following:
- Play as many Action cards from your hand as you like as long as you reserve at least one card to make an attack at the end of your turn.
- Make one attack against another robot.
- Replenish your hand to 3 cards by drawing from your Stack.
You may play as many Action cards from your hand as you wish as long as you reserve at least 1 card for an attack. You do not have to play any Actions. If you have a Replacement card for a part that your robot is missing, you may play that on your robot now. After playing your Actions and Replacements (if any), you must make one Attack. Making your Attack ends your turn.
To make an Attack against a robot, play as many cards as you like on the opposing robot of your choice according to the following restrictions. The color of the Strength value must match the color of the torso of the robot that you are attacking. If you do not have a card that matches the torso color of a robot in play, you may play 1 wild card on any robot. If you cannot make an attack because of the color restriction, you must discard 1 card for no effect and your turn is over.
If you have any Boosters or your robot has an Accessory, you may play them according to the text printed on the cards. Color never matters when using the text area of a card.
Add the combined strength values of the cards that you played, applicable boosters, and the accessory (if used), to the combined Attack values of your robot's remaining arms. This total is your attack strength.
The defending player may defend against the attack by playing from his hand either 1 wild card or up to 3 cards whose color matches his robot's torso. The defender adds the cards' combined Strength to the defense value of his robot. A robot's defense value is the sum of all defense values on the Build Cards that make the robot. The grand total is the defense strength.
To resolve your attack, compare the attack strength to the defense strength. If the defense strength is greater than your attack strength, the attack fails and has no effect. If your attack strength equals or exceeds the defense strength, the attack is successful. In either case, both you and the defending player return the cards you played to the bottom of your respective stacks.
Note that when you play a booster card, occasionally something prevents you from resolving its effect immediately. If this happens, place the booster card next to your robot and resolve it as soon as possible.
If your attack is successful, you do two things. First, draw a card from the top of the Battle Deck. The defender removes from his robot the part specified in the Hit Location on this card. If the Hit Location is "Torso," if the Hit Location is another part but the defending robot is missing that part, and/or if the attacker played boosters that inflict Torso wounds, place the appropriate number of wound markers on the target robot's torso card. When the number or wound counters on a robot's torso equal or exceed the torso's wounds, the robot is destroyed and its player is eliminated.
Next, subtract the defense strength from your attack strength. Draw from the top of the defending player's stack a number of cards equal to this difference. Unless you have a card that says otherwise, you may not look at these cards. Place them at the bottom of your stack. Take cards first from the defender's stack. If there aren't enough cards in the stack, take them from the defender's hand. If the defender doesn't have enough cards, his robot is destroyed and that player is eliminated from the game. All cards from an eliminated player's hand and stack are placed in the discard pile.
9. Special Effects
If your robot loses its head, you may not play wild cards as defense cards until you find a replacement head.
As robots are eliminated from the game, special rules come into play according to the number of players remaining. These reflect additional hazards in the arena (they gotta sell tickets, right?). The following effects are cumulative:
- 6 or more players: No special rules.
- 5 players: Pit Traps! If you attack a robot successfully, you may immediately make a second attack against the same robot. This rule supersedes the rule that limits the number of attacks to one per player per turn.
- 4 players: Buzz Saws! If you successfully defend against an attack, take a number of cards equal to the difference between the defense strength and the attack strength from the attacking player's stack. Place the cards at the bottom of your stack. You may not look at these cards unless you have a card that says otherwise.
- 3 or fewer players: You can only use wild cards to attack another robot. You cannot use wild cards to defend.
10. Optional Rule
If you would like to add another dimension of strategy to the game, you may change the victory conditions. Under this rule, the winner is not the player who has the last remaining robot, but the player who has the most cards at the end of the game.