Robots on the Line Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Game Components
• Setting Up the Game
  • 1. Production Line Setup
  • 2. Maintenance Tile Setup
  • 3. Bank Setup
  • 4. Torso Setup
  • 5. Buyer Board Setup
  • 6. Bargain Hunter Setup
  • 7. Player Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Trading
  • Line Movement
  • Line Switches
  • Going Through a Junk Pile
  • Torsos
  • Maintenance Tiles
  • Game Play Example
• Completing and Selling a Robot
• Money and Scoring
• Game Index
  • Bases
  • Bonuses
  • Elbows and Splitters
  • Extenders
  • Hands
  • Heads
  • Line Switches
  • Magnets
  • Torsos
• Requirement Tiles
• House Rules
• Alternative Way to Play

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to sell finished robots to eager buyers. Every dollar earned counts as a point at the end of the game. A buyer will only purchase the robot once it meets his or her requirements, and they'll give you extra money for bonuses.

The game ends when either:

• A player builds four robots, OR
• There are no more robot part tiles on the line.

Add up all money, and subtract any negative magnet points. The player with the highest score wins.

Game Components

• 8 Buyer Boards
• 8 Maintenance Tiles
• 1 Bargain Hunter Board
• 60 Money Tiles
• 28 Bonus Tiles
• 6 Bargain Hunter $4 part tiles
• 4 Line Switches
• Requirement Tiles
• 20 Head Tiles
• 20 Base Tiles
• 24 Hand Tiles
• 16 Extender Tiles
• 8 Elbow Tiles
• 8 Splitter Tiles
• 20 Antenna Tiles
• 12 Battery Tiles
• 8 Magnet Tiles
• 20 Torsos
• Production Line (two lines, each with a Draw Pile and a Junk Pile)

Buyer board examples, as printed on the components page:

• 1 Robot: Place one $20 bill in the space to the right. NO MORE BUYS.
• 2 Robots: Place two $20 bills in the space to the right. NO MORE BUYS.
• 3 Robots: Place three $10 bills in the space to the right. NO MORE BUYS.

Requirement tiles and bonus tiles are described in the Game Index below. Bonus tiles pay $5 or $10 from the bank when the robot is sold with all bonuses (see Completing and Selling a Robot).

Maintenance tiles (see Maintenance Tile Setup) include the Line Reset tile (clears both production lines) and the ON/OFF Switch tile (turns all OFF switches ON and all ON switches OFF).

Setting Up the Game

1. Production Line Setup

Place the line switches in the default setup: two ON switches near the Junk Pile and two OFF switches nearest the Draw Pile.

Randomly place 2 robot parts at the end of each line face up to form the Junk Piles. Chevrons on the production line should face toward the Junk Pile. The leftover money and the torsos are placed face up near the Junk Pile.

Switches: The default setup is two switches ON nearest the Junk Piles and the other two OFF.

2. Maintenance Tile Setup

Maintenance tiles affect the production line. The maintenance tiles are activated when an extender tile with a special icon (see Extenders) is selected from the Draw Pile and placed on the line. Once played, maintenance tiles are discarded into a separate discard pile.

3. Bank Setup

Place money tiles to the side to form a bank. Players take money from the bank for bonuses or for any robot parts sold to the Bargain Hunter. Players pay money to the bank for other actions in the game.

4. Torso Setup

Torsos are placed face up in their own stack and should not be shuffled into the draw pile.

On your turn, you can take the torso on the top for free or pay $1 to go through the stack and choose the torso you want.

Torsos can be traded with other players, but you can only have one torso in your hand at a time. Another torso can be acquired once a robot is sold.

Each end of a torso is called a segment. All segments must be ended to sell a robot.

5. Buyer Board Setup

Place the buyer boards face up where all players can see them. Randomly place requirement and bonus tiles on the empty spaces.

• Place requirement tiles on the spaces marked for them. If tiles contradict each other, simply replace them with another. All requirements must be met before you can sell your robot to the buyer. (See the Game Index for further explanation.)
• Randomly place bonus tiles on the spaces marked for them. Duplicate bonuses are fine.
• Money is placed in the space marked for it. The Capitalist only wants one robot, so a $20 bill is placed in this space. Once the money is gone, players cannot sell to that buyer, and the buyer board can be set to the side and out of play.

Number of buyer boards in play:

• 4 players: all eight Buyer Boards
• 3 players: any seven
• 2 players: any six

6. Bargain Hunter Setup

The Bargain Hunter is always looking for, well, a bargain. He'll buy any robot tile from you (except magnets) for $1.

However, in every game he's willing to pay $4 for a certain kind of part. To determine what the Bargain Hunter wants most, choose either heads, bases, batteries, hands, or antennas and place that Bargain Hunter $4 part tile on the board as indicated.

• Sell any single part for $1.
• $4 per tile for one of the randomly selected parts (the $4 part chosen above). In the example in the printed manual, all base tiles are worth $4.

This icon represents the money you'll receive from the bank for completing the bonuses when you sell a robot to the buyer. Remember, you can still sell a robot without earning the bonus.

7. Player Setup

Each player receives $5 and five random robot part tiles. Make sure players have plenty of room to build a robot. After all, that's why you're playing the game!

Note: When dealing robot part tiles, players may not receive a magnet tile as one of their first random parts. If a magnet is dealt, simply deal a new tile and randomly place the magnet back into the draw pile.

Playing the Game

On your turn you can take any of the following actions:

1. Take a tile from the production line (as long as the switch is on).
2. Trade up to 2 tiles from the Junk Pile.
3. Pay to go through a Junk Pile.
4. Trade any number of tiles with another player.
5. Sell tiles to the Bargain Hunter.
6. Sell a finished robot.
7. Take or buy a torso (only one torso in your hand at a time).

Note: You may only take one net new tile on your turn. For example, if you have 6 tiles at the start of your turn you may only have 7 tiles at the end of your turn, with three exceptions:

1. A torso is in addition to taking a part.
2. Using a magnet to take up to 3 tiles.
3. When trading with other players.

At the end of your turn, move robot tiles down one space on the Production Line (see Line Movement).

Trading

Players can trade at any time with another player, and it does not have to be their turn to initiate the trade. Trading with the Junk Piles or with the stack of torsos, however, must be done on that player's turn.

Line Movement

Once your turn is done, the robot tiles on both lines move down one spot. When a robot part tile moves off the line, you place the tile on that line's Junk Pile. Remember, there may be open spaces left on the line.

Line Switches

There must always be two switches on and two switches off. When you turn an OFF switch ON, you must also turn one ON switch OFF.

You can only take a robot part from the production line if the line switch is ON.

Going Through a Junk Pile

On your turn, you can choose to pay $1 to go through one Junk Pile. If you want, you can choose a robot part tile from there instead of taking one from the line. You must keep the Junk Pile in the same order as it was before you went through it. If you want to go through the other Junk Pile, you must pay another $1.

Torsos

You can pick up a torso only on your turn. You can take the one off the top for free, or if you'd like a different one, you can pay $1 to go through the pile.

A player can only have one torso in their hand at a time. Players can trade torsos with other players at any time. You can also trade your torso with the top torso of the torso pile.

Torsos are placed face up near the Junk Pile. You can take the top torso for free or you can pay $1 to choose the torso you want. You can only have one torso in your hand at a time. Remember, all torso segments must be ended for a robot to be completed.

Maintenance Tiles

A maintenance tile is activated when an extender with a special icon is placed on the line.

• Line Reset: The line reset tile clears both production lines. The tiles are discarded to the Junk Piles in order, starting with the closest robot tiles to the Junk Pile.
• ON/OFF Switch: The ON/OFF switch maintenance tile turns all OFF switches ON and all ON switches OFF.

Note: Each side of the production line should be replaced equally. If a maintenance tile is activated, stop replacing parts and draw the maintenance tile. If it's another line reset, remove those tiles in the same manner. If it's the ON/OFF, turn the switches and finish placing new parts on the line.

Game Play Example

Player 1:

1. Player 1 can take one robot part, either from the Production Line or from the Junk Pile. He can trade a robot tile for the top tile in the Junk Pile in addition to taking a tile from the line. In the example, Player 1 chose the robot head from the Production Line and placed it into his hand.
2. Additionally, Player 1 can pick up a torso for free if he doesn't already have one.
3. To finish his turn, Player 1 will move each robot part down one space toward the Junk Piles. Once everything moves down, an antenna and a battery tile will be placed onto the Junk Pile.

Player 2:

1. Before Player 2 can take a robot part tile, she will place two more tiles on the line, one from each draw pile.
2. When her turn is done, she moves the robot parts on both lines down one space. In this case, Player 2 selected a robot head, so the battery will move to the Junk Pile.

Completing and Selling a Robot

Below, a player has almost met the requirements of the Inventor. The last thing he needs is a hand. Any one hand would complete the robot. Three examples are given in the printed manual (the illustrations are not reproduced in this text).

This hand would not meet the Inventor's requirement because it counts as two hands, not one.

A finished robot consists of a torso, a head, and a base. All torso segments need to be completed with hands, antennas, extra heads, or extra bases. Once the money has been collected, stack the tiles from the robot and set them to the side.

When you sell a robot you collect:

• Pick up one $20 tile from the Inventor for meeting the requirements.
• $5 from the bank for the requirement bonus.
• $5 from the bank for getting bonuses.
• $4 from the bank for matching two pink bonus connectors.

Example: Sell for $34 (the Inventor's $20 + $5 requirement bonus + $5 bonus + $4 pink bonus).

Pink Bonus Connectors: If you connect two of these unique connectors, you receive a $4 bonus. Pink connections alone are not worth more than any other part. It's only when combined with another one that you receive the $4 bonus.

Some torsos carry a bonus. A torso with a pink bonus connection gives you the bonus if:

1. It connects to another pink bonus connector;
2. All of its segments are completed; and
3. You sell it with a finished robot.

A torso with a bonus gives the bonus if you complete all of the segments and sell it with a finished robot.

Money and Scoring

Money is how the game is scored. The player with the most money at the end of the game wins. You'll want to keep as much money as you can, but spending money will allow you to do extra things. Remember, all players receive $5 when they start the game.

Game Index

Bases

Every finished robot must have a base. All bases have at least two bonuses, and multiple bases can be used on one robot. There are 7 styles of bases, illustrated in the printed manual.

Bonuses

There are seven types of robot bonuses. They represent certain attributes of the type of robot the buyer is looking for and are found on robot part tiles:

• Medical
• Flight
• Cleaner
• Antenna
• War
• Repair
• Battery

Batteries are bonuses that are sold with a robot but don't attach to a torso.

Elbows and Splitters

Some buyers may require that you sell them a robot with an elbow or two. Or, you may have a torso with only four torso segments but you need multiple hands or heads to meet different requirements. You may also use a splitter to expand your building opportunities. Elbows can help you when you want to build taller robots as well.

Extenders

Extenders add height or extra length to robots to meet certain buyer requirements.

Note: When setting up the game or dealing the initial five robot tiles, the extender icon does not activate a maintenance tile.

Hands

Hands are a requirement for some buyers and end torso segments.

A hand tile shown with the "2 hands" icon counts as two hands.

Note: This hand alone does not fulfill the symmetry requirement.

Heads

All finished robots need to have at least one head. The following tiles are robot heads, shown with their eye counts in the printed manual: 1 eye, 2 eyes, 3 eyes, and 5 eyes.

Note: Antennas are only considered antennas when there is the associated antenna symbol.

Line Switches

The default Line Switches are two ON and two OFF. When a switch is turned ON, another switch must be turned OFF. You can only take a robot part from the production line if the line switch is ON.

Magnets

Magnets come down the line like all of the other robot part tiles. When drawn, a magnet is placed on the line with waves "pulling" toward the draw pile as shown in the printed manual.

Magnets allow you to take two extra parts but don't help you build robots. Robot part tiles must be on the line to be taken. Magnets count as -1 point, so it's not advisable to take one unless it helps you meet the magnet requirement.

• Magnets may be traded to other players but may not be sold to the Bargain Hunter or traded in the Junk Pile.
• A magnet pulls the tile(s) next to it along with it. Because a magnet attaches to the extra parts it pulls, they become one unit. If you take one, you take them all. A magnet can also pull another magnet, and the chain is collected together.
• If a magnet is not taken, it will eventually end up in one of the Junk Piles. Once that happens it's just like any other robot part tile and no longer pulls parts with it.

Magnet requirement: Collect 2 magnet tiles. Negative points do not apply. If this requirement is met and you sell to that buyer, the negative points from two magnets are removed.

Torsos

Torsos are placed face up near the Junk Pile. You can take the top torso for free or you can pay $1 to choose the torso you want. You can only have one torso in your hand at a time. Remember, all torso segments must be ended for a robot to be completed.

Torsos are printed with 3, 4, 5 or 6 segments (3-segmented through 6-segmented torso tiles). Each end of a torso is a segment.

Some torsos carry a bonus; see Pink Bonus Connectors and the torso bonus rules under Completing and Selling a Robot.

Requirement Tiles

Requirement tiles are placed on the buyer boards during setup. A buyer's requirements must all be met before you can sell to that buyer. Each requirement with a $5 Bonus gives $5 from the bank when you sell with all bonuses. The requirement text is reproduced below from the printed manual's requirement index. Some are marked "Only one of these per buyer" or "Only one eye-limit requirement per buyer."

• Eye Limit: Robot must have 1 eye, 3 eyes, 4 eyes, or 6 eyes, no more, no less (only one eye-limit requirement per buyer).
  • Robot must have 3 eyes, no more, no less. To meet this requirement, this robot needs three eyes, no more, no less.
  • Robot must have 4 eyes, no more, no less. To meet this requirement, a robot needs to have four eyes. This will require at least two heads.
  • Robot must have 6 eyes, no more, no less. To meet this requirement, this robot needs to have six eyes. This will require at least two heads. $5 Bonus.
  • Robot must have 1 eye, no more, no less. This requires a robot head with one eye. In other words, you must use one of the six robot heads with one eye. $5 Bonus.
• Tall Robot: Build a robot at least 5 tiles tall from head to base. This robot will need to be five tiles tall. This can include extenders, elbows, elbow/splitters, heads and bases. $5 Bonus.
• Wide Robot: Build a robot at least 5 tiles wide from hand to hand (or antenna). Build a robot that is five tiles wide from hand to hand or antenna to antenna. $5 Bonus.
• Long Arm: Build an arm that is at least 3 tiles wide (hand or antenna). Build a robot that has an arm at least three tiles wide. This can include extenders, elbows, elbow/splitters and hands. $5 Bonus.
• Extender: Build a robot with at least 1 extender. To meet this requirement, the robot needs to have at least one extender.
• Splitter: Build a robot with at least 1 splitter. Build a robot that has at least one splitter. $5 Bonus.
• Two Heads: Build a robot that has 2 heads of any style. This robot requires two heads of any style. Only one of these per buyer.

House Rules

The printed manual lists these optional variants:

ON/OFF Variant: Instead of the mandatory "turn one switch ON and one switch OFF" rule, try turning one switch ON or OFF. You may end up with all the switches on, but beware the maintenance tiles as they flip every tile so you may end up with everything OFF!

3 New Tiles Variant: Once you've built and sold a robot, you can pick up 3 new robot tiles from the junk yard. You can only draw from the tops of either pile, no sneaking through to hand-pick the parts.

Maintenance Tile Variant: There are a couple of options for maintenance tiles. One, you can remove all of the "line reset" maintenance tiles. Or, simply reduce the number of both the "line reset" tiles and the "ON/OFF" tiles to any number you like.

Alternative Way to Play

For an easier, faster game, there is an alternative way to play the game that makes it faster and easier for younger players to pick up.

Gap note: the printed manual describes the simplified game only by reference to a video tutorial (www.RobotsontheLine.com/simplified). No written steps for the simplified game appear in the rulebook, so none are transcribed here.