ROBOTS! is a casual strategy card game where players try to collect robots—consisting of runs like 2,3,4 or sets like "three of a kind" in poker—while defending collections from the onslaught of robot violence. It's a race to collect as many points as possible while dodging freakin' laser beams and avoiding short circuits. It can be played with 2-5 players ages 12+ with a single game consisting of multiple hands, lasting about 60-120 minutes total.

Gameplay

ROBOTS! is a take on Rummy meaning it's a "draw and discard" card game, but with a Take That mechanic.

The "Constructed Robot" cards are removed from the deck and each player is given an "Attack Card" to help remember the rules. The most technically inclined player is selected to deal first (this is ROBOTS! after all). The dealer shuffles the deck and deals each player seven cards, clockwise starting to the dealer's left. The remaining cards are placed face-down in the center of play and the top card is turned face-up. The face-down cards become the "Robot Factory" and the face-up cards form the "Scrap Heap" (also known as the discard pile). The first player is the person to the dealer's left.

The Player's Turn

On a player's turn, they will first draw from either the "Robot Factory" (stack of face-down cards) or pick up one or more cards from the "Scrap Heap" (the face-up/discarded cards). If the player picks up more than one card from the Scrap Heap, the bottom-most picked up card must be played that hand in a spread (we'll get to that in a minute). Otherwise, picking the top card from the Factory or Scrap Heap does not require the player to lay down any cards at all; the player may save the card for later play.

The player now makes a spread if they have the ability, although sometimes waiting can be a useful strategy. A spread must consist of at least three cards and can be:

A sequence of numbered cards (run) of the same suit (color) such as all gray 2,3,4 or all purple 11,12,13.

A set of the same numbered cards such as red 9, green 9 and blue 9.

A star card can be used as either a 1 or a 15, but runs cannot wrap around. Red star, 2, 3 is allowed, but 14, star, 2 is not.

The wild robot can be used in place of any number, but it will prevent the player from constructing a robot (stay tuned).

These spreads will go in front of the player face-up for all to see. They will remain there until the end of the hand (or until an opponent blows them to bits with an attack card). The player can lay down as many spreads as desired on their turn, but they may never pick a card back up from a laid down spread. Once the player has completed their laying down of spreads (or of course done nothing), the player must discard a card from their hand to the top of the Scrap Heap. Be sure that all of the card numbers are visible since players may elect to pick these cards up on their turn.

Ending the Hand and Scoring

Play will continue clockwise until one person plays all of their cards leaving one final card to discard, thus ending the hand. Points are tallied and the dealer duties rotate to the left. Points are awarded for cards played in a spread such that:

Cards numbered 2-9 are worth five points
Cards numbered 10-14 are worth ten points
The star cards are worth fifteen points
Wild cards are worth zero

The spread points are positive, but any cards still in a player's hand when another player discards their last card become negative. Yup, it's entirely possible to end the hand with less than zero points. Write the scores down and the dealer passes to the left.

At this point, you might say, hey, this is EXACTLY Rummy. But no! We have robots, and these robots have special powers.

Building a Robot

If a player makes a spread of all five of the same robot, the player has "constructed the robot" and gets 50 bonus points in addition to the normal point values of the cards. However, if a player uses a wild card in the set, the player does not build a robot and thus earns zero bonus points.

Remember those "Constructed Robot" cards we removed at the beginning? When a player builds a robot, remove those five cards from the hand and replace them with the corresponding "Constructed Robot" card. These robots are impervious to attacks. At the end of the hand, the robot is disassembled and the original five cards are shuffled back into the deck.

Robot Powers

There are also six attacks that take effect when the corresponding card is discarded to the Scrap Heap. These are powerful moves that can shift the game dynamic, but the actions are only playable on the high-point cards. Choosing to discard and play a powerful card means an opponent may either score them or use the power against you.

The six powers are:

Short Circuit: When discarded, choose a player. That player must place two cards from their hand on the bottom of the scrap heap. That player draws two cards from the robot factory.

Tractor Beam: When discarded, place the bottom half of the scrap heap under the robot factory. Don’t count this card and round up if the heap has an odd number of cards.

Recycle: When discarded, take any single card from the scrap heap into your hand.

Force Field: When discarded, the next player cannot pick up any cards from the scrap heap.

Freakin' Laser Beam: When discarded, place both this card and a card from an opponent’s sets under the scrap heap, this card lowest. If a set is broken, the remaining cards return to the owner’s hand.

Alpha + Omega: When discarded, place both this card and a card from an opponent’s sets under the robot factory. If a set is broken, the remaining cards go onto the bottom of the scrap heap.

Ending the Game

The first player to score 300 points at the end of a hand wins the game. Feel free to change the victory points required to win to a lower or higher number to shorten or lengthen the game, respectively.

-description from designer