NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2

COMPONENTS

• pencils
• graph paper
• chess board (or 8x8 grid)
• 1 black token (pawn,checker, nickel, etc.)
• 1 white token

PREMISE

Robot boxing.

HOW TO WIN

Knock out your opponent by hitting him where it counts. The winner is the first to have destroyed all of the enemies lasers or all of the enemies engines. (The booster is considered neither an engine nor a weapon.) A tie can happen if the robots knock each other out simultaneously.

SETUP

PREPARE ROBOTS:

Each player has one robot. Each robot is represented by a grid of nine squares on a slip of graph paper like so:

Before the fight begins, players must configure their robots. The layout plan for a robot is kept secret from the other player until the fight ends. Both players secretly mark every space on their own robot with a letter: a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i. All letters must be used. For example:

Now both players must assign four lasers to their own robots. Each letter circled represents a laser. (Lasers are in shown below in parentheses rather than circles).

Now both players must assign one booster to their own robots. The letter with a square represents a booster. (Booster is shown with square brackets rather than a square). It is always placed in the center (unless using optional rules).

The remaining four slots are engines, which allow for mobility.

CREATE THE BOXING RING:

Lay out the chess board or draw a new grid on graph paper. Robots start in random opposite corners. For example, Fred and Sally are marked F and S.

PLAY

Players should sit side by side so up is the same for both players.

Let's say Fred's robot looks like this:

And Sally's robot looks like this:

Players write down their moves on a sheet of paper and then the results are revealed simultaneously.

The robots are then moved according to the written projections.

Damage is then dispensed simultaneously if applicable according to the laser designated to fire.

During a turn a player may do any of then following provided the robot is in sufficient condition:

• move and shoot
• move
• shoot

Shooting always happens after movement, but the players must write their moves and note which turret is firing before anything is revealed. If the turret firing is destroyed then it still gets its last shot out. Same for the booster and engines. The effects of damage only affect the next turn.

The target slot (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i) for damage is also written down before all is revealed. Both players should keep track of which slots are damaged on the enemy so they don't target an already damaged slot.

So a player must write down the following during a turn:

move: a2+d1 (this shows how engine thrusts are sequenced and how much power is distributed to each)

turret: g (this is the turret that will be firing, thereby defining the danger zone for the enemy)

target: b (this is target slot on the enemy robot that will be destroyed if the enemy ends up within range)

 

Play continues until the victory conditions are met. (See "how to win" above).

MOVEMENT:

Robots never turn facing or spin.

A robot may move a number of spaces up to the total number of undestroyed engine sections times 2 if the booster is not destroyed. For example if Sally has 3 undamaged engines and an undamaged booster she may move up to 6 spaces. A booster may only be used for either movement or shooting but not BOTH in a single turn.

A robot may not move off the board.

A robot may only move in a direction according to the configuration of its engines. If an undestroyed engine is located in the SW slot of the robot then it may move diagonally SW. For example, if Sally has an engine in the SW corner "a" and has all 4 total engines plus a booster she may move she may move along the line shown below.

For example, if Sally has an engine in the SW corner "a" and has 4 total undamaged engines but she wants to save her booster for shooting, then she can only move within 4 spaces in the SW direction.

For example, if Fred has an engine in the east side "h" and has all 4 total engines but he wants to save his booster for shooting, then he can only move anywhere within 4 spaces in the east direction.

A robot can however combine engine movements during a single move provided the engines allow. Fred uses the east engine and the north engine in combination to move 2 east then 2 north. He can't move diagonally NE directly as the NE is occupied by a weapon, but he can combine the North engine and the East engine to essentially move diagonally though it is slower. Any number of engines may be used in sequence but they must be written out explicitly when making the move. A robot may never move more spaces than the total engine sum (plus the booster doubler if used).

SHOOTING:

A robot can only fire according to the configuration of its lasers. If an undestroyed laser is located in the NE slot of the robot then it can shoot in an area spreading north east from the robot and only a distance equal to its total number of lasers times 2 if the booster is not destroyed. However if the booster was used for movement it CAN NOT be used for shooting as well in a single turn.

Lasers do not work the same as movement. Only one laser may fire in a turn. They may not be used in combination. The booster if used for shooting merely increases range. Lasers fire within an area spreading away from the turret.

This is best explained through example. Fred chooses to use his "d" laser in the NE turret. He can shoot in a range up to his total laser power times two if the booster is used. Let's say that he already used his booster for movement and he has all four lasers so his total range is 4. So he can hit any robot within the blue zone marked below.

Or let's say he wants to use his west gun marked "e". He can fire any position up to four spaces away in the westerly direction (including counting diagonally) as shown in the blue field below:

OPTIONAL RULES

Multiple robots at once.

Larger or smaller playing field.

More than 2 players.

Allow engines or weapons to be placed in the center slot.

DEVELOPMENT HISTORY

This sprang into mind with the intent of making a mostly paper game and going back to the "configure, then play" method. And again I tried hard to keep it simple but with some variation and customization so the game is not totally random. Reminiscent of RoboRally I suppose.