ROBO RALLY (2016 EDITION)
Richard Garfield’s chaotic robot-racing title has been given a tune-up and fresh coat of paint, but is that enough to survive today?
Avalon Hill | £39.99 | Card programming | 2-6 players | 45-120 minutes Age: 12+ | avalonhill.wizards.com/games/robo-rally
One of Richard Garfield’s earliest projects, dating back to the mid-1980s, the original Robo Rally wasn’t published until 1994, after the now legendary designer had found success with Magic: The Gathering.
This new edition is the most drastic revision of the robot-racing title to date, but it still bears many of the hallmarks of its 30-year history - offering something that feels dated, especially in the face of contemporary spiritual successors such as Mechs vs Minions.
What remains timeless is the theme. Programming robots to whizz around a factory floor packed with conveyor belts, springs, lasers and pits in an attempt to beat their rivals to a series of checkpoints holds the inexhaustible smash ‘em crash ‘em appeal as Robot Wars (also experiencing a recent resurrection). What makes Robo Rally such a joy (at least in concept) is the very probable chance of careening wildly out of control as the machines blast and shunt each other, ruining a carefully- plotted run of moves.