Rio Grande Games: Ricochet Robots - Abstract Strategy Board Game, Moving Robots, Find The Shortest Route, Party Game, Ages 14+, 1-100 Players

Excellent game for building sequential logic skills and mental visualization. Simple rules so the kids are up and playing in minutes. No limit on the number of players so lots of fun for the whole family. You can make your own rules so lots of variety. Definitely mentally stimulating.

I give this toy three stars for learning, but that is only because it doesn't have facts for you to learn like "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?".This game does, however, teach you how to think about things in different ways. Without this skill, the player is doomed to lose.I was introduced to this game with the description, "It's everyone's turn, all the time." This was enough to pique my interest, and I am glad that it did. The point of the game is to maneuver a robot onto a targeted square on the board in the least number of moves. The trick is that the robots can only move in straight lines forward, backward, left, or right, and they can not stop until they hit something else.The trick, oftentimes, is to use more robots to maneuver the targeted robot onto the targeted square. The difficulty is in getting trapped into thinking that this is always necessary. With surprising regularity, it seems that a 23-move, three-robot solution is all you can find, until someone points out a five-move, single-robot solution.With the addition of house rules (like color-specific walls, which come in this latest version), additional obstacles, dead squares (where the robot gets stuck for X number of rounds, etc.), this game has virtually endless replay potential. The game even has the potential for handicapping players by not allowing them to use one robot for each round or by limiting them to bouncing off of at least one wall, etc., making it more fun for players of different skill levels.My wife, who is not a gamer like me, even enjoys this game, which speaks to its broader audience. Finally, it is important to note that this is a great party game, able to be played by as many people as can see the board.A truly great family game, and indispensable for those with family game night.Harkius

This game is one that definitely gives your brain a workout. It involves solving a lot of mini "puzzles," of sorts, in which you maneuver the game-pieces in a specific order to win each round without touching the game board.Any number of people can play this game at the same time because there is very little physical touching of the board as the game is played. Each round all of the players in the game sit around the board and are shown the destination to move a piece to in order to win. After the destination is revealed, the players must move the pieces (in their mind, not physically!) in the correct sequence to get the goal with the least amount of moves. Once someone has figured out the puzzle, they will call out their number of moves and turn over a timer which then forces the round to a close if no one else can beat their plan. Once the timer runs out, whoever has the least amount of moves announced will demonstrate their sequence in order to get the necessary piece onto the appropriate destination.After 20 or 30 minutes of this game your head will be sore due to all of the mental notes you must keep during the game. It's definitely a great tool to work on your forward thinking as well as general memory. I highly recommend this game!

The marvel of this game for me, is that it can be played by as many people as desired. The only limitation would be a clear view of the board and the robot tokens.It can be a fun or frustrating game, depending on the players' abilities, although I haven't heard of anyone disliking it (being considered "difficult" is another story). Perhaps young players could consider it somewhat boring since there is little interaction with the board pieces.There seem to be 2 editions of the game. One with slanted walls (so that the robots can "bounce" off them when reached) and one without them. As of my knowledge, they can be combined. Players just need to be careful not to repeat/miss goal markers when mixing goal panels.The game materials are of good quality. However, I don't understand why the price went up that much (almost US$40.00) a few months after I was lucky enough to acquire it.

Ricochet Robots is a simple-to-learn, difficult-to-master puzzle game. I first played it with a number of friends while in college, and got hooked.The basic game mechanism is what some gamers refer to as a "sliding statue puzzle". If you've ever played a Legend of Zelda game, you know what I'm talking about. The status on the board can be moved in any direction, and continue to move until they hit a wall or obstacle. By moving all of the five colored statues on the game board, you try to accomplish the objective, which is to move a specific colored status to a specific location.To change the game, the target locations are randomized every time you play.This is a great puzzle game for small to large groups of people, and it's easy for people to walk in or out of the game once they know how to play.If your group likes the type of game that really makes you think hard, this is the game for you.

My husband and I LOVE this game. We have been borrowing it from a friend, and we are now absolutely delighted to have a copy of our own. However, this version of the game differs from the version we were using before in that the gameboard does not have any 'ricochets' (the color-coded ones that allow the matching pieces to travel through while others bounce off). We are disappointed to not have them in this version, but otherwise, we adore the game. Excellent strategy game that's DIFFERENT to all other games, engaging for adult game nights, and good for any number of players.