It's a slow day at the widget factory, so the central race computer has prepared a RoboRally tournament for the factory computers. You can be one of those computers. Navigate your robot across conveyor belts, over gears, and past pushers in your effort to be the first to touch all the checkpoints.

But watch out for the other robots, not only are they trying to beat you to the checkpoints, but they might even try to push you off course. And don't forget the lasers mounted throughout the factory, and on each of the other robots too. Easy to learn, hard to master. Beginners welcome.

This will be a coached event this year and we have several experienced players that are willing to coach folks through their first game. A note on game versions: There are currently a total of 5 printings of this game, Wizards of the Coast did the first two editions (1994 and 1995) and these are essentially the same game, the only significant differences being an improvement to the card layout, lightening of the playing boards in color and a switch from multi-cast to single cast miniatures, The third edition (2005) by Hasbro/Avalon Hill is similar enough that, with slight modifications, it has been used as an alternative for many years. The fourth (2016) also by Hasbro/Avalon Hill, is essentially a different game, and the board size is not compatible with the other editions. In 2023 Renegade Studios released the fifth version of the game loosely based on the 2016 version. While this is a significantly different version of the game the plan going forward will be to incorporate this in some form into the tournament so that we can continue into the foreseeable future. More on that below.

Two of the Heats will use 2-board, 3-flag setups that will be pre-determined, the board setup may be different between different versions of the game. For tournament purposes all of these game will be played with damage tokens, limited (4) lives, and virtual robots. If you do not know what those are get to the Heat early so you can learn. (A special rules sheet will be available for 5th edition sets)

There will be one optional deathmatch/special Heat. Whatever heat falls closest to noon on Wednesday will be the optional deathmatch Heat where there are no flags and each robot gets only one life. Last robot standing wins. Playing a deathmatch game is optional. This year players may also choose to play using the regular rules, or 5th edition/35th anniversary edition rules. Note that there are not Crash and Burn awards for this Heat.

Advancement

Only the winners from each Heat advance to the Semifinal. No alternates advance. Every winner of a game advances. There is no limit on the number of winners that can be accommodated. Runners-up do not qualify even if the person who finished first in that game has won a previous Heat or chooses not to advance.

Rulings of note:

• We will be mostly using the original Wizards of the Coast rules which are different from the current Avalon Hill/Hasbro rules. If you have not played with these rules you will need to arrive early for a quick teach
• A robot may spend a turn offboard after being killed to come back at full strength. The robotic arm does update your archive if used to touch a checkpoint - this is not optional
• You turn in a robot head counter to get another life, so if you have three head counters you actually have four lives including the one you are currently using
• Fifth edition games in the Heats will have a special rules sheet that combines some of the old with some of the new. (Thanks to the members of the Boardwalk Tuesday night game group for helping to playtest these)
• When entering/re-entering the board you may select your facing after seeing your cards

Advice for beginners: Don't stop for options (unless it gets you closer to the checkpoint), and don't be afraid to shut down, especially when those registers get locked, but don't overdo it, you do have at least three lives. And remember to update your archive point as often as possible. If you do die, you want to come back as close to the next checkpoint as possible.

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