7 Wonders: Duel Tourna- Robo Rally Reboot Acquire 2016 ment & Extra Game Night The classic programmed- A look at the latest version of Robo Rally Robo Rally Reboot Compete for some very special movement robot racing game gets Acquire with 3-D company mark- Here Be Books & Games will host a 7 Wonders: Duel Robo Rally Reboot refer to the new edition of as and the Priority Antenna determines play order - counted by rows, Energy Outlet space gumming up your deck even more. 10 squares versus the 12 x 12 squares in the earlier editions. e squares are the same size, there just aren't as many of them. So, I Acquire 2016 - Nice reprint of the classic stock market game. case of tie for rst place, add the rst- and second-place bonuses and split them down the middle. In case of a tie for second- Tournament in June during a special extra Game Night. the previous version as simply Robo Rally. then columns. Should two or more robots be at equal distance with a cube on it, • Virus: All robots within 6 spaces of you must put a Virus don't see any reason why you couldn't use boards from older versions of Robo Rally with the new game play of Reboot. place, the tied players split the second-place bonus. prizes this coming June - or just a reboot with more streamlined ers and more... My rst experience with Robo I still remember the day my husband came into the house breathless with excitement. He'd found a Dispose of Stock in the Defunct Chain. Up to 8 players will compete for some pretty special Setup from the Priority Antenna, imagine a light beaming straight pick it up and card in their discard pile. For me, this is good news because my husband printed and mounted several special boards for me as a present one year. ere are 2. Beginning with the Mergemaker and continuing clockwise, players each handle their and family friendly play... Rally was at a gaming invitational pristine copy of the highly-rated and valued 1999 Avalon Hill version of Acquire at our local thrift store. come for Game Night... prizes: metal coins & bag, silver conict pawns and for all out from the front of the antenna, then rotating clockwise - add it to your Worm hundreds of Robo Rally boards you can print and play at Planet Gareth: RoboRally Boards. stock in the Defunct Chain in one or more of the following three ways: in Raleigh, NC. Lori, a long-time Setup is much the same as in the original Robo Rally with a few • : Immediately Reboot your robot. He says he got tunnel vision, his heart was beating so hard with excitement when he found it, that all he participants, Statue of Liberty Wonder cards. like a lighthouse. e tied robots play in the order they're in Energy Reserve. a. Hold on to it. You might do this if you plan to start another Chain with that name. Page 1 Page 2 Page 6 Robo Rally enthusiast and acio- exceptions: the spotlight. It'll help you Whenever you activate a Damage card, place it back on the Tokens and Box Insert could do was carry it up to the cash register and pay for it immediately. I can't help but wonder what other b. Sell it at the price determined by the number of tiles that were in the Defunct Chain before the Merger. Details will follow on how to qualify for the tournament. nado introduced me to the appropriate Damage draw pile - it's out of your deck. gems he may have missed on that momentous visit due to his tunnel vision. Trade it two for one. Choose a racing course and set up the board(s) and Flags In Phase 1, the Upgrade Phase, you decide, in play order, buy future e plastic Checkpoint Flags and cardboard Reboot Point Tokens are ok, but Avalon Hill/Hasbro c. at is, you can acquire one share of the newly Merged Chain (if any shares are available), for every two Space is extremely limited: a maximum of 8 players can chaotic, programmed movement accordingly. Reboot adds three new elements to the factory oor whether you want to buy one of the Upgrades available in the upgrades. If e rst player to successfully make all of his checkpoints, in really cheaped out on the Checkpoint Tokens, making them of the same thin stock as the player Unfortunately for my husband, I was not nearly as enamored by this acquisition. Don't get me wrong, I shares of your Defunct Chain stock. game of racing robots to succes- Here Be Books & Games News participate. Watch our web site for tournament details. board set up: Upgrade Shop. the space is empty you're out of luck unless it's order, wins the game. boards - which is very, very thin indeed. I'm already looking for a replacement. was very happy he'd found a treasure for which he'd long hunted. I just wasn't excited about playing it. Latest Acquire Editions sive numbered ags on a factory 1. A Priority Antenna that looks like a satellite dish. your 5th Register, in which case you can take an Energy e plastic box insert is a nice touch to hold all of the components, but I'm afraid it's not going to While I thought the 3D buildings were pretty and certainly made the game more appealing, I had somehow come to the opinion 4650 Ladson Rd, Ste I, Summerville, SC 29485 In the meantime, drop by Here oor lled with movement-altering and In Phase 2, the Programming Phase, you program your robot Components Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new version of Acquire near the end of 2016 with plastic components. e previous edition, that they Proximity to the Priority Antenna determines robot play Cube from the Energy Bank. take much wear and tear. Mine already has a crack in it. e boards store underneath the insert so that Acquire was too cutthroat, competitive, mathy and long for my tastes. So, I refused to try it and it (843) 695-1498 10am to 6pm Tues thru Sat Be Books & Games and Tim damage-dealing obstacles that you must successfully navigate for the rst leg of your race across the factory oor. Draw nine While I'm excited to see painted robots in the Robo Rally published in 2008, featured all cardboard components. Cardboard chits replaced the usual plastic tiles seen in most editions. One of order. 8. Checkpoints. You need to hit these ags in order to win you have to keep pulling it out of the box. I recommend you remove all the cards and components languished on our game shelf for many years. I was wrong on all counts. or Tina will teach you how to cards from your Programming deck. ey could be: Move 1, Reboot the most sought-after versions of Acquire is Avalon Hill's 1999 edition. It features beautiful 3D Chain markers and a nice tray to Used books & new board games. We'll teach you how to play! if you want to win the race. Whew! Say that one three times the race! While you can enter a Checkpoint from any , I'm otherwise unimpressed by the quality of the 2. Reboot location(s). Whenever a robot reboots, often Move 2, Move 3, Back Up, Left Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, before pulling out the insert to avoid damaging it. Designed by Sid Sackson who was designing Euro-style strategy games before such a hold the stocks, money and Chain markers during play. e 2008 cardboard version was a sad successor. play this excellent two-player fast. side, it only counts if you're on the checkpoint at the end components. due to damage, this is where it will reappear. Power Up, or Again. Visualize where you want to go, paying Rulebook thing existed, Acquire was first published in 1964 as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. Issue 47 February 2017 game. I played Twitch who lived up to his name, twitching left and of a Register. Simply running through a Checkpoint Robots Which brings us to Acquire 2016. While it's certainly not as big or fancy as the prized 1999 edition, it at least returns to plastic tiles 3. Energy cubes. When your robot ends its move on a close attention to the obstacles on the factory oor and how e rulebook, while 31 pages long, is a simple read. e setup and basic rules are covered in the It's been through many iterations since then, with its appearance - and sometimes its and features 3D Chain markers, and tray for the stock and Chain markers. However, the publishers made a few more changes: right pretty much the whole game - by luck of the draw all I doesn't count. You have to be on the Checkpoint after all e robots are simply adorable. I love the new sculpts! Unfor- Sci Fi & Fantasy space with an energy cube, you can pick it up. they may advance or inhibit your movement, then choose 5 first 11 pages. The next 4 pages provide details on Board Elements, Robot Interactions and Damage and Reboots. A whopping 8 rules - changing depending on the publisher. e goal of Acquire, however, has always Game CLEARANCE SALE - Save up to Save the Date! got were left turns, right turns and u-turns. e few times I robots have completed their Register and the previously tunately, when the publishers reduced the number of robots • 10 x 10 square board - instead of 12 x 9 square board - with 8 less tiles. cards to play - one in each of the 5 registers on your board. You pages illustrate recommended racing course setups cataloged as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Robots Must Die! The last 8 remained the same: acquire the most wealth. Book Club Meeting moved, ended in disaster: I ran o the board due to a program- Each player takes a player board and chooses a robot. In Robo described factory oor elements have activated, to from 8 to 6, they left out my favorite: Twitch! ey left Trundle 50% on Board Games, Card Games Friday, February 3 to ??? don't always get the cards you want, so make the best use of the pages are a Card Index with additional details on the Programming Cards, Special Programming Cards and Upgrade Cards. e To accumulate your wealth in Acquire, you'll invest in Hotel Chains - Company • Two rule changes: ming error or other robots pushed me o the board. I got Rally Reboot, each player also takes the correspondingly-colored successfully complete a Checkpoint - take a Checkpoint Bot out, too. The rest of the robots - Twonky, Hulk x90, GAME CLEARANCE SALE Current Read: Star Tide Rising by David cards on hand. You could get stuck twitching left and right the back of the rulebook provides a handy round reference. Chains in many of the newer versions - the names and colors of which change 1. Chains are Safe at 10 tiles instead of the 11 in previous editions. and Expansions pushed around and shot by fellow robot so many times, I lost Programming deck for her robot, shues it, and places it on token to signify this. Hammer Bot, Smash Bot (renamed from Squash Bot), Zoom Saturday, February 4, 6pm Brin (Carmen’s pick) whole round - that's ok. depending on the publisher. While there are three tiers of stocks, each with its 2. Stock prices increase at di erent stages. count. It's hard to get out of the way when all you can do is the appropriate space on her player board. ere are three more factory oor elements: Pits, Walls and the Bot and Spin Bot - got remakes and new backstories. This I recommend reading the rst 15 pages of the rulebook and leave the rest to consult as a reference as needed. You also don't have to We’re clearing out some games and overstock to make Game Night In Phase 3, the Activation Phase, you own starting stock price, the actions you and your fellow players take will • Money is printed on only one side, presumably so you can keep it hidden Next Meeting: Friday, February 10 at 6 pm twitch left and right. I didn't even come close to making it to Players also each take 5 energy cubes for their Priority Antenna. ey don't activate, but you do need to be wasn't really all that surprising, since Hulk x90 is the only stick to the race courses in the rulebook. You can always do a random set up with a couple boards and ags. at's what we do most room for new arrivals in 2017. Tina’s poor clairvoyence is execute your robots' programmed primarily determine the value of each Chain's stock. For example, as you and your when playing Closed. Friday, February 10, 6 pm at HBB&G. the rst ag, let alone the other two. My rst experience Energy Reserve. e leftover energy cubes aware of them. robot to survive from the rst to second edition. of the time. your gain. Over 130 games have been marked down 20% to 50%! playing Robo Rally was so disastrous that Lori was quite movements, in turn order (proximity opponents add more blocks to a Chain, that chain's stock value increases as well. • All Stock Certificates have the same city-scape scene on the back. Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club form the Energy Bank near the board. Personally, I love the new renderings - particularly since I don't The Price of Cheaper Components The Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club reads surprised when I said I wanted to play again. I thought it was to Priority Antenna), beginning Pits are nasty. If your robot falls into a pit, you have to Reboot: Game and Expansion Bundles Star Tide Rising by David Brin have to paint them. Of course, you can judge for yourself. As Setup If you're expecting the 2016 edition of Acquire to be as fancy as the 1999 Avalon Hill edition you'll probably be disappointed. fantasy and science ction, plus urban hilarious fun - and I was determined to do better. Sort the Damage cards (also with Register 1. After all players • Take 2 Spam cards and place them on your discard pile. e publishers did pass some of the savings of the cheaper components on to you: the MSRP of Robo Rally Reboot is $10 less than Saturday, March 4, 6pm for the other components... Mix the tiles facedown and set them aside in a cluster or in stacks near the board. Give each player $6,000 and six tiles (players Everything in the 2016 edition is smaller: the tiles, number of tiles, and the board. Presumably, the publishers modied the rules to Plus, we’re o ering several game and expansion bundle deals while supplies last: fantasy, alternate history, etc. We meet about new in Reboot) into piles by have executed their action for a • Cancel the rest of your programming for that round by the previous edition. Personally, I would've happily paid $10 more for better, more sturdy components. Game Night e next game Twitch continued to live up to his name, but I should keep their tiles concealed). Some versions of Acquire come with tile racks, in other versions the tiles are chunky enough that compensate for fewer tiles. Whether the publishers bothered to test these changes and their e ect on game play is unknown. I once a month, usually the Friday after Game type - Spam, Worm, Trojan register, elements on the factory Can you play with everything as is? Of course. In fact the updates and changes to the game play are - in my opinion - what make • Buy Tragedy Looper, Get Midnight Circle Expansion FREE! actually managed to twitch my way to the rst ag. It didn't immediately discarding all cards in your remaining you can just set them up on edge like dominoes (true of Acquire 2016). haven't noticed that the changes make a huge di erence to play, but I'm not an Acquire acionado, so your mileage may vary. Saturday, April 29 Night at 6 p.m. at the store. Horse, Virus - and place them oor activate in order: registers. Robo Rally Reboot a worthwhile purchase - even if you already own the original. • Buy Seasons, Get Path of Destiny Expansion FREE! matter to me that all the other robots raced on by, I made it to next to the board along with the Components-wise, I think Acquire 2016 is an improvement over the cardboard 2008 version, but not as nice as the 1999 Avalon International TableTop Day 1. Blue Fast Conveyor Belts • Place your robot on the Reboot Point of the board you Players need to decide now, as a group, whether to play Open, money and stock holdings are public knowledge, or Closed, money Attending members submit a book title for the reading the rst ag! I was hooked. stack of Special Programming Changes to Play Hill edition. It's too bad they changed the Chain names again. e stock certicates and money from the 2008 version are prettier. • Buy Space Cadets, Get Resistance is Mostly Futile Expansion FREE! Coming in June! move any robots on the conveyor were on when you rebooted. You may face your robot in and stock holdings are hidden. I think playing Closed makes the game more challenging memory-wise and Open play makes it list. We pick one to read each month - usually the one Avalon Hill rst published Robo Rally in Cards. Special Programming Cards come Personally, I love Robo Rally Reboot's new streamlined play for a number of reasons: Acquire 2016's Information Cards are printed on sturdy cardboard with the Stock Pricing and Merger Bonus data on one side and 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament belt 2 spaces, rotating robots when they go any direction. You cannot shoot or use an upgrade when more challenging strategy-wise. • Buy or Order Flash Point: Fire Rescue at regular price, Get an Expansion FREE! we’ve found the most copies of. When we’ve read all the 1994, following up with a few, now highly- into play when players purchase certain Turn Summary and Merger Steps on the other - nice touch. Plus, there's one for each player. around a corner. you reboot. However, other robots can shoot or push you ematic touches as described below. To determine start player, each player draws a facedown tile and places it on its matching space on the game board. e player Choose from 2nd Story, Dangerous Waters or Urban Structures. You can get 30% books on our list - one submitted by each member - we sought-after, expansions that added robot Temporary Upgrade cards. Acquire 2016's 2. Green Slow Conveyor Belts move any robots on the while you're on a reboot point. Determining priority is simpler. No more comparing numbers. Most of the time you can determine priority at a glance. emati- whose tile is closest to 1A goes rst. I've read many complaints on Board Game Geek about game board. I've heard it called imsy and hard to read. I OFF additional expansions, too! Already have the base game? You cn still buy the expansions at 30% OFF! start a new list. upgrades and factory boards featuring new Shue the Upgrade deck and turn up as many Upgrade cards don't agree with imsy at all: it's quite solid. It would've been nice if the manufacturers painted the lettering. e grey-on-grey is hazards and features. ey later reprinted the conveyor belt 1 space, rotating robots when they go Walls and the Priority Antenna. You cannot move onto or cally, the Priority Antenna is a nice touch. Not only does it resemble a satellite dish, but in the real world, your proximity to a Game Play • Buy Mr. Jack Extension, Get 50% OFF Mr. Jack (used) You’re welcome to join us. Just read the current selection as there are players to form the Upgrade Shop. hard to read. However, the lettering is raised, making it easy to make it more legible. I colored the letters with a silver Sharpie. Voilà! base game with double-sided boards on around a corner. through Walls or the Priority Antenna, push other robots onto Central Oce a ects your Internet access speed. and come to the meeting. More details are available on On your turn, do the following in order: You can shop In-Store or Online. Note any games published by Asmodee North America (includes Days of Wonder, lighter cardstock, new robots and a few other minor changes, Set the Checkpoint tokens nearby. 3. Push Panels labeled with a number matching the or through them, or fire through them. Likewise Laser Beams e new individual Player Programming Decks solve two big problems: downtime between rounds and luck of the draw. You e Chain markers, probably what most Acquire fans are looking forward to in the 2016 edition, are nice. ey're colorful, decent Fantasy Flight and many more) can only be purchased in-store. e game & our web site’s Book Club page, our Facebook page and but never got around to reprinting the expansions. Beginning with the youngest, players each place their robot on current register, push any robots adjacent to them into cannot re through them. Cards don't have to wait while one person shues a massive Programming Deck, gures out how many cards to deal each person and then 1. Place one of your tiles on its matching space on the board. If this creates a Chain or causes a Merger, complete all transactions sculpts. e publishers provided tiny translucent orange ags and embellishments for all but one of the buildings. I recommend that for the newly created Chain or Merger (explained below) before proceeding with your turn. INSIDE: expansion bundle deals only work in-store. our Meetup Group. one of the black and white gears on the Start Board, facing the the next space. e Outer Limits. If you move, get pushed o or ride a deals out the cards. Players simply shue their own small decks whenever necessary and draw their own cards. is really speeds up you remove them from the spur and apply them one at a time. Otherwise, guring out which goes with which building is a night- While I always enjoy playing Robo Rally, I've never felt really e cards are small and made of very thin cardstock. With all 2. Buy stock. You can buy up to three stocks total for any active Chains. The stocks can be for the same Chain or different mare. e embellishments have engraved details. A wash might bring them out. I'm gonna try it anyway. the race course. You're now ready to begin the race. Gamers 4. Gears rotate any robots resting on them 90 degrees in conveyor belt o the edge of the factory oor, your robot game play. Don't get me wrong, you can still draw a bad hand, full of turns and no moves or vice versa. However, chances are much • 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament Hurry in now to get the best selection. Current Reading List: comfortable teaching and running it. I teach complex games to the handling and shuing, they're likely to show wear quickly, Chains or any combination thereof, but the maximum stock certicates you can buy is 3. Consult the Information Card to start your robots! the direction of the arrows. Green gears rotate clockwise, Reboots. better that your next hand will be better. Sure, you can gum up your deck with Damage cards if you're not careful, but that's due to My Thoughts and Game Night If you have copies you’d like to trade or sell, please people all the time, but Robo Rally with all the factory oor so I sleeved mine. Unfortunately sleeving presented its own determine each stock's price. red gears counter-clockwise. your game play, not sheer luck of the draw. I've spent more than my fair share of rounds in original Robo Rally twitching in place • Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club bring them in. elements going o at di erent times, robot moves happening Game Play Damage problem: none of the standard sleeve sizes t the Programming 3. Draw another tile to your hand. e rst time I nally played Acquire, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I even asked to play it again. While 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament according to particular priority, lasers ring and damaging 5. Board Lasers. Robots in the path of any laser beams and Damage cards. I ended up using Mini USA Game Size because I was dealt zero Move cards - round after round. Acquire is competitive, it's not the cutthroat, confrontational or take-that kind of competition. You do have to do a little math: Star Tide Rising by David Brin Each round of Robo Rally Reboot has three phases. Proximity to It perhaps goes without saying that you want to avoid Damage. Creating a Chain - • Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines or Explaining Cthulhu robots which lock their registers and a ect each player's hand take damage. Each laser can only hit one robot - the Premium Sleeves by Mayday (41mm x 63mm) and trimming e new Damage system with Spam, Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm cards works quite well, streamlines play and is spot-on Whenever you add a tile to the board adjacent, orthogonally, to another tile (that doesn't have any other tiles adding up your stock purchases and divvying Merger bonuses, etc. No big deal. Playtime is 60 to 90 minutes, which is just right for • Robo Rally Reboot Game Coming in June Damage cards gum up your Programming Deck. Whenever your to Grandma and Other Stories by Alex Shvartsman sizes... I have a hard enough time programming my robot to go closest to where the beam(s) originates - dealing 1, 2 or the tops. For the Upgrade cards, I used Mayday's Standard thematic. Spam gums up your deck just as bad as it does your email inbox. e only way to get rid of Spam is to deal with it. In already adjacent to it), you start a Chain. As that Chain's founder, you get to name it: choose one of the available inactive color a medium to light strategy game in my book. I don't know where I got the idea it was a 3+ hour game. Must've gotten it confused Review Programming Deck, initially 20 cards, runs out, shue your e wildly sucessful card-drafting gameplay of 7 (Diane) where I want it, orchestrating everyone else's robots, too, 3 damage, depending on the number of beams. For each USA Game Size Sleeves (56mm x 87mm). I would've preferred Robo Rally Reboot that means programming and activating it in one of your registers. Likewise, Rebooting is also quite thematic Company markers and place it on the tile you just placed. As a bonus, you also get one stock certicate for that Chain. Only seven with Diplomacy. discard pile to start a new draw pile. e primary way to get Chains can ever be on the board at one time. • Acquire 2016 game review Wonders is reimagined in an exciting head-to-head • Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey or Another Fine seemed just too much. So when I read Richard Gareld's laser beam that hit your robot, take a Spam card and Damage cards out of your deck is to program and activate them. Premium for these, too, but they were a smidge too tight. e taking you out of the action for bit. e Viruses even spread to other robots, like computer viruses do among computers! Acquire reminds me a lot of Airlines Europe, which I love. Obviously, Acquire came first. Both games have a bit of luck: Acquire in article about his soon-to-be released Robo Rally Reboot that was place it on top of your discard pile. Laser beams cannot good news is that the cards all t back in the molded box insert Resolving a Merger - Should you place a tile on the board such that two Chains become joined, a Merger occurs. e larger • Game Library Additions game. 7 Wonders: Duel pits two players against each Myth by Robert Asprin (Jonathan) You'll usually want to nd a safe place to do this. Each type of I think all of these changes together, make for more streamlined play, while retaining all of the fun and chaos of the original Robo the tiles you draw and Airlines Europe in the cards that turn up, but it's the player actions that ultimately determine stock value. supposed to streamline some of the play, I was excited to give it re through walls, the Priority Antenna or other robots. after being sleeved. Chain, the one with the most tiles automatically takes over, swallowing up the smaller Chain. Should both Chains in the Merger other in a one-on-one struggle to build and guide their Damage has a di erent e ect when activated: Rally. I feel much more comfortable teaching Robo Rally Reboot and recommending it to newbie gamers and families. In just this last • New Arrivals Get automatic updates and reminders via our Meetup a trial run. have the same number of tiles, the player who created the Merger gets to choose which Chain his tile applies to, thus determining Some versions of Acquire, including 2016, have variant rules to support 2 players. I haven't tried a 2-player game yet, so I can't 6. Robot Lasers. Each robot res a laser beam in the Boards week, I've taught it three times. In all the years I've owned the second edition of Robo Rally, I may have taught it once. cities through three Ages of development. With many group at: • Spam is the simplest: Play the top card of your program- the Chain that will continue to exist. e smaller Chain becomes Defunct. ere are a few tasks you now need to perform to comment on the game play. While I'm happy my husband found the 1999 Avalon Hill edition, I • Back In Stock Following is a run-down on the setup, game play, changes from direction it's facing. Damage works the same as Board strategic paths to victory, 7 Wonders: Duel is a perfect game for www.meetup.com/Here-Be-Books-and-Games-Book-Club. ming deck in this register. e factory oor boards are thinner in Robo Rally Reboot than Robo Rally Reboot (the box title is actually just Robo Rally) supports 2 to 6 players ages 8 and up. Playtime is 20 to 120 minutes complete the Merger: still bought Acquire 2016 to take places. Tim's not letting his treasure out of the house. • Used Games for Sale competitive tournament events and quick casual play alike. second edition Robo Rally, and components di erences. I'll Lasers. both of the previous editions. ey feel like they'll stand up to • Trojan Horse: Place 2 Spam cards on your discard pile - depending on the course you set up and the number of players. More players, longer course, longer game. 1. Award Majority Holders' Bonuses to two largest Stockholders in the Defunct Chain (the one being swallowed up). In Acquire 2016 supports 2 to 6 players ages 12 and up and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. 7. Energy Outlets. If you end your movement on an play ok, though. e boards are smaller, as well: 10 squares by Issue 47 Here Be Books & Games News February 2017 Here Be Books & Games will host a 7 Wonders: Duel Robo Rally Reboot refer to the new edition of Robo Rally as Robo Rally Reboot and the Priority Antenna determines play order - counted by rows, Energy Outlet space gumming up your deck even more. 10 squares versus the 12 x 12 squares in the earlier editions. e squares are the same size, there just aren't as many of them. So, I Acquire 2016 - Nice reprint of the classic stock market game. case of tie for rst place, add the rst- and second-place bonuses and split them down the middle. In case of a tie for second- Tournament in June during a special extra Game Night. the previous version as simply Robo Rally. then columns. Should two or more robots be at equal distance with a cube on it, • Virus: All robots within 6 spaces of you must put a Virus don't see any reason why you couldn't use boards from older versions of Robo Rally with the new game play of Reboot. place, the tied players split the second-place bonus. My rst experience with Robo I still remember the day my husband came into the house breathless with excitement. He'd found a Dispose of Stock in the Defunct Chain. Up to 8 players will compete for some pretty special Setup from the Priority Antenna, imagine a light beaming straight pick it up and card in their discard pile. For me, this is good news because my husband printed and mounted several special boards for me as a present one year. ere are 2. Beginning with the Mergemaker and continuing clockwise, players each handle their Rally was at a gaming invitational pristine copy of the highly-rated and valued 1999 Avalon Hill version of Acquire at our local thrift store. prizes: metal coins & bag, silver conict pawns and for all out from the front of the antenna, then rotating clockwise - add it to your Worm hundreds of Robo Rally boards you can print and play at Planet Gareth: RoboRally Boards. stock in the Defunct Chain in one or more of the following three ways: in Raleigh, NC. Lori, a long-time Setup is much the same as in the original Robo Rally with a few • : Immediately Reboot your robot. He says he got tunnel vision, his heart was beating so hard with excitement when he found it, that all he participants, Statue of Liberty Wonder cards. like a lighthouse. e tied robots play in the order they're in Energy Reserve. a. Hold on to it. You might do this if you plan to start another Chain with that name. Robo Rally enthusiast and acio- exceptions: the spotlight. It'll help you Whenever you activate a Damage card, place it back on the Tokens and Box Insert could do was carry it up to the cash register and pay for it immediately. I can't help but wonder what other b. Sell it at the price determined by the number of tiles that were in the Defunct Chain before the Merger. Details will follow on how to qualify for the tournament. nado introduced me to the appropriate Damage draw pile - it's out of your deck. gems he may have missed on that momentous visit due to his tunnel vision. Trade it two for one. Choose a racing course and set up the board(s) and Flags In Phase 1, the Upgrade Phase, you decide, in play order, buy future e plastic Checkpoint Flags and cardboard Reboot Point Tokens are ok, but Avalon Hill/Hasbro c. at is, you can acquire one share of the newly Merged Chain (if any shares are available), for every two Space is extremely limited: a maximum of 8 players can chaotic, programmed movement accordingly. Reboot adds three new elements to the factory oor whether you want to buy one of the Upgrades available in the upgrades. If e rst player to successfully make all of his checkpoints, in really cheaped out on the Checkpoint Tokens, making them of the same thin stock as the player Unfortunately for my husband, I was not nearly as enamored by this acquisition. Don't get me wrong, I shares of your Defunct Chain stock. game of racing robots to succes- participate. Watch our web site for tournament details. board set up: Upgrade Shop. the space is empty you're out of luck unless it's order, wins the game. boards - which is very, very thin indeed. I'm already looking for a replacement. was very happy he'd found a treasure for which he'd long hunted. I just wasn't excited about playing it. Latest Acquire Editions sive numbered ags on a factory 1. A Priority Antenna that looks like a satellite dish. your 5th Register, in which case you can take an Energy e plastic box insert is a nice touch to hold all of the components, but I'm afraid it's not going to While I thought the 3D buildings were pretty and certainly made the game more appealing, I had somehow come to the opinion In the meantime, drop by Here oor lled with movement-altering and In Phase 2, the Programming Phase, you program your robot Components Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new version of Acquire near the end of 2016 with plastic components. e previous edition, that they Proximity to the Priority Antenna determines robot play Cube from the Energy Bank. take much wear and tear. Mine already has a crack in it. e boards store underneath the insert so that Acquire was too cutthroat, competitive, mathy and long for my tastes. So, I refused to try it and it Be Books & Games and Tim damage-dealing obstacles that you must successfully navigate for the rst leg of your race across the factory oor. Draw nine While I'm excited to see painted robots in the Robo Rally published in 2008, featured all cardboard components. Cardboard chits replaced the usual plastic tiles seen in most editions. One of order. 8. Checkpoints. You need to hit these ags in order to win you have to keep pulling it out of the box. I recommend you remove all the cards and components languished on our game shelf for many years. I was wrong on all counts. or Tina will teach you how to cards from your Programming deck. ey could be: Move 1, Reboot the most sought-after versions of Acquire is Avalon Hill's 1999 edition. It features beautiful 3D Chain markers and a nice tray to if you want to win the race. Whew! Say that one three times the race! While you can enter a Checkpoint from any , I'm otherwise unimpressed by the quality of the 2. Reboot location(s). Whenever a robot reboots, often Move 2, Move 3, Back Up, Left Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, before pulling out the insert to avoid damaging it. Designed by Sid Sackson who was designing Euro-style strategy games before such a hold the stocks, money and Chain markers during play. e 2008 cardboard version was a sad successor. play this excellent two-player fast. side, it only counts if you're on the checkpoint at the end components. due to damage, this is where it will reappear. Power Up, or Again. Visualize where you want to go, paying Rulebook thing existed, Acquire was first published in 1964 as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. game. I played Twitch who lived up to his name, twitching left and of a Register. Simply running through a Checkpoint Robots Which brings us to Acquire 2016. While it's certainly not as big or fancy as the prized 1999 edition, it at least returns to plastic tiles 3. Energy cubes. When your robot ends its move on a close attention to the obstacles on the factory oor and how e rulebook, while 31 pages long, is a simple read. e setup and basic rules are covered in the It's been through many iterations since then, with its appearance - and sometimes its and features 3D Chain markers, and tray for the stock and Chain markers. However, the publishers made a few more changes: right pretty much the whole game - by luck of the draw all I doesn't count. You have to be on the Checkpoint after all e robots are simply adorable. I love the new sculpts! Unfor- Sci Fi & Fantasy space with an energy cube, you can pick it up. they may advance or inhibit your movement, then choose 5 first 11 pages. The next 4 pages provide details on Board Elements, Robot Interactions and Damage and Reboots. A whopping 8 rules - changing depending on the publisher. e goal of Acquire, however, has always Game CLEARANCE SALE - Save up to got were left turns, right turns and u-turns. e few times I robots have completed their Register and the previously tunately, when the publishers reduced the number of robots • 10 x 10 square board - instead of 12 x 9 square board - with 8 less tiles. cards to play - one in each of the 5 registers on your board. You pages illustrate recommended racing course setups cataloged as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Robots Must Die! The last 8 remained the same: acquire the most wealth. Book Club Meeting moved, ended in disaster: I ran o the board due to a program- Each player takes a player board and chooses a robot. In Robo described factory oor elements have activated, to from 8 to 6, they left out my favorite: Twitch! ey left Trundle 50% on Board Games, Card Games don't always get the cards you want, so make the best use of the pages are a Card Index with additional details on the Programming Cards, Special Programming Cards and Upgrade Cards. e To accumulate your wealth in Acquire, you'll invest in Hotel Chains - Company • Two rule changes: ming error or other robots pushed me o the board. I got Rally Reboot, each player also takes the correspondingly-colored successfully complete a Checkpoint - take a Checkpoint Bot out, too. The rest of the robots - Twonky, Hulk x90, Current Read: Star Tide Rising by David cards on hand. You could get stuck twitching left and right the back of the rulebook provides a handy round reference. Chains in many of the newer versions - the names and colors of which change 1. Chains are Safe at 10 tiles instead of the 11 in previous editions. and Expansions pushed around and shot by fellow robot so many times, I lost Programming deck for her robot, shues it, and places it on token to signify this. Hammer Bot, Smash Bot (renamed from Squash Bot), Zoom Brin (Carmen’s pick) whole round - that's ok. depending on the publisher. While there are three tiers of stocks, each with its 2. Stock prices increase at di erent stages. count. It's hard to get out of the way when all you can do is the appropriate space on her player board. ere are three more factory oor elements: Pits, Walls and the Bot and Spin Bot - got remakes and new backstories. This I recommend reading the rst 15 pages of the rulebook and leave the rest to consult as a reference as needed. You also don't have to We’re clearing out some games and overstock to make In Phase 3, the Activation Phase, you own starting stock price, the actions you and your fellow players take will • Money is printed on only one side, presumably so you can keep it hidden Next Meeting: Friday, February 10 at 6 pm twitch left and right. I didn't even come close to making it to Players also each take 5 energy cubes for their Priority Antenna. ey don't activate, but you do need to be wasn't really all that surprising, since Hulk x90 is the only stick to the race courses in the rulebook. You can always do a random set up with a couple boards and ags. at's what we do most room for new arrivals in 2017. Tina’s poor clairvoyence is execute your robots' programmed primarily determine the value of each Chain's stock. For example, as you and your when playing Closed. at HBB&G. the rst ag, let alone the other two. My rst experience Energy Reserve. e leftover energy cubes aware of them. robot to survive from the rst to second edition. of the time. your gain. Over 130 games have been marked down 20% to 50%! playing Robo Rally was so disastrous that Lori was quite movements, in turn order (proximity opponents add more blocks to a Chain, that chain's stock value increases as well. • All Stock Certificates have the same city-scape scene on the back. form the Energy Bank near the board. The Price of Cheaper Components The Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club reads to Priority Antenna), beginning Pits are nasty. If your robot falls into a pit, you have to Reboot: Personally, I love the new renderings - particularly since I don't Game and Expansion Bundles surprised when I said I wanted to play again. I thought it was Setup If you're expecting the 2016 edition of Acquire to be as fancy as the 1999 Avalon Hill edition you'll probably be disappointed. fantasy and science ction, plus urban Sort the Damage cards (also with Register 1. After all players have to paint them. Of course, you can judge for yourself. As e publishers did pass some of the savings of the cheaper components on to you: the MSRP of Robo Rally Reboot is $10 less than hilarious fun - and I was determined to do better. • Take 2 Spam cards and place them on your discard pile. Everything in the 2016 edition is smaller: the tiles, number of tiles, and the board. Presumably, the publishers modied the rules to Plus, we’re o ering several game and expansion bundle deals while supplies last: fantasy, alternate history, etc. We meet about new in Reboot) into piles by have executed their action for a for the other components... the previous edition. Personally, I would've happily paid $10 more for better, more sturdy components. Mix the tiles facedown and set them aside in a cluster or in stacks near the board. Give each player $6,000 and six tiles (players e next game Twitch continued to live up to his name, but I • Cancel the rest of your programming for that round by should keep their tiles concealed). Some versions of Acquire come with tile racks, in other versions the tiles are chunky enough that compensate for fewer tiles. Whether the publishers bothered to test these changes and their e ect on game play is unknown. I once a month, usually the Friday after Game type - Spam, Worm, Trojan register, elements on the factory Can you play with everything as is? Of course. In fact the updates and changes to the game play are - in my opinion - what make • Buy Tragedy Looper, Get Midnight Circle Expansion FREE! actually managed to twitch my way to the rst ag. It didn't immediately discarding all cards in your remaining you can just set them up on edge like dominoes (true of Acquire 2016). haven't noticed that the changes make a huge di erence to play, but I'm not an Acquire acionado, so your mileage may vary. Night at 6 p.m. at the store. Horse, Virus - and place them oor activate in order: registers. Robo Rally Reboot a worthwhile purchase - even if you already own the original. • Buy Seasons, Get Path of Destiny Expansion FREE! matter to me that all the other robots raced on by, I made it to next to the board along with the Components-wise, I think Acquire 2016 is an improvement over the cardboard 2008 version, but not as nice as the 1999 Avalon 1. Blue Fast Conveyor Belts • Place your robot on the Reboot Point of the board you Players need to decide now, as a group, whether to play Open, money and stock holdings are public knowledge, or Closed, money Attending members submit a book title for the reading the rst ag! I was hooked. stack of Special Programming Changes to Play Hill edition. It's too bad they changed the Chain names again. e stock certicates and money from the 2008 version are prettier. • Buy Space Cadets, Get Resistance is Mostly Futile Expansion FREE! move any robots on the conveyor were on when you rebooted. You may face your robot in and stock holdings are hidden. I think playing Closed makes the game more challenging memory-wise and Open play makes it list. We pick one to read each month - usually the one Avalon Hill rst published Robo Rally in Cards. Special Programming Cards come Personally, I love Robo Rally Reboot's new streamlined play for a number of reasons: Acquire 2016's Information Cards are printed on sturdy cardboard with the Stock Pricing and Merger Bonus data on one side and belt 2 spaces, rotating robots when they go any direction. You cannot shoot or use an upgrade when more challenging strategy-wise. • Buy or Order Flash Point: Fire Rescue at regular price, Get an Expansion FREE! we’ve found the most copies of. When we’ve read all the 1994, following up with a few, now highly- into play when players purchase certain Turn Summary and Merger Steps on the other - nice touch. Plus, there's one for each player. around a corner. you reboot. However, other robots can shoot or push you ematic touches as described below. To determine start player, each player draws a facedown tile and places it on its matching space on the game board. e player Choose from 2nd Story, Dangerous Waters or Urban Structures. You can get 30% books on our list - one submitted by each member - we sought-after, expansions that added robot Temporary Upgrade cards. Acquire 2016's 2. Green Slow Conveyor Belts move any robots on the while you're on a reboot point. Determining priority is simpler. No more comparing numbers. Most of the time you can determine priority at a glance. emati- whose tile is closest to 1A goes rst. I've read many complaints on Board Game Geek about game board. I've heard it called imsy and hard to read. I OFF additional expansions, too! Already have the base game? You cn still buy the expansions at 30% OFF! start a new list. upgrades and factory boards featuring new Shue the Upgrade deck and turn up as many Upgrade cards don't agree with imsy at all: it's quite solid. It would've been nice if the manufacturers painted the lettering. e grey-on-grey is hazards and features. ey later reprinted the conveyor belt 1 space, rotating robots when they go Walls and the Priority Antenna. You cannot move onto or cally, the Priority Antenna is a nice touch. Not only does it resemble a satellite dish, but in the real world, your proximity to a Game Play • Buy Mr. Jack Extension, Get 50% OFF Mr. Jack (used) You’re welcome to join us. Just read the current selection as there are players to form the Upgrade Shop. hard to read. However, the lettering is raised, making it easy to make it more legible. I colored the letters with a silver Sharpie. Voilà! base game with double-sided boards on around a corner. through Walls or the Priority Antenna, push other robots onto Central Oce a ects your Internet access speed. and come to the meeting. More details are available on On your turn, do the following in order: You can shop In-Store or Online. Note any games published by Asmodee North America (includes Days of Wonder, lighter cardstock, new robots and a few other minor changes, Set the Checkpoint tokens nearby. 3. Push Panels labeled with a number matching the or through them, or fire through them. Likewise Laser Beams e new individual Player Programming Decks solve two big problems: downtime between rounds and luck of the draw. You e Chain markers, probably what most Acquire fans are looking forward to in the 2016 edition, are nice. ey're colorful, decent 1. Place one of your tiles on its matching space on the board. If this creates a Chain or causes a Merger, complete all transactions Fantasy Flight and many more) can only be purchased in-store. e game & our web site’s Book Club page, our Facebook page and but never got around to reprinting the expansions. Beginning with the youngest, players each place their robot on current register, push any robots adjacent to them into cannot re through them. Cards don't have to wait while one person shues a massive Programming Deck, gures out how many cards to deal each person and then sculpts. e publishers provided tiny translucent orange ags and embellishments for all but one of the buildings. I recommend that for the newly created Chain or Merger (explained below) before proceeding with your turn. expansion bundle deals only work in-store. our Meetup Group. one of the black and white gears on the Start Board, facing the the next space. e Outer Limits. If you move, get pushed o or ride a deals out the cards. Players simply shue their own small decks whenever necessary and draw their own cards. is really speeds up you remove them from the spur and apply them one at a time. Otherwise, guring out which goes with which building is a night- While I always enjoy playing Robo Rally, I've never felt really e cards are small and made of very thin cardstock. With all 2. Buy stock. You can buy up to three stocks total for any active Chains. The stocks can be for the same Chain or different mare. e embellishments have engraved details. A wash might bring them out. I'm gonna try it anyway. the race course. You're now ready to begin the race. Gamers 4. Gears rotate any robots resting on them 90 degrees in conveyor belt o the edge of the factory oor, your robot game play. Don't get me wrong, you can still draw a bad hand, full of turns and no moves or vice versa. However, chances are much Hurry in now to get the best selection. Current Reading List: comfortable teaching and running it. I teach complex games to the handling and shuing, they're likely to show wear quickly, Chains or any combination thereof, but the maximum stock certicates you can buy is 3. Consult the Information Card to start your robots! the direction of the arrows. Green gears rotate clockwise, Reboots. better that your next hand will be better. Sure, you can gum up your deck with Damage cards if you're not careful, but that's due to My Thoughts If you have copies you’d like to trade or sell, please people all the time, but Robo Rally with all the factory oor so I sleeved mine. Unfortunately sleeving presented its own determine each stock's price. red gears counter-clockwise. your game play, not sheer luck of the draw. I've spent more than my fair share of rounds in original Robo Rally twitching in place bring them in. elements going o at di erent times, robot moves happening Game Play Damage problem: none of the standard sleeve sizes t the Programming 3. Draw another tile to your hand. e rst time I nally played Acquire, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I even asked to play it again. While 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament according to particular priority, lasers ring and damaging 5. Board Lasers. Robots in the path of any laser beams and Damage cards. I ended up using Mini USA Game Size because I was dealt zero Move cards - round after round. Acquire is competitive, it's not the cutthroat, confrontational or take-that kind of competition. You do have to do a little math: Each round of Robo Rally Reboot has three phases. Proximity to It perhaps goes without saying that you want to avoid Damage. Creating a Chain - • Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines or Explaining Cthulhu robots which lock their registers and a ect each player's hand take damage. Each laser can only hit one robot - the Premium Sleeves by Mayday (41mm x 63mm) and trimming e new Damage system with Spam, Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm cards works quite well, streamlines play and is spot-on Whenever you add a tile to the board adjacent, orthogonally, to another tile (that doesn't have any other tiles adding up your stock purchases and divvying Merger bonuses, etc. No big deal. Playtime is 60 to 90 minutes, which is just right for Coming in June Damage cards gum up your Programming Deck. Whenever your already adjacent to it), you start a Chain. As that Chain's founder, you get to name it: choose one of the available inactive color to Grandma and Other Stories by Alex Shvartsman sizes... I have a hard enough time programming my robot to go closest to where the beam(s) originates - dealing 1, 2 or Programming Deck, initially 20 cards, runs out, shue your the tops. For the Upgrade cards, I used Mayday's Standard thematic. Spam gums up your deck just as bad as it does your email inbox. e only way to get rid of Spam is to deal with it. In a medium to light strategy game in my book. I don't know where I got the idea it was a 3+ hour game. Must've gotten it confused e wildly sucessful card-drafting gameplay of 7 (Diane) where I want it, orchestrating everyone else's robots, too, 3 damage, depending on the number of beams. For each USA Game Size Sleeves (56mm x 87mm). I would've preferred Robo Rally Reboot that means programming and activating it in one of your registers. Likewise, Rebooting is also quite thematic Company markers and place it on the tile you just placed. As a bonus, you also get one stock certicate for that Chain. Only seven with Diplomacy. discard pile to start a new draw pile. e primary way to get Chains can ever be on the board at one time. Wonders is reimagined in an exciting head-to-head • Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey or Another Fine seemed just too much. So when I read Richard Gareld's laser beam that hit your robot, take a Spam card and Damage cards out of your deck is to program and activate them. Premium for these, too, but they were a smidge too tight. e taking you out of the action for bit. e Viruses even spread to other robots, like computer viruses do among computers! Acquire reminds me a lot of Airlines Europe, which I love. Obviously, Acquire came first. Both games have a bit of luck: Acquire in article about his soon-to-be released Robo Rally Reboot that was place it on top of your discard pile. Laser beams cannot good news is that the cards all t back in the molded box insert Resolving a Merger - Should you place a tile on the board such that two Chains become joined, a Merger occurs. e larger game. 7 Wonders: Duel pits two players against each Myth by Robert Asprin (Jonathan) You'll usually want to nd a safe place to do this. Each type of I think all of these changes together, make for more streamlined play, while retaining all of the fun and chaos of the original Robo the tiles you draw and Airlines Europe in the cards that turn up, but it's the player actions that ultimately determine stock value. supposed to streamline some of the play, I was excited to give it re through walls, the Priority Antenna or other robots. after being sleeved. Chain, the one with the most tiles automatically takes over, swallowing up the smaller Chain. Should both Chains in the Merger other in a one-on-one struggle to build and guide their Damage has a di erent e ect when activated: Rally. I feel much more comfortable teaching Robo Rally Reboot and recommending it to newbie gamers and families. In just this last Get automatic updates and reminders via our Meetup a trial run. have the same number of tiles, the player who created the Merger gets to choose which Chain his tile applies to, thus determining Some versions of Acquire, including 2016, have variant rules to support 2 players. I haven't tried a 2-player game yet, so I can't 6. Robot Lasers. Each robot res a laser beam in the Boards week, I've taught it three times. In all the years I've owned the second edition of Robo Rally, I may have taught it once. cities through three Ages of development. With many group at: • Spam is the simplest: Play the top card of your program- the Chain that will continue to exist. e smaller Chain becomes Defunct. ere are a few tasks you now need to perform to comment on the game play. While I'm happy my husband found the 1999 Avalon Hill edition, I Following is a run-down on the setup, game play, changes from direction it's facing. Damage works the same as Board strategic paths to victory, 7 Wonders: Duel is a perfect game for www.meetup.com/Here-Be-Books-and-Games-Book-Club. ming deck in this register. e factory oor boards are thinner in Robo Rally Reboot than Robo Rally Reboot (the box title is actually just Robo Rally) supports 2 to 6 players ages 8 and up. Playtime is 20 to 120 minutes complete the Merger: still bought Acquire 2016 to take places. Tim's not letting his treasure out of the house. competitive tournament events and quick casual play alike. second edition Robo Rally, and components di erences. I'll Lasers. both of the previous editions. ey feel like they'll stand up to • Trojan Horse: Place 2 Spam cards on your discard pile - depending on the course you set up and the number of players. More players, longer course, longer game. 1. Award Majority Holders' Bonuses to two largest Stockholders in the Defunct Chain (the one being swallowed up). In Acquire 2016 supports 2 to 6 players ages 12 and up and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. 2 7. Energy Outlets. If you end your movement on an play ok, though. e boards are smaller, as well: 10 squares by Issue 47 Here Be Books & Games News February 2017 Here Be Books & Games will host a 7 Wonders: Duel Robo Rally Reboot refer to the new edition of Robo Rally as Robo Rally Reboot and the Priority Antenna determines play order - counted by rows, Energy Outlet space gumming up your deck even more. 10 squares versus the 12 x 12 squares in the earlier editions. e squares are the same size, there just aren't as many of them. So, I Acquire 2016 - Nice reprint of the classic stock market game. case of tie for rst place, add the rst- and second-place bonuses and split them down the middle. In case of a tie for second- Tournament in June during a special extra Game Night. the previous version as simply Robo Rally. then columns. Should two or more robots be at equal distance with a cube on it, • Virus: All robots within 6 spaces of you must put a Virus don't see any reason why you couldn't use boards from older versions of Robo Rally with the new game play of Reboot. place, the tied players split the second-place bonus. My rst experience with Robo I still remember the day my husband came into the house breathless with excitement. He'd found a Dispose of Stock in the Defunct Chain. Up to 8 players will compete for some pretty special Setup from the Priority Antenna, imagine a light beaming straight pick it up and card in their discard pile. For me, this is good news because my husband printed and mounted several special boards for me as a present one year. ere are 2. Beginning with the Mergemaker and continuing clockwise, players each handle their Rally was at a gaming invitational pristine copy of the highly-rated and valued 1999 Avalon Hill version of Acquire at our local thrift store. prizes: metal coins & bag, silver conict pawns and for all out from the front of the antenna, then rotating clockwise - add it to your Worm hundreds of Robo Rally boards you can print and play at Planet Gareth: RoboRally Boards. stock in the Defunct Chain in one or more of the following three ways: in Raleigh, NC. Lori, a long-time Setup is much the same as in the original Robo Rally with a few • : Immediately Reboot your robot. He says he got tunnel vision, his heart was beating so hard with excitement when he found it, that all he participants, Statue of Liberty Wonder cards. like a lighthouse. e tied robots play in the order they're in Energy Reserve. a. Hold on to it. You might do this if you plan to start another Chain with that name. Robo Rally enthusiast and acio- exceptions: the spotlight. It'll help you Whenever you activate a Damage card, place it back on the Tokens and Box Insert could do was carry it up to the cash register and pay for it immediately. I can't help but wonder what other b. Sell it at the price determined by the number of tiles that were in the Defunct Chain before the Merger. Details will follow on how to qualify for the tournament. nado introduced me to the appropriate Damage draw pile - it's out of your deck. gems he may have missed on that momentous visit due to his tunnel vision. Trade it two for one. Choose a racing course and set up the board(s) and Flags In Phase 1, the Upgrade Phase, you decide, in play order, buy future e plastic Checkpoint Flags and cardboard Reboot Point Tokens are ok, but Avalon Hill/Hasbro c. at is, you can acquire one share of the newly Merged Chain (if any shares are available), for every two Space is extremely limited: a maximum of 8 players can chaotic, programmed movement accordingly. Reboot adds three new elements to the factory oor whether you want to buy one of the Upgrades available in the upgrades. If e rst player to successfully make all of his checkpoints, in really cheaped out on the Checkpoint Tokens, making them of the same thin stock as the player Unfortunately for my husband, I was not nearly as enamored by this acquisition. Don't get me wrong, I shares of your Defunct Chain stock. game of racing robots to succes- participate. Watch our web site for tournament details. board set up: Upgrade Shop. the space is empty you're out of luck unless it's order, wins the game. boards - which is very, very thin indeed. I'm already looking for a replacement. was very happy he'd found a treasure for which he'd long hunted. I just wasn't excited about playing it. Latest Acquire Editions sive numbered ags on a factory 1. A Priority Antenna that looks like a satellite dish. your 5th Register, in which case you can take an Energy e plastic box insert is a nice touch to hold all of the components, but I'm afraid it's not going to While I thought the 3D buildings were pretty and certainly made the game more appealing, I had somehow come to the opinion In the meantime, drop by Here oor lled with movement-altering and In Phase 2, the Programming Phase, you program your robot Components Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new version of Acquire near the end of 2016 with plastic components. e previous edition, that they Proximity to the Priority Antenna determines robot play Cube from the Energy Bank. take much wear and tear. Mine already has a crack in it. e boards store underneath the insert so that Acquire was too cutthroat, competitive, mathy and long for my tastes. So, I refused to try it and it Be Books & Games and Tim damage-dealing obstacles that you must successfully navigate for the rst leg of your race across the factory oor. Draw nine While I'm excited to see painted robots in the Robo Rally published in 2008, featured all cardboard components. Cardboard chits replaced the usual plastic tiles seen in most editions. One of order. 8. Checkpoints. You need to hit these ags in order to win you have to keep pulling it out of the box. I recommend you remove all the cards and components languished on our game shelf for many years. I was wrong on all counts. or Tina will teach you how to cards from your Programming deck. ey could be: Move 1, Reboot the most sought-after versions of Acquire is Avalon Hill's 1999 edition. It features beautiful 3D Chain markers and a nice tray to if you want to win the race. Whew! Say that one three times the race! While you can enter a Checkpoint from any , I'm otherwise unimpressed by the quality of the 2. Reboot location(s). Whenever a robot reboots, often Move 2, Move 3, Back Up, Left Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, before pulling out the insert to avoid damaging it. Designed by Sid Sackson who was designing Euro-style strategy games before such a hold the stocks, money and Chain markers during play. e 2008 cardboard version was a sad successor. play this excellent two-player fast. side, it only counts if you're on the checkpoint at the end components. due to damage, this is where it will reappear. Power Up, or Again. Visualize where you want to go, paying Rulebook thing existed, Acquire was first published in 1964 as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. game. I played Twitch who lived up to his name, twitching left and of a Register. Simply running through a Checkpoint Robots Which brings us to Acquire 2016. While it's certainly not as big or fancy as the prized 1999 edition, it at least returns to plastic tiles 3. Energy cubes. When your robot ends its move on a close attention to the obstacles on the factory oor and how e rulebook, while 31 pages long, is a simple read. e setup and basic rules are covered in the It's been through many iterations since then, with its appearance - and sometimes its and features 3D Chain markers, and tray for the stock and Chain markers. However, the publishers made a few more changes: right pretty much the whole game - by luck of the draw all I doesn't count. You have to be on the Checkpoint after all e robots are simply adorable. I love the new sculpts! Unfor- Sci Fi & Fantasy space with an energy cube, you can pick it up. they may advance or inhibit your movement, then choose 5 first 11 pages. The next 4 pages provide details on Board Elements, Robot Interactions and Damage and Reboots. A whopping 8 rules - changing depending on the publisher. e goal of Acquire, however, has always Game CLEARANCE SALE - Save up to got were left turns, right turns and u-turns. e few times I robots have completed their Register and the previously tunately, when the publishers reduced the number of robots • 10 x 10 square board - instead of 12 x 9 square board - with 8 less tiles. cards to play - one in each of the 5 registers on your board. You pages illustrate recommended racing course setups cataloged as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Robots Must Die! The last 8 remained the same: acquire the most wealth. Book Club Meeting moved, ended in disaster: I ran o the board due to a program- Each player takes a player board and chooses a robot. In Robo described factory oor elements have activated, to from 8 to 6, they left out my favorite: Twitch! ey left Trundle 50% on Board Games, Card Games don't always get the cards you want, so make the best use of the pages are a Card Index with additional details on the Programming Cards, Special Programming Cards and Upgrade Cards. e To accumulate your wealth in Acquire, you'll invest in Hotel Chains - Company • Two rule changes: ming error or other robots pushed me o the board. I got Rally Reboot, each player also takes the correspondingly-colored successfully complete a Checkpoint - take a Checkpoint Bot out, too. The rest of the robots - Twonky, Hulk x90, Current Read: Star Tide Rising by David cards on hand. You could get stuck twitching left and right the back of the rulebook provides a handy round reference. Chains in many of the newer versions - the names and colors of which change 1. Chains are Safe at 10 tiles instead of the 11 in previous editions. and Expansions pushed around and shot by fellow robot so many times, I lost Programming deck for her robot, shues it, and places it on token to signify this. Hammer Bot, Smash Bot (renamed from Squash Bot), Zoom Brin (Carmen’s pick) whole round - that's ok. depending on the publisher. While there are three tiers of stocks, each with its 2. Stock prices increase at di erent stages. count. It's hard to get out of the way when all you can do is the appropriate space on her player board. ere are three more factory oor elements: Pits, Walls and the Bot and Spin Bot - got remakes and new backstories. This I recommend reading the rst 15 pages of the rulebook and leave the rest to consult as a reference as needed. You also don't have to We’re clearing out some games and overstock to make In Phase 3, the Activation Phase, you own starting stock price, the actions you and your fellow players take will • Money is printed on only one side, presumably so you can keep it hidden Next Meeting: Friday, February 10 at 6 pm twitch left and right. I didn't even come close to making it to Players also each take 5 energy cubes for their Priority Antenna. ey don't activate, but you do need to be wasn't really all that surprising, since Hulk x90 is the only stick to the race courses in the rulebook. You can always do a random set up with a couple boards and ags. at's what we do most room for new arrivals in 2017. Tina’s poor clairvoyence is execute your robots' programmed primarily determine the value of each Chain's stock. For example, as you and your when playing Closed. at HBB&G. the rst ag, let alone the other two. My rst experience Energy Reserve. e leftover energy cubes aware of them. robot to survive from the rst to second edition. of the time. your gain. Over 130 games have been marked down 20% to 50%! playing Robo Rally was so disastrous that Lori was quite movements, in turn order (proximity opponents add more blocks to a Chain, that chain's stock value increases as well. • All Stock Certificates have the same city-scape scene on the back. form the Energy Bank near the board. The Price of Cheaper Components The Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club reads to Priority Antenna), beginning Pits are nasty. If your robot falls into a pit, you have to Reboot: Personally, I love the new renderings - particularly since I don't Game and Expansion Bundles surprised when I said I wanted to play again. I thought it was Setup If you're expecting the 2016 edition of Acquire to be as fancy as the 1999 Avalon Hill edition you'll probably be disappointed. fantasy and science ction, plus urban Sort the Damage cards (also with Register 1. After all players have to paint them. Of course, you can judge for yourself. As e publishers did pass some of the savings of the cheaper components on to you: the MSRP of Robo Rally Reboot is $10 less than hilarious fun - and I was determined to do better. • Take 2 Spam cards and place them on your discard pile. Everything in the 2016 edition is smaller: the tiles, number of tiles, and the board. Presumably, the publishers modied the rules to Plus, we’re o ering several game and expansion bundle deals while supplies last: fantasy, alternate history, etc. We meet about new in Reboot) into piles by have executed their action for a for the other components... the previous edition. Personally, I would've happily paid $10 more for better, more sturdy components. Mix the tiles facedown and set them aside in a cluster or in stacks near the board. Give each player $6,000 and six tiles (players e next game Twitch continued to live up to his name, but I • Cancel the rest of your programming for that round by should keep their tiles concealed). Some versions of Acquire come with tile racks, in other versions the tiles are chunky enough that compensate for fewer tiles. Whether the publishers bothered to test these changes and their e ect on game play is unknown. I once a month, usually the Friday after Game type - Spam, Worm, Trojan register, elements on the factory Can you play with everything as is? Of course. In fact the updates and changes to the game play are - in my opinion - what make • Buy Tragedy Looper, Get Midnight Circle Expansion FREE! actually managed to twitch my way to the rst ag. It didn't immediately discarding all cards in your remaining you can just set them up on edge like dominoes (true of Acquire 2016). haven't noticed that the changes make a huge di erence to play, but I'm not an Acquire acionado, so your mileage may vary. Night at 6 p.m. at the store. Horse, Virus - and place them oor activate in order: registers. Robo Rally Reboot a worthwhile purchase - even if you already own the original. • Buy Seasons, Get Path of Destiny Expansion FREE! matter to me that all the other robots raced on by, I made it to next to the board along with the Components-wise, I think Acquire 2016 is an improvement over the cardboard 2008 version, but not as nice as the 1999 Avalon 1. Blue Fast Conveyor Belts • Place your robot on the Reboot Point of the board you Players need to decide now, as a group, whether to play Open, money and stock holdings are public knowledge, or Closed, money Attending members submit a book title for the reading the rst ag! I was hooked. stack of Special Programming Changes to Play Hill edition. It's too bad they changed the Chain names again. e stock certicates and money from the 2008 version are prettier. • Buy Space Cadets, Get Resistance is Mostly Futile Expansion FREE! move any robots on the conveyor were on when you rebooted. You may face your robot in and stock holdings are hidden. I think playing Closed makes the game more challenging memory-wise and Open play makes it list. We pick one to read each month - usually the one Avalon Hill rst published Robo Rally in Cards. Special Programming Cards come Personally, I love Robo Rally Reboot's new streamlined play for a number of reasons: Acquire 2016's Information Cards are printed on sturdy cardboard with the Stock Pricing and Merger Bonus data on one side and belt 2 spaces, rotating robots when they go any direction. You cannot shoot or use an upgrade when more challenging strategy-wise. • Buy or Order Flash Point: Fire Rescue at regular price, Get an Expansion FREE! we’ve found the most copies of. When we’ve read all the 1994, following up with a few, now highly- into play when players purchase certain Turn Summary and Merger Steps on the other - nice touch. Plus, there's one for each player. around a corner. you reboot. However, other robots can shoot or push you ematic touches as described below. To determine start player, each player draws a facedown tile and places it on its matching space on the game board. e player Choose from 2nd Story, Dangerous Waters or Urban Structures. You can get 30% books on our list - one submitted by each member - we sought-after, expansions that added robot Temporary Upgrade cards. Acquire 2016's 2. Green Slow Conveyor Belts move any robots on the while you're on a reboot point. Determining priority is simpler. No more comparing numbers. Most of the time you can determine priority at a glance. emati- whose tile is closest to 1A goes rst. I've read many complaints on Board Game Geek about game board. I've heard it called imsy and hard to read. I OFF additional expansions, too! Already have the base game? You cn still buy the expansions at 30% OFF! start a new list. upgrades and factory boards featuring new Shue the Upgrade deck and turn up as many Upgrade cards don't agree with imsy at all: it's quite solid. It would've been nice if the manufacturers painted the lettering. e grey-on-grey is hazards and features. ey later reprinted the conveyor belt 1 space, rotating robots when they go Walls and the Priority Antenna. You cannot move onto or cally, the Priority Antenna is a nice touch. Not only does it resemble a satellite dish, but in the real world, your proximity to a Game Play • Buy Mr. Jack Extension, Get 50% OFF Mr. Jack (used) You’re welcome to join us. Just read the current selection as there are players to form the Upgrade Shop. hard to read. However, the lettering is raised, making it easy to make it more legible. I colored the letters with a silver Sharpie. Voilà! base game with double-sided boards on around a corner. through Walls or the Priority Antenna, push other robots onto Central Oce a ects your Internet access speed. and come to the meeting. More details are available on On your turn, do the following in order: You can shop In-Store or Online. Note any games published by Asmodee North America (includes Days of Wonder, lighter cardstock, new robots and a few other minor changes, Set the Checkpoint tokens nearby. 3. Push Panels labeled with a number matching the or through them, or fire through them. Likewise Laser Beams e new individual Player Programming Decks solve two big problems: downtime between rounds and luck of the draw. You e Chain markers, probably what most Acquire fans are looking forward to in the 2016 edition, are nice. ey're colorful, decent Fantasy Flight and many more) can only be purchased in-store. e game & our web site’s Book Club page, our Facebook page and but never got around to reprinting the expansions. Beginning with the youngest, players each place their robot on current register, push any robots adjacent to them into cannot re through them. Cards don't have to wait while one person shues a massive Programming Deck, gures out how many cards to deal each person and then 1. Place one of your tiles on its matching space on the board. If this creates a Chain or causes a Merger, complete all transactions sculpts. e publishers provided tiny translucent orange ags and embellishments for all but one of the buildings. I recommend that for the newly created Chain or Merger (explained below) before proceeding with your turn. expansion bundle deals only work in-store. our Meetup Group. one of the black and white gears on the Start Board, facing the the next space. e Outer Limits. If you move, get pushed o or ride a deals out the cards. Players simply shue their own small decks whenever necessary and draw their own cards. is really speeds up you remove them from the spur and apply them one at a time. Otherwise, guring out which goes with which building is a night- While I always enjoy playing Robo Rally, I've never felt really e cards are small and made of very thin cardstock. With all 2. Buy stock. You can buy up to three stocks total for any active Chains. The stocks can be for the same Chain or different mare. e embellishments have engraved details. A wash might bring them out. I'm gonna try it anyway. the race course. You're now ready to begin the race. Gamers 4. Gears rotate any robots resting on them 90 degrees in conveyor belt o the edge of the factory oor, your robot game play. Don't get me wrong, you can still draw a bad hand, full of turns and no moves or vice versa. However, chances are much Hurry in now to get the best selection. Current Reading List: comfortable teaching and running it. I teach complex games to the handling and shuing, they're likely to show wear quickly, Chains or any combination thereof, but the maximum stock certicates you can buy is 3. Consult the Information Card to start your robots! the direction of the arrows. Green gears rotate clockwise, Reboots. better that your next hand will be better. Sure, you can gum up your deck with Damage cards if you're not careful, but that's due to My Thoughts If you have copies you’d like to trade or sell, please people all the time, but Robo Rally with all the factory oor so I sleeved mine. Unfortunately sleeving presented its own determine each stock's price. red gears counter-clockwise. your game play, not sheer luck of the draw. I've spent more than my fair share of rounds in original Robo Rally twitching in place bring them in. elements going o at di erent times, robot moves happening Game Play Damage problem: none of the standard sleeve sizes t the Programming 3. Draw another tile to your hand. e rst time I nally played Acquire, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I even asked to play it again. While 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament according to particular priority, lasers ring and damaging 5. Board Lasers. Robots in the path of any laser beams and Damage cards. I ended up using Mini USA Game Size because I was dealt zero Move cards - round after round. Acquire is competitive, it's not the cutthroat, confrontational or take-that kind of competition. You do have to do a little math: Each round of Robo Rally Reboot has three phases. Proximity to It perhaps goes without saying that you want to avoid Damage. Creating a Chain - • Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines or Explaining Cthulhu robots which lock their registers and a ect each player's hand take damage. Each laser can only hit one robot - the Premium Sleeves by Mayday (41mm x 63mm) and trimming e new Damage system with Spam, Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm cards works quite well, streamlines play and is spot-on Whenever you add a tile to the board adjacent, orthogonally, to another tile (that doesn't have any other tiles adding up your stock purchases and divvying Merger bonuses, etc. No big deal. Playtime is 60 to 90 minutes, which is just right for Coming in June Damage cards gum up your Programming Deck. Whenever your already adjacent to it), you start a Chain. As that Chain's founder, you get to name it: choose one of the available inactive color to Grandma and Other Stories by Alex Shvartsman sizes... I have a hard enough time programming my robot to go closest to where the beam(s) originates - dealing 1, 2 or Programming Deck, initially 20 cards, runs out, shue your the tops. For the Upgrade cards, I used Mayday's Standard thematic. Spam gums up your deck just as bad as it does your email inbox. e only way to get rid of Spam is to deal with it. In a medium to light strategy game in my book. I don't know where I got the idea it was a 3+ hour game. Must've gotten it confused e wildly sucessful card-drafting gameplay of 7 (Diane) where I want it, orchestrating everyone else's robots, too, 3 damage, depending on the number of beams. For each USA Game Size Sleeves (56mm x 87mm). I would've preferred Robo Rally Reboot that means programming and activating it in one of your registers. Likewise, Rebooting is also quite thematic Company markers and place it on the tile you just placed. As a bonus, you also get one stock certicate for that Chain. Only seven with Diplomacy. discard pile to start a new draw pile. e primary way to get Chains can ever be on the board at one time. Wonders is reimagined in an exciting head-to-head • Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey or Another Fine seemed just too much. So when I read Richard Gareld's laser beam that hit your robot, take a Spam card and Damage cards out of your deck is to program and activate them. Premium for these, too, but they were a smidge too tight. e taking you out of the action for bit. e Viruses even spread to other robots, like computer viruses do among computers! Acquire reminds me a lot of Airlines Europe, which I love. Obviously, Acquire came first. Both games have a bit of luck: Acquire in article about his soon-to-be released Robo Rally Reboot that was place it on top of your discard pile. Laser beams cannot good news is that the cards all t back in the molded box insert Resolving a Merger - Should you place a tile on the board such that two Chains become joined, a Merger occurs. e larger game. 7 Wonders: Duel pits two players against each Myth by Robert Asprin (Jonathan) You'll usually want to nd a safe place to do this. Each type of I think all of these changes together, make for more streamlined play, while retaining all of the fun and chaos of the original Robo the tiles you draw and Airlines Europe in the cards that turn up, but it's the player actions that ultimately determine stock value. supposed to streamline some of the play, I was excited to give it re through walls, the Priority Antenna or other robots. after being sleeved. Chain, the one with the most tiles automatically takes over, swallowing up the smaller Chain. Should both Chains in the Merger other in a one-on-one struggle to build and guide their Damage has a di erent e ect when activated: Rally. I feel much more comfortable teaching Robo Rally Reboot and recommending it to newbie gamers and families. In just this last Get automatic updates and reminders via our Meetup a trial run. have the same number of tiles, the player who created the Merger gets to choose which Chain his tile applies to, thus determining Some versions of Acquire, including 2016, have variant rules to support 2 players. I haven't tried a 2-player game yet, so I can't 6. Robot Lasers. Each robot res a laser beam in the Boards week, I've taught it three times. In all the years I've owned the second edition of Robo Rally, I may have taught it once. cities through three Ages of development. With many group at: • Spam is the simplest: Play the top card of your program- the Chain that will continue to exist. e smaller Chain becomes Defunct. ere are a few tasks you now need to perform to comment on the game play. While I'm happy my husband found the 1999 Avalon Hill edition, I Following is a run-down on the setup, game play, changes from direction it's facing. Damage works the same as Board strategic paths to victory, 7 Wonders: Duel is a perfect game for www.meetup.com/Here-Be-Books-and-Games-Book-Club. ming deck in this register. e factory oor boards are thinner in Robo Rally Reboot than Robo Rally Reboot (the box title is actually just Robo Rally) supports 2 to 6 players ages 8 and up. Playtime is 20 to 120 minutes complete the Merger: still bought Acquire 2016 to take places. Tim's not letting his treasure out of the house. competitive tournament events and quick casual play alike. second edition Robo Rally, and components di erences. I'll Lasers. both of the previous editions. ey feel like they'll stand up to • Trojan Horse: Place 2 Spam cards on your discard pile - depending on the course you set up and the number of players. More players, longer course, longer game. 1. Award Majority Holders' Bonuses to two largest Stockholders in the Defunct Chain (the one being swallowed up). In Acquire 2016 supports 2 to 6 players ages 12 and up and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. 3 7. Energy Outlets. If you end your movement on an play ok, though. e boards are smaller, as well: 10 squares by Issue 47 Here Be Books & Games News February 2017 Here Be Books & Games will host a 7 Wonders: Duel Robo Rally Reboot refer to the new edition of Robo Rally as Robo Rally Reboot and the Priority Antenna determines play order - counted by rows, Energy Outlet space gumming up your deck even more. 10 squares versus the 12 x 12 squares in the earlier editions. e squares are the same size, there just aren't as many of them. So, I Acquire 2016 - Nice reprint of the classic stock market game. case of tie for rst place, add the rst- and second-place bonuses and split them down the middle. In case of a tie for second- Tournament in June during a special extra Game Night. the previous version as simply Robo Rally. then columns. Should two or more robots be at equal distance with a cube on it, • Virus: All robots within 6 spaces of you must put a Virus don't see any reason why you couldn't use boards from older versions of Robo Rally with the new game play of Reboot. place, the tied players split the second-place bonus. My rst experience with Robo I still remember the day my husband came into the house breathless with excitement. He'd found a Dispose of Stock in the Defunct Chain. Up to 8 players will compete for some pretty special Setup from the Priority Antenna, imagine a light beaming straight pick it up and card in their discard pile. For me, this is good news because my husband printed and mounted several special boards for me as a present one year. ere are 2. Beginning with the Mergemaker and continuing clockwise, players each handle their Rally was at a gaming invitational pristine copy of the highly-rated and valued 1999 Avalon Hill version of Acquire at our local thrift store. prizes: metal coins & bag, silver conict pawns and for all out from the front of the antenna, then rotating clockwise - add it to your Worm hundreds of Robo Rally boards you can print and play at Planet Gareth: RoboRally Boards. stock in the Defunct Chain in one or more of the following three ways: in Raleigh, NC. Lori, a long-time Setup is much the same as in the original Robo Rally with a few • : Immediately Reboot your robot. He says he got tunnel vision, his heart was beating so hard with excitement when he found it, that all he participants, Statue of Liberty Wonder cards. like a lighthouse. e tied robots play in the order they're in Energy Reserve. a. Hold on to it. You might do this if you plan to start another Chain with that name. Robo Rally enthusiast and acio- exceptions: the spotlight. It'll help you Whenever you activate a Damage card, place it back on the Tokens and Box Insert could do was carry it up to the cash register and pay for it immediately. I can't help but wonder what other b. Sell it at the price determined by the number of tiles that were in the Defunct Chain before the Merger. Details will follow on how to qualify for the tournament. nado introduced me to the appropriate Damage draw pile - it's out of your deck. gems he may have missed on that momentous visit due to his tunnel vision. Trade it two for one. Choose a racing course and set up the board(s) and Flags In Phase 1, the Upgrade Phase, you decide, in play order, buy future e plastic Checkpoint Flags and cardboard Reboot Point Tokens are ok, but Avalon Hill/Hasbro c. at is, you can acquire one share of the newly Merged Chain (if any shares are available), for every two Space is extremely limited: a maximum of 8 players can chaotic, programmed movement accordingly. Reboot adds three new elements to the factory oor whether you want to buy one of the Upgrades available in the upgrades. If e rst player to successfully make all of his checkpoints, in really cheaped out on the Checkpoint Tokens, making them of the same thin stock as the player Unfortunately for my husband, I was not nearly as enamored by this acquisition. Don't get me wrong, I shares of your Defunct Chain stock. game of racing robots to succes- participate. Watch our web site for tournament details. board set up: Upgrade Shop. the space is empty you're out of luck unless it's order, wins the game. boards - which is very, very thin indeed. I'm already looking for a replacement. was very happy he'd found a treasure for which he'd long hunted. I just wasn't excited about playing it. Latest Acquire Editions sive numbered ags on a factory 1. A Priority Antenna that looks like a satellite dish. your 5th Register, in which case you can take an Energy e plastic box insert is a nice touch to hold all of the components, but I'm afraid it's not going to While I thought the 3D buildings were pretty and certainly made the game more appealing, I had somehow come to the opinion In the meantime, drop by Here oor lled with movement-altering and In Phase 2, the Programming Phase, you program your robot Components Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new version of Acquire near the end of 2016 with plastic components. e previous edition, that they Proximity to the Priority Antenna determines robot play Cube from the Energy Bank. take much wear and tear. Mine already has a crack in it. e boards store underneath the insert so that Acquire was too cutthroat, competitive, mathy and long for my tastes. So, I refused to try it and it Be Books & Games and Tim damage-dealing obstacles that you must successfully navigate for the rst leg of your race across the factory oor. Draw nine While I'm excited to see painted robots in the Robo Rally published in 2008, featured all cardboard components. Cardboard chits replaced the usual plastic tiles seen in most editions. One of order. 8. Checkpoints. You need to hit these ags in order to win you have to keep pulling it out of the box. I recommend you remove all the cards and components languished on our game shelf for many years. I was wrong on all counts. or Tina will teach you how to cards from your Programming deck. ey could be: Move 1, Reboot the most sought-after versions of Acquire is Avalon Hill's 1999 edition. It features beautiful 3D Chain markers and a nice tray to if you want to win the race. Whew! Say that one three times the race! While you can enter a Checkpoint from any , I'm otherwise unimpressed by the quality of the 2. Reboot location(s). Whenever a robot reboots, often Move 2, Move 3, Back Up, Left Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, before pulling out the insert to avoid damaging it. Designed by Sid Sackson who was designing Euro-style strategy games before such a hold the stocks, money and Chain markers during play. e 2008 cardboard version was a sad successor. play this excellent two-player fast. side, it only counts if you're on the checkpoint at the end components. due to damage, this is where it will reappear. Power Up, or Again. Visualize where you want to go, paying Rulebook thing existed, Acquire was first published in 1964 as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. game. I played Twitch who lived up to his name, twitching left and of a Register. Simply running through a Checkpoint Robots Which brings us to Acquire 2016. While it's certainly not as big or fancy as the prized 1999 edition, it at least returns to plastic tiles 3. Energy cubes. When your robot ends its move on a close attention to the obstacles on the factory oor and how e rulebook, while 31 pages long, is a simple read. e setup and basic rules are covered in the It's been through many iterations since then, with its appearance - and sometimes its and features 3D Chain markers, and tray for the stock and Chain markers. However, the publishers made a few more changes: right pretty much the whole game - by luck of the draw all I doesn't count. You have to be on the Checkpoint after all e robots are simply adorable. I love the new sculpts! Unfor- Sci Fi & Fantasy space with an energy cube, you can pick it up. they may advance or inhibit your movement, then choose 5 first 11 pages. The next 4 pages provide details on Board Elements, Robot Interactions and Damage and Reboots. A whopping 8 rules - changing depending on the publisher. e goal of Acquire, however, has always Game CLEARANCE SALE - Save up to got were left turns, right turns and u-turns. e few times I robots have completed their Register and the previously tunately, when the publishers reduced the number of robots • 10 x 10 square board - instead of 12 x 9 square board - with 8 less tiles. cards to play - one in each of the 5 registers on your board. You pages illustrate recommended racing course setups cataloged as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Robots Must Die! The last 8 remained the same: acquire the most wealth. Book Club Meeting moved, ended in disaster: I ran o the board due to a program- Each player takes a player board and chooses a robot. In Robo described factory oor elements have activated, to from 8 to 6, they left out my favorite: Twitch! ey left Trundle 50% on Board Games, Card Games don't always get the cards you want, so make the best use of the pages are a Card Index with additional details on the Programming Cards, Special Programming Cards and Upgrade Cards. e To accumulate your wealth in Acquire, you'll invest in Hotel Chains - Company • Two rule changes: ming error or other robots pushed me o the board. I got Rally Reboot, each player also takes the correspondingly-colored successfully complete a Checkpoint - take a Checkpoint Bot out, too. The rest of the robots - Twonky, Hulk x90, Current Read: Star Tide Rising by David cards on hand. You could get stuck twitching left and right the back of the rulebook provides a handy round reference. Chains in many of the newer versions - the names and colors of which change 1. Chains are Safe at 10 tiles instead of the 11 in previous editions. and Expansions pushed around and shot by fellow robot so many times, I lost Programming deck for her robot, shues it, and places it on token to signify this. Hammer Bot, Smash Bot (renamed from Squash Bot), Zoom Brin (Carmen’s pick) whole round - that's ok. depending on the publisher. While there are three tiers of stocks, each with its 2. Stock prices increase at di erent stages. count. It's hard to get out of the way when all you can do is the appropriate space on her player board. ere are three more factory oor elements: Pits, Walls and the Bot and Spin Bot - got remakes and new backstories. This I recommend reading the rst 15 pages of the rulebook and leave the rest to consult as a reference as needed. You also don't have to We’re clearing out some games and overstock to make In Phase 3, the Activation Phase, you own starting stock price, the actions you and your fellow players take will • Money is printed on only one side, presumably so you can keep it hidden Next Meeting: Friday, February 10 at 6 pm twitch left and right. I didn't even come close to making it to Players also each take 5 energy cubes for their Priority Antenna. ey don't activate, but you do need to be wasn't really all that surprising, since Hulk x90 is the only stick to the race courses in the rulebook. You can always do a random set up with a couple boards and ags. at's what we do most room for new arrivals in 2017. Tina’s poor clairvoyence is execute your robots' programmed primarily determine the value of each Chain's stock. For example, as you and your when playing Closed. at HBB&G. the rst ag, let alone the other two. My rst experience Energy Reserve. e leftover energy cubes aware of them. robot to survive from the rst to second edition. of the time. your gain. Over 130 games have been marked down 20% to 50%! playing Robo Rally was so disastrous that Lori was quite movements, in turn order (proximity opponents add more blocks to a Chain, that chain's stock value increases as well. • All Stock Certificates have the same city-scape scene on the back. form the Energy Bank near the board. The Price of Cheaper Components The Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club reads to Priority Antenna), beginning Pits are nasty. If your robot falls into a pit, you have to Reboot: Personally, I love the new renderings - particularly since I don't Game and Expansion Bundles surprised when I said I wanted to play again. I thought it was Setup If you're expecting the 2016 edition of Acquire to be as fancy as the 1999 Avalon Hill edition you'll probably be disappointed. fantasy and science ction, plus urban Sort the Damage cards (also with Register 1. After all players have to paint them. Of course, you can judge for yourself. As e publishers did pass some of the savings of the cheaper components on to you: the MSRP of Robo Rally Reboot is $10 less than hilarious fun - and I was determined to do better. • Take 2 Spam cards and place them on your discard pile. Everything in the 2016 edition is smaller: the tiles, number of tiles, and the board. Presumably, the publishers modied the rules to Plus, we’re o ering several game and expansion bundle deals while supplies last: fantasy, alternate history, etc. We meet about new in Reboot) into piles by have executed their action for a for the other components... the previous edition. Personally, I would've happily paid $10 more for better, more sturdy components. Mix the tiles facedown and set them aside in a cluster or in stacks near the board. Give each player $6,000 and six tiles (players e next game Twitch continued to live up to his name, but I • Cancel the rest of your programming for that round by should keep their tiles concealed). Some versions of Acquire come with tile racks, in other versions the tiles are chunky enough that compensate for fewer tiles. Whether the publishers bothered to test these changes and their e ect on game play is unknown. I once a month, usually the Friday after Game type - Spam, Worm, Trojan register, elements on the factory Can you play with everything as is? Of course. In fact the updates and changes to the game play are - in my opinion - what make • Buy Tragedy Looper, Get Midnight Circle Expansion FREE! actually managed to twitch my way to the rst ag. It didn't immediately discarding all cards in your remaining you can just set them up on edge like dominoes (true of Acquire 2016). haven't noticed that the changes make a huge di erence to play, but I'm not an Acquire acionado, so your mileage may vary. Night at 6 p.m. at the store. Horse, Virus - and place them oor activate in order: registers. Robo Rally Reboot a worthwhile purchase - even if you already own the original. • Buy Seasons, Get Path of Destiny Expansion FREE! matter to me that all the other robots raced on by, I made it to next to the board along with the Components-wise, I think Acquire 2016 is an improvement over the cardboard 2008 version, but not as nice as the 1999 Avalon 1. Blue Fast Conveyor Belts • Place your robot on the Reboot Point of the board you Players need to decide now, as a group, whether to play Open, money and stock holdings are public knowledge, or Closed, money Attending members submit a book title for the reading the rst ag! I was hooked. stack of Special Programming Changes to Play Hill edition. It's too bad they changed the Chain names again. e stock certicates and money from the 2008 version are prettier. • Buy Space Cadets, Get Resistance is Mostly Futile Expansion FREE! move any robots on the conveyor were on when you rebooted. You may face your robot in and stock holdings are hidden. I think playing Closed makes the game more challenging memory-wise and Open play makes it list. We pick one to read each month - usually the one Avalon Hill rst published Robo Rally in Cards. Special Programming Cards come Personally, I love Robo Rally Reboot's new streamlined play for a number of reasons: Acquire 2016's Information Cards are printed on sturdy cardboard with the Stock Pricing and Merger Bonus data on one side and belt 2 spaces, rotating robots when they go any direction. You cannot shoot or use an upgrade when more challenging strategy-wise. • Buy or Order Flash Point: Fire Rescue at regular price, Get an Expansion FREE! we’ve found the most copies of. When we’ve read all the 1994, following up with a few, now highly- into play when players purchase certain Turn Summary and Merger Steps on the other - nice touch. Plus, there's one for each player. around a corner. you reboot. However, other robots can shoot or push you ematic touches as described below. To determine start player, each player draws a facedown tile and places it on its matching space on the game board. e player Choose from 2nd Story, Dangerous Waters or Urban Structures. You can get 30% books on our list - one submitted by each member - we sought-after, expansions that added robot Temporary Upgrade cards. Acquire 2016's 2. Green Slow Conveyor Belts move any robots on the while you're on a reboot point. Determining priority is simpler. No more comparing numbers. Most of the time you can determine priority at a glance. emati- whose tile is closest to 1A goes rst. I've read many complaints on Board Game Geek about game board. I've heard it called imsy and hard to read. I OFF additional expansions, too! Already have the base game? You cn still buy the expansions at 30% OFF! start a new list. upgrades and factory boards featuring new Shue the Upgrade deck and turn up as many Upgrade cards don't agree with imsy at all: it's quite solid. It would've been nice if the manufacturers painted the lettering. e grey-on-grey is hazards and features. ey later reprinted the conveyor belt 1 space, rotating robots when they go Walls and the Priority Antenna. You cannot move onto or cally, the Priority Antenna is a nice touch. Not only does it resemble a satellite dish, but in the real world, your proximity to a Game Play • Buy Mr. Jack Extension, Get 50% OFF Mr. Jack (used) You’re welcome to join us. Just read the current selection as there are players to form the Upgrade Shop. hard to read. However, the lettering is raised, making it easy to make it more legible. I colored the letters with a silver Sharpie. Voilà! base game with double-sided boards on around a corner. through Walls or the Priority Antenna, push other robots onto Central Oce a ects your Internet access speed. and come to the meeting. More details are available on Flag & Robot comparison – Robo Rally 2nd Ed (left) & Robo Rally 2016 (right) On your turn, do the following in order: You can shop In-Store or Online. Note any games published by Asmodee North America (includes Days of Wonder, lighter cardstock, new robots and a few other minor changes, Set the Checkpoint tokens nearby. 3. Push Panels labeled with a number matching the or through them, or fire through them. Likewise Laser Beams e new individual Player Programming Decks solve two big problems: downtime between rounds and luck of the draw. You e Chain markers, probably what most Acquire fans are looking forward to in the 2016 edition, are nice. ey're colorful, decent Fantasy Flight and many more) can only be purchased in-store. e game & our web site’s Book Club page, our Facebook page and but never got around to reprinting the expansions. Beginning with the youngest, players each place their robot on current register, push any robots adjacent to them into cannot re through them. Cards don't have to wait while one person shues a massive Programming Deck, gures out how many cards to deal each person and then 1. Place one of your tiles on its matching space on the board. If this creates a Chain or causes a Merger, complete all transactions sculpts. e publishers provided tiny translucent orange ags and embellishments for all but one of the buildings. I recommend that for the newly created Chain or Merger (explained below) before proceeding with your turn. expansion bundle deals only work in-store. our Meetup Group. one of the black and white gears on the Start Board, facing the the next space. e Outer Limits. If you move, get pushed o or ride a deals out the cards. Players simply shue their own small decks whenever necessary and draw their own cards. is really speeds up you remove them from the spur and apply them one at a time. Otherwise, guring out which goes with which building is a night- While I always enjoy playing Robo Rally, I've never felt really e cards are small and made of very thin cardstock. With all 2. Buy stock. You can buy up to three stocks total for any active Chains. The stocks can be for the same Chain or different mare. e embellishments have engraved details. A wash might bring them out. I'm gonna try it anyway. the race course. You're now ready to begin the race. Gamers 4. Gears rotate any robots resting on them 90 degrees in conveyor belt o the edge of the factory oor, your robot game play. Don't get me wrong, you can still draw a bad hand, full of turns and no moves or vice versa. However, chances are much Hurry in now to get the best selection. Current Reading List: comfortable teaching and running it. I teach complex games to the handling and shuing, they're likely to show wear quickly, Chains or any combination thereof, but the maximum stock certicates you can buy is 3. Consult the Information Card to start your robots! the direction of the arrows. Green gears rotate clockwise, Reboots. better that your next hand will be better. Sure, you can gum up your deck with Damage cards if you're not careful, but that's due to My Thoughts If you have copies you’d like to trade or sell, please people all the time, but Robo Rally with all the factory oor so I sleeved mine. Unfortunately sleeving presented its own determine each stock's price. red gears counter-clockwise. your game play, not sheer luck of the draw. I've spent more than my fair share of rounds in original Robo Rally twitching in place bring them in. elements going o at di erent times, robot moves happening Game Play Damage problem: none of the standard sleeve sizes t the Programming 3. Draw another tile to your hand. e rst time I nally played Acquire, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I even asked to play it again. While 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament according to particular priority, lasers ring and damaging 5. Board Lasers. Robots in the path of any laser beams and Damage cards. I ended up using Mini USA Game Size because I was dealt zero Move cards - round after round. Acquire is competitive, it's not the cutthroat, confrontational or take-that kind of competition. You do have to do a little math: Each round of Robo Rally Reboot has three phases. Proximity to It perhaps goes without saying that you want to avoid Damage. Creating a Chain - • Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines or Explaining Cthulhu robots which lock their registers and a ect each player's hand take damage. Each laser can only hit one robot - the Premium Sleeves by Mayday (41mm x 63mm) and trimming e new Damage system with Spam, Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm cards works quite well, streamlines play and is spot-on Whenever you add a tile to the board adjacent, orthogonally, to another tile (that doesn't have any other tiles adding up your stock purchases and divvying Merger bonuses, etc. No big deal. Playtime is 60 to 90 minutes, which is just right for Coming in June Damage cards gum up your Programming Deck. Whenever your already adjacent to it), you start a Chain. As that Chain's founder, you get to name it: choose one of the available inactive color to Grandma and Other Stories by Alex Shvartsman sizes... I have a hard enough time programming my robot to go closest to where the beam(s) originates - dealing 1, 2 or Programming Deck, initially 20 cards, runs out, shue your the tops. For the Upgrade cards, I used Mayday's Standard thematic. Spam gums up your deck just as bad as it does your email inbox. e only way to get rid of Spam is to deal with it. In a medium to light strategy game in my book. I don't know where I got the idea it was a 3+ hour game. Must've gotten it confused e wildly sucessful card-drafting gameplay of 7 (Diane) where I want it, orchestrating everyone else's robots, too, 3 damage, depending on the number of beams. For each USA Game Size Sleeves (56mm x 87mm). I would've preferred Robo Rally Reboot that means programming and activating it in one of your registers. Likewise, Rebooting is also quite thematic Company markers and place it on the tile you just placed. As a bonus, you also get one stock certicate for that Chain. Only seven with Diplomacy. discard pile to start a new draw pile. e primary way to get Chains can ever be on the board at one time. Wonders is reimagined in an exciting head-to-head • Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey or Another Fine seemed just too much. So when I read Richard Gareld's laser beam that hit your robot, take a Spam card and Damage cards out of your deck is to program and activate them. Premium for these, too, but they were a smidge too tight. e taking you out of the action for bit. e Viruses even spread to other robots, like computer viruses do among computers! Acquire reminds me a lot of Airlines Europe, which I love. Obviously, Acquire came first. Both games have a bit of luck: Acquire in article about his soon-to-be released Robo Rally Reboot that was good news is that the cards all t back in the molded box insert Resolving a Merger - Should you place a tile on the board such that two Chains become joined, a Merger occurs. e larger game. 7 Wonders: Duel pits two players against each Myth by Robert Asprin (Jonathan) place it on top of your discard pile. Laser beams cannot You'll usually want to nd a safe place to do this. Each type of I think all of these changes together, make for more streamlined play, while retaining all of the fun and chaos of the original Robo the tiles you draw and Airlines Europe in the cards that turn up, but it's the player actions that ultimately determine stock value. supposed to streamline some of the play, I was excited to give it after being sleeved. Chain, the one with the most tiles automatically takes over, swallowing up the smaller Chain. Should both Chains in the Merger other in a one-on-one struggle to build and guide their re through walls, the Priority Antenna or other robots. Damage has a di erent e ect when activated: Rally. I feel much more comfortable teaching Robo Rally Reboot and recommending it to newbie gamers and families. In just this last Get automatic updates and reminders via our Meetup a trial run. have the same number of tiles, the player who created the Merger gets to choose which Chain his tile applies to, thus determining Some versions of Acquire, including 2016, have variant rules to support 2 players. I haven't tried a 2-player game yet, so I can't 6. Robot Lasers. Each robot res a laser beam in the Boards week, I've taught it three times. In all the years I've owned the second edition of Robo Rally, I may have taught it once. cities through three Ages of development. With many group at: • Spam is the simplest: Play the top card of your program- the Chain that will continue to exist. e smaller Chain becomes Defunct. ere are a few tasks you now need to perform to comment on the game play. While I'm happy my husband found the 1999 Avalon Hill edition, I Following is a run-down on the setup, game play, changes from direction it's facing. Damage works the same as Board strategic paths to victory, 7 Wonders: Duel is a perfect game for www.meetup.com/Here-Be-Books-and-Games-Book-Club. ming deck in this register. e factory oor boards are thinner in Robo Rally Reboot than Robo Rally Reboot (the box title is actually just Robo Rally) supports 2 to 6 players ages 8 and up. Playtime is 20 to 120 minutes complete the Merger: still bought Acquire 2016 to take places. Tim's not letting his treasure out of the house. competitive tournament events and quick casual play alike. second edition Robo Rally, and components di erences. I'll Lasers. both of the previous editions. ey feel like they'll stand up to • Trojan Horse: Place 2 Spam cards on your discard pile - depending on the course you set up and the number of players. More players, longer course, longer game. 1. Award Majority Holders' Bonuses to two largest Stockholders in the Defunct Chain (the one being swallowed up). In Acquire 2016 supports 2 to 6 players ages 12 and up and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. 7. Energy Outlets. If you end your movement on an 4 play ok, though. e boards are smaller, as well: 10 squares by Issue 47 Here Be Books & Games News February 2017 Here Be Books & Games will host a 7 Wonders: Duel Robo Rally Reboot refer to the new edition of Robo Rally as Robo Rally Reboot and the Priority Antenna determines play order - counted by rows, Energy Outlet space gumming up your deck even more. 10 squares versus the 12 x 12 squares in the earlier editions. e squares are the same size, there just aren't as many of them. So, I Acquire 2016 - Nice reprint of the classic stock market game. case of tie for rst place, add the rst- and second-place bonuses and split them down the middle. In case of a tie for second- Tournament in June during a special extra Game Night. the previous version as simply Robo Rally. then columns. Should two or more robots be at equal distance with a cube on it, • Virus: All robots within 6 spaces of you must put a Virus don't see any reason why you couldn't use boards from older versions of Robo Rally with the new game play of Reboot. place, the tied players split the second-place bonus. My rst experience with Robo I still remember the day my husband came into the house breathless with excitement. He'd found a Dispose of Stock in the Defunct Chain. Up to 8 players will compete for some pretty special Setup from the Priority Antenna, imagine a light beaming straight pick it up and card in their discard pile. For me, this is good news because my husband printed and mounted several special boards for me as a present one year. ere are 2. Beginning with the Mergemaker and continuing clockwise, players each handle their Rally was at a gaming invitational pristine copy of the highly-rated and valued 1999 Avalon Hill version of Acquire at our local thrift store. prizes: metal coins & bag, silver conict pawns and for all out from the front of the antenna, then rotating clockwise - add it to your Worm hundreds of Robo Rally boards you can print and play at Planet Gareth: RoboRally Boards. stock in the Defunct Chain in one or more of the following three ways: in Raleigh, NC. Lori, a long-time Setup is much the same as in the original Robo Rally with a few • : Immediately Reboot your robot. He says he got tunnel vision, his heart was beating so hard with excitement when he found it, that all he participants, Statue of Liberty Wonder cards. like a lighthouse. e tied robots play in the order they're in Energy Reserve. a. Hold on to it. You might do this if you plan to start another Chain with that name. Robo Rally enthusiast and acio- exceptions: the spotlight. It'll help you Whenever you activate a Damage card, place it back on the Tokens and Box Insert could do was carry it up to the cash register and pay for it immediately. I can't help but wonder what other b. Sell it at the price determined by the number of tiles that were in the Defunct Chain before the Merger. Details will follow on how to qualify for the tournament. nado introduced me to the appropriate Damage draw pile - it's out of your deck. gems he may have missed on that momentous visit due to his tunnel vision. Trade it two for one. Choose a racing course and set up the board(s) and Flags In Phase 1, the Upgrade Phase, you decide, in play order, buy future e plastic Checkpoint Flags and cardboard Reboot Point Tokens are ok, but Avalon Hill/Hasbro c. at is, you can acquire one share of the newly Merged Chain (if any shares are available), for every two Space is extremely limited: a maximum of 8 players can chaotic, programmed movement accordingly. Reboot adds three new elements to the factory oor whether you want to buy one of the Upgrades available in the upgrades. If e rst player to successfully make all of his checkpoints, in really cheaped out on the Checkpoint Tokens, making them of the same thin stock as the player Unfortunately for my husband, I was not nearly as enamored by this acquisition. Don't get me wrong, I shares of your Defunct Chain stock. game of racing robots to succes- participate. Watch our web site for tournament details. board set up: Upgrade Shop. the space is empty you're out of luck unless it's order, wins the game. boards - which is very, very thin indeed. I'm already looking for a replacement. was very happy he'd found a treasure for which he'd long hunted. I just wasn't excited about playing it. Latest Acquire Editions sive numbered ags on a factory 1. A Priority Antenna that looks like a satellite dish. your 5th Register, in which case you can take an Energy e plastic box insert is a nice touch to hold all of the components, but I'm afraid it's not going to While I thought the 3D buildings were pretty and certainly made the game more appealing, I had somehow come to the opinion In the meantime, drop by Here oor lled with movement-altering and In Phase 2, the Programming Phase, you program your robot Components Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new version of Acquire near the end of 2016 with plastic components. e previous edition, that they Proximity to the Priority Antenna determines robot play Cube from the Energy Bank. take much wear and tear. Mine already has a crack in it. e boards store underneath the insert so that Acquire was too cutthroat, competitive, mathy and long for my tastes. So, I refused to try it and it Be Books & Games and Tim damage-dealing obstacles that you must successfully navigate for the rst leg of your race across the factory oor. Draw nine While I'm excited to see painted robots in the Robo Rally published in 2008, featured all cardboard components. Cardboard chits replaced the usual plastic tiles seen in most editions. One of order. 8. Checkpoints. You need to hit these ags in order to win you have to keep pulling it out of the box. I recommend you remove all the cards and components languished on our game shelf for many years. I was wrong on all counts. or Tina will teach you how to cards from your Programming deck. ey could be: Move 1, Reboot the most sought-after versions of Acquire is Avalon Hill's 1999 edition. It features beautiful 3D Chain markers and a nice tray to if you want to win the race. Whew! Say that one three times the race! While you can enter a Checkpoint from any , I'm otherwise unimpressed by the quality of the 2. Reboot location(s). Whenever a robot reboots, often Move 2, Move 3, Back Up, Left Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, before pulling out the insert to avoid damaging it. Designed by Sid Sackson who was designing Euro-style strategy games before such a hold the stocks, money and Chain markers during play. e 2008 cardboard version was a sad successor. play this excellent two-player fast. side, it only counts if you're on the checkpoint at the end components. due to damage, this is where it will reappear. Power Up, or Again. Visualize where you want to go, paying Rulebook thing existed, Acquire was first published in 1964 as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. game. I played Twitch who lived up to his name, twitching left and of a Register. Simply running through a Checkpoint Robots Which brings us to Acquire 2016. While it's certainly not as big or fancy as the prized 1999 edition, it at least returns to plastic tiles 3. Energy cubes. When your robot ends its move on a close attention to the obstacles on the factory oor and how e rulebook, while 31 pages long, is a simple read. e setup and basic rules are covered in the It's been through many iterations since then, with its appearance - and sometimes its and features 3D Chain markers, and tray for the stock and Chain markers. However, the publishers made a few more changes: right pretty much the whole game - by luck of the draw all I doesn't count. You have to be on the Checkpoint after all e robots are simply adorable. I love the new sculpts! Unfor- Sci Fi & Fantasy space with an energy cube, you can pick it up. they may advance or inhibit your movement, then choose 5 first 11 pages. The next 4 pages provide details on Board Elements, Robot Interactions and Damage and Reboots. A whopping 8 rules - changing depending on the publisher. e goal of Acquire, however, has always Game CLEARANCE SALE - Save up to got were left turns, right turns and u-turns. e few times I robots have completed their Register and the previously tunately, when the publishers reduced the number of robots • 10 x 10 square board - instead of 12 x 9 square board - with 8 less tiles. cards to play - one in each of the 5 registers on your board. You pages illustrate recommended racing course setups cataloged as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Robots Must Die! The last 8 remained the same: acquire the most wealth. Book Club Meeting moved, ended in disaster: I ran o the board due to a program- Each player takes a player board and chooses a robot. In Robo described factory oor elements have activated, to from 8 to 6, they left out my favorite: Twitch! ey left Trundle 50% on Board Games, Card Games don't always get the cards you want, so make the best use of the pages are a Card Index with additional details on the Programming Cards, Special Programming Cards and Upgrade Cards. e To accumulate your wealth in Acquire, you'll invest in Hotel Chains - Company • Two rule changes: ming error or other robots pushed me o the board. I got Rally Reboot, each player also takes the correspondingly-colored successfully complete a Checkpoint - take a Checkpoint Bot out, too. The rest of the robots - Twonky, Hulk x90, Current Read: Star Tide Rising by David cards on hand. You could get stuck twitching left and right the back of the rulebook provides a handy round reference. Chains in many of the newer versions - the names and colors of which change 1. Chains are Safe at 10 tiles instead of the 11 in previous editions. and Expansions pushed around and shot by fellow robot so many times, I lost Programming deck for her robot, shues it, and places it on token to signify this. Hammer Bot, Smash Bot (renamed from Squash Bot), Zoom Brin (Carmen’s pick) whole round - that's ok. depending on the publisher. While there are three tiers of stocks, each with its 2. Stock prices increase at di erent stages. count. It's hard to get out of the way when all you can do is the appropriate space on her player board. ere are three more factory oor elements: Pits, Walls and the Bot and Spin Bot - got remakes and new backstories. This I recommend reading the rst 15 pages of the rulebook and leave the rest to consult as a reference as needed. You also don't have to We’re clearing out some games and overstock to make In Phase 3, the Activation Phase, you own starting stock price, the actions you and your fellow players take will • Money is printed on only one side, presumably so you can keep it hidden Next Meeting: Friday, February 10 at 6 pm twitch left and right. I didn't even come close to making it to Players also each take 5 energy cubes for their Priority Antenna. ey don't activate, but you do need to be wasn't really all that surprising, since Hulk x90 is the only stick to the race courses in the rulebook. You can always do a random set up with a couple boards and ags. at's what we do most room for new arrivals in 2017. Tina’s poor clairvoyence is execute your robots' programmed primarily determine the value of each Chain's stock. For example, as you and your when playing Closed. at HBB&G. the rst ag, let alone the other two. My rst experience Energy Reserve. e leftover energy cubes aware of them. robot to survive from the rst to second edition. of the time. your gain. Over 130 games have been marked down 20% to 50%! playing Robo Rally was so disastrous that Lori was quite movements, in turn order (proximity opponents add more blocks to a Chain, that chain's stock value increases as well. • All Stock Certificates have the same city-scape scene on the back. form the Energy Bank near the board. The Price of Cheaper Components The Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club reads to Priority Antenna), beginning Pits are nasty. If your robot falls into a pit, you have to Reboot: Personally, I love the new renderings - particularly since I don't Game and Expansion Bundles surprised when I said I wanted to play again. I thought it was Setup If you're expecting the 2016 edition of Acquire to be as fancy as the 1999 Avalon Hill edition you'll probably be disappointed. fantasy and science ction, plus urban Sort the Damage cards (also with Register 1. After all players have to paint them. Of course, you can judge for yourself. As e publishers did pass some of the savings of the cheaper components on to you: the MSRP of Robo Rally Reboot is $10 less than hilarious fun - and I was determined to do better. • Take 2 Spam cards and place them on your discard pile. Everything in the 2016 edition is smaller: the tiles, number of tiles, and the board. Presumably, the publishers modied the rules to Plus, we’re o ering several game and expansion bundle deals while supplies last: fantasy, alternate history, etc. We meet about new in Reboot) into piles by have executed their action for a for the other components... the previous edition. Personally, I would've happily paid $10 more for better, more sturdy components. Mix the tiles facedown and set them aside in a cluster or in stacks near the board. Give each player $6,000 and six tiles (players e next game Twitch continued to live up to his name, but I • Cancel the rest of your programming for that round by should keep their tiles concealed). Some versions of Acquire come with tile racks, in other versions the tiles are chunky enough that compensate for fewer tiles. Whether the publishers bothered to test these changes and their e ect on game play is unknown. I once a month, usually the Friday after Game type - Spam, Worm, Trojan register, elements on the factory Can you play with everything as is? Of course. In fact the updates and changes to the game play are - in my opinion - what make • Buy Tragedy Looper, Get Midnight Circle Expansion FREE! actually managed to twitch my way to the rst ag. It didn't immediately discarding all cards in your remaining you can just set them up on edge like dominoes (true of Acquire 2016). haven't noticed that the changes make a huge di erence to play, but I'm not an Acquire acionado, so your mileage may vary. Night at 6 p.m. at the store. Horse, Virus - and place them oor activate in order: registers. Robo Rally Reboot a worthwhile purchase - even if you already own the original. • Buy Seasons, Get Path of Destiny Expansion FREE! matter to me that all the other robots raced on by, I made it to next to the board along with the Components-wise, I think Acquire 2016 is an improvement over the cardboard 2008 version, but not as nice as the 1999 Avalon 1. Blue Fast Conveyor Belts • Place your robot on the Reboot Point of the board you Players need to decide now, as a group, whether to play Open, money and stock holdings are public knowledge, or Closed, money Attending members submit a book title for the reading the rst ag! I was hooked. stack of Special Programming Changes to Play Hill edition. It's too bad they changed the Chain names again. e stock certicates and money from the 2008 version are prettier. • Buy Space Cadets, Get Resistance is Mostly Futile Expansion FREE! move any robots on the conveyor were on when you rebooted. You may face your robot in and stock holdings are hidden. I think playing Closed makes the game more challenging memory-wise and Open play makes it list. We pick one to read each month - usually the one Avalon Hill rst published Robo Rally in Cards. Special Programming Cards come Personally, I love Robo Rally Reboot's new streamlined play for a number of reasons: Acquire 2016's Information Cards are printed on sturdy cardboard with the Stock Pricing and Merger Bonus data on one side and belt 2 spaces, rotating robots when they go any direction. You cannot shoot or use an upgrade when more challenging strategy-wise. • Buy or Order Flash Point: Fire Rescue at regular price, Get an Expansion FREE! we’ve found the most copies of. When we’ve read all the 1994, following up with a few, now highly- into play when players purchase certain Turn Summary and Merger Steps on the other - nice touch. Plus, there's one for each player. around a corner. you reboot. However, other robots can shoot or push you ematic touches as described below. To determine start player, each player draws a facedown tile and places it on its matching space on the game board. e player Choose from 2nd Story, Dangerous Waters or Urban Structures. You can get 30% books on our list - one submitted by each member - we sought-after, expansions that added robot Temporary Upgrade cards. Acquire 2016's 2. Green Slow Conveyor Belts move any robots on the while you're on a reboot point. Determining priority is simpler. No more comparing numbers. Most of the time you can determine priority at a glance. emati- whose tile is closest to 1A goes rst. I've read many complaints on Board Game Geek about game board. I've heard it called imsy and hard to read. I OFF additional expansions, too! Already have the base game? You cn still buy the expansions at 30% OFF! start a new list. upgrades and factory boards featuring new Shue the Upgrade deck and turn up as many Upgrade cards don't agree with imsy at all: it's quite solid. It would've been nice if the manufacturers painted the lettering. e grey-on-grey is hazards and features. ey later reprinted the conveyor belt 1 space, rotating robots when they go Walls and the Priority Antenna. You cannot move onto or cally, the Priority Antenna is a nice touch. Not only does it resemble a satellite dish, but in the real world, your proximity to a Game Play • Buy Mr. Jack Extension, Get 50% OFF Mr. Jack (used) You’re welcome to join us. Just read the current selection as there are players to form the Upgrade Shop. hard to read. However, the lettering is raised, making it easy to make it more legible. I colored the letters with a silver Sharpie. Voilà! base game with double-sided boards on around a corner. through Walls or the Priority Antenna, push other robots onto Central Oce a ects your Internet access speed. and come to the meeting. More details are available on On your turn, do the following in order: You can shop In-Store or Online. Note any games published by Asmodee North America (includes Days of Wonder, lighter cardstock, new robots and a few other minor changes, Set the Checkpoint tokens nearby. 3. Push Panels labeled with a number matching the or through them, or fire through them. Likewise Laser Beams e new individual Player Programming Decks solve two big problems: downtime between rounds and luck of the draw. You e Chain markers, probably what most Acquire fans are looking forward to in the 2016 edition, are nice. ey're colorful, decent Fantasy Flight and many more) can only be purchased in-store. e game & our web site’s Book Club page, our Facebook page and but never got around to reprinting the expansions. Beginning with the youngest, players each place their robot on current register, push any robots adjacent to them into cannot re through them. Cards don't have to wait while one person shues a massive Programming Deck, gures out how many cards to deal each person and then 1. Place one of your tiles on its matching space on the board. If this creates a Chain or causes a Merger, complete all transactions sculpts. e publishers provided tiny translucent orange ags and embellishments for all but one of the buildings. I recommend that for the newly created Chain or Merger (explained below) before proceeding with your turn. expansion bundle deals only work in-store. our Meetup Group. one of the black and white gears on the Start Board, facing the the next space. e Outer Limits. If you move, get pushed o or ride a deals out the cards. Players simply shue their own small decks whenever necessary and draw their own cards. is really speeds up you remove them from the spur and apply them one at a time. Otherwise, guring out which goes with which building is a night- While I always enjoy playing Robo Rally, I've never felt really e cards are small and made of very thin cardstock. With all 2. Buy stock. You can buy up to three stocks total for any active Chains. The stocks can be for the same Chain or different mare. e embellishments have engraved details. A wash might bring them out. I'm gonna try it anyway. the race course. You're now ready to begin the race. Gamers 4. Gears rotate any robots resting on them 90 degrees in conveyor belt o the edge of the factory oor, your robot game play. Don't get me wrong, you can still draw a bad hand, full of turns and no moves or vice versa. However, chances are much Hurry in now to get the best selection. Current Reading List: comfortable teaching and running it. I teach complex games to the handling and shuing, they're likely to show wear quickly, Chains or any combination thereof, but the maximum stock certicates you can buy is 3. Consult the Information Card to start your robots! the direction of the arrows. Green gears rotate clockwise, Reboots. better that your next hand will be better. Sure, you can gum up your deck with Damage cards if you're not careful, but that's due to My Thoughts If you have copies you’d like to trade or sell, please people all the time, but Robo Rally with all the factory oor so I sleeved mine. Unfortunately sleeving presented its own determine each stock's price. red gears counter-clockwise. your game play, not sheer luck of the draw. I've spent more than my fair share of rounds in original Robo Rally twitching in place bring them in. elements going o at di erent times, robot moves happening Game Play Damage problem: none of the standard sleeve sizes t the Programming 3. Draw another tile to your hand. e rst time I nally played Acquire, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I even asked to play it again. While 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament according to particular priority, lasers ring and damaging 5. Board Lasers. Robots in the path of any laser beams and Damage cards. I ended up using Mini USA Game Size because I was dealt zero Move cards - round after round. Acquire is competitive, it's not the cutthroat, confrontational or take-that kind of competition. You do have to do a little math: Each round of Robo Rally Reboot has three phases. Proximity to It perhaps goes without saying that you want to avoid Damage. Creating a Chain - • Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines or Explaining Cthulhu robots which lock their registers and a ect each player's hand take damage. Each laser can only hit one robot - the Premium Sleeves by Mayday (41mm x 63mm) and trimming e new Damage system with Spam, Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm cards works quite well, streamlines play and is spot-on Whenever you add a tile to the board adjacent, orthogonally, to another tile (that doesn't have any other tiles adding up your stock purchases and divvying Merger bonuses, etc. No big deal. Playtime is 60 to 90 minutes, which is just right for Coming in June Damage cards gum up your Programming Deck. Whenever your already adjacent to it), you start a Chain. As that Chain's founder, you get to name it: choose one of the available inactive color to Grandma and Other Stories by Alex Shvartsman sizes... I have a hard enough time programming my robot to go closest to where the beam(s) originates - dealing 1, 2 or Programming Deck, initially 20 cards, runs out, shue your the tops. For the Upgrade cards, I used Mayday's Standard thematic. Spam gums up your deck just as bad as it does your email inbox. e only way to get rid of Spam is to deal with it. In a medium to light strategy game in my book. I don't know where I got the idea it was a 3+ hour game. Must've gotten it confused e wildly sucessful card-drafting gameplay of 7 (Diane) where I want it, orchestrating everyone else's robots, too, 3 damage, depending on the number of beams. For each USA Game Size Sleeves (56mm x 87mm). I would've preferred Robo Rally Reboot that means programming and activating it in one of your registers. Likewise, Rebooting is also quite thematic Company markers and place it on the tile you just placed. As a bonus, you also get one stock certicate for that Chain. Only seven with Diplomacy. discard pile to start a new draw pile. e primary way to get Chains can ever be on the board at one time. Wonders is reimagined in an exciting head-to-head • Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey or Another Fine seemed just too much. So when I read Richard Gareld's laser beam that hit your robot, take a Spam card and Damage cards out of your deck is to program and activate them. Premium for these, too, but they were a smidge too tight. e taking you out of the action for bit. e Viruses even spread to other robots, like computer viruses do among computers! Acquire reminds me a lot of Airlines Europe, which I love. Obviously, Acquire came first. Both games have a bit of luck: Acquire in article about his soon-to-be released Robo Rally Reboot that was good news is that the cards all t back in the molded box insert Resolving a Merger - Should you place a tile on the board such that two Chains become joined, a Merger occurs. e larger game. 7 Wonders: Duel pits two players against each Myth by Robert Asprin (Jonathan) place it on top of your discard pile. Laser beams cannot You'll usually want to nd a safe place to do this. Each type of I think all of these changes together, make for more streamlined play, while retaining all of the fun and chaos of the original Robo the tiles you draw and Airlines Europe in the cards that turn up, but it's the player actions that ultimately determine stock value. supposed to streamline some of the play, I was excited to give it after being sleeved. Chain, the one with the most tiles automatically takes over, swallowing up the smaller Chain. Should both Chains in the Merger other in a one-on-one struggle to build and guide their re through walls, the Priority Antenna or other robots. Damage has a di erent e ect when activated: Rally. I feel much more comfortable teaching Robo Rally Reboot and recommending it to newbie gamers and families. In just this last Get automatic updates and reminders via our Meetup a trial run. have the same number of tiles, the player who created the Merger gets to choose which Chain his tile applies to, thus determining Some versions of Acquire, including 2016, have variant rules to support 2 players. I haven't tried a 2-player game yet, so I can't 6. Robot Lasers. Each robot res a laser beam in the Boards week, I've taught it three times. In all the years I've owned the second edition of Robo Rally, I may have taught it once. cities through three Ages of development. With many group at: • Spam is the simplest: Play the top card of your program- the Chain that will continue to exist. e smaller Chain becomes Defunct. ere are a few tasks you now need to perform to comment on the game play. While I'm happy my husband found the 1999 Avalon Hill edition, I Following is a run-down on the setup, game play, changes from direction it's facing. Damage works the same as Board strategic paths to victory, 7 Wonders: Duel is a perfect game for www.meetup.com/Here-Be-Books-and-Games-Book-Club. ming deck in this register. e factory oor boards are thinner in Robo Rally Reboot than Robo Rally Reboot (the box title is actually just Robo Rally) supports 2 to 6 players ages 8 and up. Playtime is 20 to 120 minutes complete the Merger: still bought Acquire 2016 to take places. Tim's not letting his treasure out of the house. competitive tournament events and quick casual play alike. second edition Robo Rally, and components di erences. I'll Lasers. both of the previous editions. ey feel like they'll stand up to • Trojan Horse: Place 2 Spam cards on your discard pile - depending on the course you set up and the number of players. More players, longer course, longer game. 1. Award Majority Holders' Bonuses to two largest Stockholders in the Defunct Chain (the one being swallowed up). In Acquire 2016 supports 2 to 6 players ages 12 and up and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. 7. Energy Outlets. If you end your movement on an play ok, though. e boards are smaller, as well: 10 squares by 5 Issue 47 Here Be Books & Games News February 2017 Here Be Books & Games will host a 7 Wonders: Duel Robo Rally Reboot refer to the new edition of Robo Rally as Robo Rally Reboot and the Priority Antenna determines play order - counted by rows, Energy Outlet space gumming up your deck even more. 10 squares versus the 12 x 12 squares in the earlier editions. e squares are the same size, there just aren't as many of them. So, I Acquire 2016 - Nice reprint of the classic stock market game. case of tie for rst place, add the rst- and second-place bonuses and split them down the middle. In case of a tie for second- Tournament in June during a special extra Game Night. the previous version as simply Robo Rally. then columns. Should two or more robots be at equal distance with a cube on it, • Virus: All robots within 6 spaces of you must put a Virus don't see any reason why you couldn't use boards from older versions of Robo Rally with the new game play of Reboot. place, the tied players split the second-place bonus. My rst experience with Robo I still remember the day my husband came into the house breathless with excitement. He'd found a Dispose of Stock in the Defunct Chain. Up to 8 players will compete for some pretty special Setup from the Priority Antenna, imagine a light beaming straight pick it up and card in their discard pile. For me, this is good news because my husband printed and mounted several special boards for me as a present one year. ere are 2. Beginning with the Mergemaker and continuing clockwise, players each handle their Rally was at a gaming invitational pristine copy of the highly-rated and valued 1999 Avalon Hill version of Acquire at our local thrift store. prizes: metal coins & bag, silver conict pawns and for all out from the front of the antenna, then rotating clockwise - add it to your Worm hundreds of Robo Rally boards you can print and play at Planet Gareth: RoboRally Boards. stock in the Defunct Chain in one or more of the following three ways: in Raleigh, NC. Lori, a long-time Setup is much the same as in the original Robo Rally with a few • : Immediately Reboot your robot. He says he got tunnel vision, his heart was beating so hard with excitement when he found it, that all he participants, Statue of Liberty Wonder cards. like a lighthouse. e tied robots play in the order they're in Energy Reserve. a. Hold on to it. You might do this if you plan to start another Chain with that name. Robo Rally enthusiast and acio- exceptions: the spotlight. It'll help you Whenever you activate a Damage card, place it back on the Tokens and Box Insert could do was carry it up to the cash register and pay for it immediately. I can't help but wonder what other b. Sell it at the price determined by the number of tiles that were in the Defunct Chain before the Merger. Details will follow on how to qualify for the tournament. nado introduced me to the appropriate Damage draw pile - it's out of your deck. gems he may have missed on that momentous visit due to his tunnel vision. Trade it two for one. Choose a racing course and set up the board(s) and Flags In Phase 1, the Upgrade Phase, you decide, in play order, buy future e plastic Checkpoint Flags and cardboard Reboot Point Tokens are ok, but Avalon Hill/Hasbro c. at is, you can acquire one share of the newly Merged Chain (if any shares are available), for every two Space is extremely limited: a maximum of 8 players can chaotic, programmed movement accordingly. Reboot adds three new elements to the factory oor whether you want to buy one of the Upgrades available in the upgrades. If e rst player to successfully make all of his checkpoints, in really cheaped out on the Checkpoint Tokens, making them of the same thin stock as the player Unfortunately for my husband, I was not nearly as enamored by this acquisition. Don't get me wrong, I shares of your Defunct Chain stock. game of racing robots to succes- participate. Watch our web site for tournament details. board set up: Upgrade Shop. the space is empty you're out of luck unless it's order, wins the game. boards - which is very, very thin indeed. I'm already looking for a replacement. was very happy he'd found a treasure for which he'd long hunted. I just wasn't excited about playing it. Latest Acquire Editions sive numbered ags on a factory 1. A Priority Antenna that looks like a satellite dish. your 5th Register, in which case you can take an Energy e plastic box insert is a nice touch to hold all of the components, but I'm afraid it's not going to While I thought the 3D buildings were pretty and certainly made the game more appealing, I had somehow come to the opinion In the meantime, drop by Here oor lled with movement-altering and In Phase 2, the Programming Phase, you program your robot Components Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new version of Acquire near the end of 2016 with plastic components. e previous edition, that they Proximity to the Priority Antenna determines robot play Cube from the Energy Bank. take much wear and tear. Mine already has a crack in it. e boards store underneath the insert so that Acquire was too cutthroat, competitive, mathy and long for my tastes. So, I refused to try it and it Be Books & Games and Tim damage-dealing obstacles that you must successfully navigate for the rst leg of your race across the factory oor. Draw nine While I'm excited to see painted robots in the Robo Rally published in 2008, featured all cardboard components. Cardboard chits replaced the usual plastic tiles seen in most editions. One of order. 8. Checkpoints. You need to hit these ags in order to win you have to keep pulling it out of the box. I recommend you remove all the cards and components languished on our game shelf for many years. I was wrong on all counts. or Tina will teach you how to cards from your Programming deck. ey could be: Move 1, Reboot the most sought-after versions of Acquire is Avalon Hill's 1999 edition. It features beautiful 3D Chain markers and a nice tray to if you want to win the race. Whew! Say that one three times the race! While you can enter a Checkpoint from any , I'm otherwise unimpressed by the quality of the 2. Reboot location(s). Whenever a robot reboots, often Move 2, Move 3, Back Up, Left Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, before pulling out the insert to avoid damaging it. Designed by Sid Sackson who was designing Euro-style strategy games before such a hold the stocks, money and Chain markers during play. e 2008 cardboard version was a sad successor. play this excellent two-player fast. side, it only counts if you're on the checkpoint at the end components. due to damage, this is where it will reappear. Power Up, or Again. Visualize where you want to go, paying Rulebook thing existed, Acquire was first published in 1964 as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. game. I played Twitch who lived up to his name, twitching left and of a Register. Simply running through a Checkpoint Robots Which brings us to Acquire 2016. While it's certainly not as big or fancy as the prized 1999 edition, it at least returns to plastic tiles 3. Energy cubes. When your robot ends its move on a close attention to the obstacles on the factory oor and how e rulebook, while 31 pages long, is a simple read. e setup and basic rules are covered in the It's been through many iterations since then, with its appearance - and sometimes its and features 3D Chain markers, and tray for the stock and Chain markers. However, the publishers made a few more changes: right pretty much the whole game - by luck of the draw all I doesn't count. You have to be on the Checkpoint after all e robots are simply adorable. I love the new sculpts! Unfor- Sci Fi & Fantasy space with an energy cube, you can pick it up. they may advance or inhibit your movement, then choose 5 first 11 pages. The next 4 pages provide details on Board Elements, Robot Interactions and Damage and Reboots. A whopping 8 rules - changing depending on the publisher. e goal of Acquire, however, has always Game CLEARANCE SALE - Save up to got were left turns, right turns and u-turns. e few times I robots have completed their Register and the previously tunately, when the publishers reduced the number of robots • 10 x 10 square board - instead of 12 x 9 square board - with 8 less tiles. cards to play - one in each of the 5 registers on your board. You pages illustrate recommended racing course setups cataloged as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Robots Must Die! The last 8 remained the same: acquire the most wealth. Book Club Meeting moved, ended in disaster: I ran o the board due to a program- Each player takes a player board and chooses a robot. In Robo described factory oor elements have activated, to from 8 to 6, they left out my favorite: Twitch! ey left Trundle 50% on Board Games, Card Games don't always get the cards you want, so make the best use of the pages are a Card Index with additional details on the Programming Cards, Special Programming Cards and Upgrade Cards. e To accumulate your wealth in Acquire, you'll invest in Hotel Chains - Company • Two rule changes: ming error or other robots pushed me o the board. I got Rally Reboot, each player also takes the correspondingly-colored successfully complete a Checkpoint - take a Checkpoint Bot out, too. The rest of the robots - Twonky, Hulk x90, Current Read: Star Tide Rising by David cards on hand. You could get stuck twitching left and right the back of the rulebook provides a handy round reference. Chains in many of the newer versions - the names and colors of which change 1. Chains are Safe at 10 tiles instead of the 11 in previous editions. and Expansions pushed around and shot by fellow robot so many times, I lost Programming deck for her robot, shues it, and places it on token to signify this. Hammer Bot, Smash Bot (renamed from Squash Bot), Zoom Brin (Carmen’s pick) whole round - that's ok. depending on the publisher. While there are three tiers of stocks, each with its 2. Stock prices increase at di erent stages. count. It's hard to get out of the way when all you can do is the appropriate space on her player board. ere are three more factory oor elements: Pits, Walls and the Bot and Spin Bot - got remakes and new backstories. This I recommend reading the rst 15 pages of the rulebook and leave the rest to consult as a reference as needed. You also don't have to We’re clearing out some games and overstock to make In Phase 3, the Activation Phase, you own starting stock price, the actions you and your fellow players take will • Money is printed on only one side, presumably so you can keep it hidden Next Meeting: Friday, February 10 at 6 pm twitch left and right. I didn't even come close to making it to Players also each take 5 energy cubes for their Priority Antenna. ey don't activate, but you do need to be wasn't really all that surprising, since Hulk x90 is the only stick to the race courses in the rulebook. You can always do a random set up with a couple boards and ags. at's what we do most room for new arrivals in 2017. Tina’s poor clairvoyence is execute your robots' programmed primarily determine the value of each Chain's stock. For example, as you and your when playing Closed. at HBB&G. the rst ag, let alone the other two. My rst experience Energy Reserve. e leftover energy cubes aware of them. robot to survive from the rst to second edition. of the time. your gain. Over 130 games have been marked down 20% to 50%! Robo Rally movements, in turn order (proximity opponents add more blocks to a Chain, that chain's stock value increases as well. • All Stock Certificates have the same city-scape scene on the back. playing was so disastrous that Lori was quite form the Energy Bank near the board. The Price of Cheaper Components The Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club reads to Priority Antenna), beginning Pits are nasty. If your robot falls into a pit, you have to Reboot: Personally, I love the new renderings - particularly since I don't Game and Expansion Bundles surprised when I said I wanted to play again. I thought it was Setup If you're expecting the 2016 edition of Acquire to be as fancy as the 1999 Avalon Hill edition you'll probably be disappointed. fantasy and science ction, plus urban Sort the Damage cards (also with Register 1. After all players have to paint them. Of course, you can judge for yourself. As e publishers did pass some of the savings of the cheaper components on to you: the MSRP of Robo Rally Reboot is $10 less than hilarious fun - and I was determined to do better. • Take 2 Spam cards and place them on your discard pile. Everything in the 2016 edition is smaller: the tiles, number of tiles, and the board. Presumably, the publishers modied the rules to Plus, we’re o ering several game and expansion bundle deals while supplies last: fantasy, alternate history, etc. We meet about new in Reboot) into piles by have executed their action for a for the other components... the previous edition. Personally, I would've happily paid $10 more for better, more sturdy components. Mix the tiles facedown and set them aside in a cluster or in stacks near the board. Give each player $6,000 and six tiles (players e next game Twitch continued to live up to his name, but I • Cancel the rest of your programming for that round by should keep their tiles concealed). Some versions of Acquire come with tile racks, in other versions the tiles are chunky enough that compensate for fewer tiles. Whether the publishers bothered to test these changes and their e ect on game play is unknown. I once a month, usually the Friday after Game type - Spam, Worm, Trojan register, elements on the factory Can you play with everything as is? Of course. In fact the updates and changes to the game play are - in my opinion - what make • Buy Tragedy Looper, Get Midnight Circle Expansion FREE! actually managed to twitch my way to the rst ag. It didn't immediately discarding all cards in your remaining you can just set them up on edge like dominoes (true of Acquire 2016). haven't noticed that the changes make a huge di erence to play, but I'm not an Acquire acionado, so your mileage may vary. Night at 6 p.m. at the store. Horse, Virus - and place them oor activate in order: registers. Robo Rally Reboot a worthwhile purchase - even if you already own the original. • Buy Seasons, Get Path of Destiny Expansion FREE! matter to me that all the other robots raced on by, I made it to next to the board along with the Components-wise, I think Acquire 2016 is an improvement over the cardboard 2008 version, but not as nice as the 1999 Avalon 1. Blue Fast Conveyor Belts • Place your robot on the Reboot Point of the board you Players need to decide now, as a group, whether to play Open, money and stock holdings are public knowledge, or Closed, money Attending members submit a book title for the reading the rst ag! I was hooked. stack of Special Programming Changes to Play Hill edition. It's too bad they changed the Chain names again. e stock certicates and money from the 2008 version are prettier. • Buy Space Cadets, Get Resistance is Mostly Futile Expansion FREE! move any robots on the conveyor were on when you rebooted. You may face your robot in and stock holdings are hidden. I think playing Closed makes the game more challenging memory-wise and Open play makes it list. We pick one to read each month - usually the one Avalon Hill rst published Robo Rally in Cards. Special Programming Cards come Personally, I love Robo Rally Reboot's new streamlined play for a number of reasons: Acquire 2016's Information Cards are printed on sturdy cardboard with the Stock Pricing and Merger Bonus data on one side and belt 2 spaces, rotating robots when they go any direction. You cannot shoot or use an upgrade when more challenging strategy-wise. • Buy or Order Flash Point: Fire Rescue at regular price, Get an Expansion FREE! we’ve found the most copies of. When we’ve read all the 1994, following up with a few, now highly- into play when players purchase certain Turn Summary and Merger Steps on the other - nice touch. Plus, there's one for each player. around a corner. you reboot. However, other robots can shoot or push you ematic touches as described below. To determine start player, each player draws a facedown tile and places it on its matching space on the game board. e player Choose from 2nd Story, Dangerous Waters or Urban Structures. You can get 30% books on our list - one submitted by each member - we sought-after, expansions that added robot Temporary Upgrade cards. Acquire 2016's 2. Green Slow Conveyor Belts move any robots on the while you're on a reboot point. Determining priority is simpler. No more comparing numbers. Most of the time you can determine priority at a glance. emati- whose tile is closest to 1A goes rst. I've read many complaints on Board Game Geek about game board. I've heard it called imsy and hard to read. I OFF additional expansions, too! Already have the base game? You cn still buy the expansions at 30% OFF! start a new list. upgrades and factory boards featuring new Shue the Upgrade deck and turn up as many Upgrade cards don't agree with imsy at all: it's quite solid. It would've been nice if the manufacturers painted the lettering. e grey-on-grey is hazards and features. ey later reprinted the conveyor belt 1 space, rotating robots when they go Walls and the Priority Antenna. You cannot move onto or cally, the Priority Antenna is a nice touch. Not only does it resemble a satellite dish, but in the real world, your proximity to a Game Play • Buy Mr. Jack Extension, Get 50% OFF Mr. Jack (used) You’re welcome to join us. Just read the current selection as there are players to form the Upgrade Shop. hard to read. However, the lettering is raised, making it easy to make it more legible. I colored the letters with a silver Sharpie. Voilà! base game with double-sided boards on around a corner. through Walls or the Priority Antenna, push other robots onto Central Oce a ects your Internet access speed. and come to the meeting. More details are available on On your turn, do the following in order: You can shop In-Store or Online. Note any games published by Asmodee North America (includes Days of Wonder, lighter cardstock, new robots and a few other minor changes, Set the Checkpoint tokens nearby. 3. Push Panels labeled with a number matching the or through them, or fire through them. Likewise Laser Beams e new individual Player Programming Decks solve two big problems: downtime between rounds and luck of the draw. You e Chain markers, probably what most Acquire fans are looking forward to in the 2016 edition, are nice. ey're colorful, decent Fantasy Flight and many more) can only be purchased in-store. e game & our web site’s Book Club page, our Facebook page and but never got around to reprinting the expansions. Beginning with the youngest, players each place their robot on current register, push any robots adjacent to them into cannot re through them. Cards don't have to wait while one person shues a massive Programming Deck, gures out how many cards to deal each person and then 1. Place one of your tiles on its matching space on the board. If this creates a Chain or causes a Merger, complete all transactions sculpts. e publishers provided tiny translucent orange ags and embellishments for all but one of the buildings. I recommend that for the newly created Chain or Merger (explained below) before proceeding with your turn. expansion bundle deals only work in-store. our Meetup Group. one of the black and white gears on the Start Board, facing the the next space. e Outer Limits. If you move, get pushed o or ride a deals out the cards. Players simply shue their own small decks whenever necessary and draw their own cards. is really speeds up you remove them from the spur and apply them one at a time. Otherwise, guring out which goes with which building is a night- While I always enjoy playing Robo Rally, I've never felt really e cards are small and made of very thin cardstock. With all 2. Buy stock. You can buy up to three stocks total for any active Chains. The stocks can be for the same Chain or different mare. e embellishments have engraved details. A wash might bring them out. I'm gonna try it anyway. the race course. You're now ready to begin the race. Gamers 4. Gears rotate any robots resting on them 90 degrees in conveyor belt o the edge of the factory oor, your robot game play. Don't get me wrong, you can still draw a bad hand, full of turns and no moves or vice versa. However, chances are much Hurry in now to get the best selection. Current Reading List: comfortable teaching and running it. I teach complex games to the handling and shuing, they're likely to show wear quickly, Chains or any combination thereof, but the maximum stock certicates you can buy is 3. Consult the Information Card to start your robots! the direction of the arrows. Green gears rotate clockwise, Reboots. better that your next hand will be better. Sure, you can gum up your deck with Damage cards if you're not careful, but that's due to My Thoughts If you have copies you’d like to trade or sell, please people all the time, but Robo Rally with all the factory oor so I sleeved mine. Unfortunately sleeving presented its own determine each stock's price. red gears counter-clockwise. your game play, not sheer luck of the draw. I've spent more than my fair share of rounds in original Robo Rally twitching in place bring them in. elements going o at di erent times, robot moves happening Game Play Damage problem: none of the standard sleeve sizes t the Programming 3. Draw another tile to your hand. e rst time I nally played Acquire, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I even asked to play it again. While 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament according to particular priority, lasers ring and damaging 5. Board Lasers. Robots in the path of any laser beams and Damage cards. I ended up using Mini USA Game Size because I was dealt zero Move cards - round after round. Acquire is competitive, it's not the cutthroat, confrontational or take-that kind of competition. You do have to do a little math: Each round of Robo Rally Reboot has three phases. Proximity to It perhaps goes without saying that you want to avoid Damage. Creating a Chain - • Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines or Explaining Cthulhu robots which lock their registers and a ect each player's hand take damage. Each laser can only hit one robot - the Premium Sleeves by Mayday (41mm x 63mm) and trimming e new Damage system with Spam, Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm cards works quite well, streamlines play and is spot-on Whenever you add a tile to the board adjacent, orthogonally, to another tile (that doesn't have any other tiles adding up your stock purchases and divvying Merger bonuses, etc. No big deal. Playtime is 60 to 90 minutes, which is just right for Coming in June Damage cards gum up your Programming Deck. Whenever your already adjacent to it), you start a Chain. As that Chain's founder, you get to name it: choose one of the available inactive color to Grandma and Other Stories by Alex Shvartsman sizes... I have a hard enough time programming my robot to go closest to where the beam(s) originates - dealing 1, 2 or Programming Deck, initially 20 cards, runs out, shue your the tops. For the Upgrade cards, I used Mayday's Standard thematic. Spam gums up your deck just as bad as it does your email inbox. e only way to get rid of Spam is to deal with it. In a medium to light strategy game in my book. I don't know where I got the idea it was a 3+ hour game. Must've gotten it confused e wildly sucessful card-drafting gameplay of 7 (Diane) where I want it, orchestrating everyone else's robots, too, 3 damage, depending on the number of beams. For each USA Game Size Sleeves (56mm x 87mm). I would've preferred Robo Rally Reboot that means programming and activating it in one of your registers. Likewise, Rebooting is also quite thematic Company markers and place it on the tile you just placed. As a bonus, you also get one stock certicate for that Chain. Only seven with Diplomacy. discard pile to start a new draw pile. e primary way to get Chains can ever be on the board at one time. Wonders is reimagined in an exciting head-to-head • Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey or Another Fine seemed just too much. So when I read Richard Gareld's laser beam that hit your robot, take a Spam card and Damage cards out of your deck is to program and activate them. Premium for these, too, but they were a smidge too tight. e taking you out of the action for bit. e Viruses even spread to other robots, like computer viruses do among computers! Acquire reminds me a lot of Airlines Europe, which I love. Obviously, Acquire came first. Both games have a bit of luck: Acquire in article about his soon-to-be released Robo Rally Reboot that was good news is that the cards all t back in the molded box insert Resolving a Merger - Should you place a tile on the board such that two Chains become joined, a Merger occurs. e larger game. 7 Wonders: Duel pits two players against each Myth by Robert Asprin (Jonathan) place it on top of your discard pile. Laser beams cannot You'll usually want to nd a safe place to do this. Each type of I think all of these changes together, make for more streamlined play, while retaining all of the fun and chaos of the original Robo the tiles you draw and Airlines Europe in the cards that turn up, but it's the player actions that ultimately determine stock value. supposed to streamline some of the play, I was excited to give it after being sleeved. Chain, the one with the most tiles automatically takes over, swallowing up the smaller Chain. Should both Chains in the Merger other in a one-on-one struggle to build and guide their re through walls, the Priority Antenna or other robots. Damage has a di erent e ect when activated: Rally. I feel much more comfortable teaching Robo Rally Reboot and recommending it to newbie gamers and families. In just this last Get automatic updates and reminders via our Meetup a trial run. have the same number of tiles, the player who created the Merger gets to choose which Chain his tile applies to, thus determining Some versions of Acquire, including 2016, have variant rules to support 2 players. I haven't tried a 2-player game yet, so I can't 6. Robot Lasers. Each robot res a laser beam in the Boards week, I've taught it three times. In all the years I've owned the second edition of Robo Rally, I may have taught it once. cities through three Ages of development. With many group at: • Spam is the simplest: Play the top card of your program- the Chain that will continue to exist. e smaller Chain becomes Defunct. ere are a few tasks you now need to perform to comment on the game play. While I'm happy my husband found the 1999 Avalon Hill edition, I Following is a run-down on the setup, game play, changes from direction it's facing. Damage works the same as Board strategic paths to victory, 7 Wonders: Duel is a perfect game for www.meetup.com/Here-Be-Books-and-Games-Book-Club. ming deck in this register. e factory oor boards are thinner in Robo Rally Reboot than Robo Rally Reboot (the box title is actually just Robo Rally) supports 2 to 6 players ages 8 and up. Playtime is 20 to 120 minutes complete the Merger: still bought Acquire 2016 to take places. Tim's not letting his treasure out of the house. competitive tournament events and quick casual play alike. second edition Robo Rally, and components di erences. I'll Lasers. both of the previous editions. ey feel like they'll stand up to • Trojan Horse: Place 2 Spam cards on your discard pile - depending on the course you set up and the number of players. More players, longer course, longer game. 1. Award Majority Holders' Bonuses to two largest Stockholders in the Defunct Chain (the one being swallowed up). In Acquire 2016 supports 2 to 6 players ages 12 and up and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. 7. Energy Outlets. If you end your movement on an play ok, though. e boards are smaller, as well: 10 squares by 6 Issue 47 Here Be Books & Games News February 2017 Here Be Books & Games will host a 7 Wonders: Duel Robo Rally Reboot refer to the new edition of Robo Rally as Robo Rally Reboot and the Priority Antenna determines play order - counted by rows, Energy Outlet space gumming up your deck even more. 10 squares versus the 12 x 12 squares in the earlier editions. e squares are the same size, there just aren't as many of them. So, I Acquire 2016 - Nice reprint of the classic stock market game. case of tie for rst place, add the rst- and second-place bonuses and split them down the middle. In case of a tie for second- Tournament in June during a special extra Game Night. the previous version as simply Robo Rally. then columns. Should two or more robots be at equal distance with a cube on it, • Virus: All robots within 6 spaces of you must put a Virus don't see any reason why you couldn't use boards from older versions of Robo Rally with the new game play of Reboot. place, the tied players split the second-place bonus. My rst experience with Robo I still remember the day my husband came into the house breathless with excitement. He'd found a Dispose of Stock in the Defunct Chain. Up to 8 players will compete for some pretty special Setup from the Priority Antenna, imagine a light beaming straight pick it up and card in their discard pile. For me, this is good news because my husband printed and mounted several special boards for me as a present one year. ere are 2. Beginning with the Mergemaker and continuing clockwise, players each handle their Rally was at a gaming invitational pristine copy of the highly-rated and valued 1999 Avalon Hill version of Acquire at our local thrift store. prizes: metal coins & bag, silver conict pawns and for all out from the front of the antenna, then rotating clockwise - add it to your Worm hundreds of Robo Rally boards you can print and play at Planet Gareth: RoboRally Boards. stock in the Defunct Chain in one or more of the following three ways: in Raleigh, NC. Lori, a long-time Setup is much the same as in the original Robo Rally with a few • : Immediately Reboot your robot. He says he got tunnel vision, his heart was beating so hard with excitement when he found it, that all he participants, Statue of Liberty Wonder cards. like a lighthouse. e tied robots play in the order they're in Energy Reserve. a. Hold on to it. You might do this if you plan to start another Chain with that name. Robo Rally enthusiast and acio- exceptions: the spotlight. It'll help you Whenever you activate a Damage card, place it back on the Tokens and Box Insert could do was carry it up to the cash register and pay for it immediately. I can't help but wonder what other b. Sell it at the price determined by the number of tiles that were in the Defunct Chain before the Merger. Details will follow on how to qualify for the tournament. nado introduced me to the appropriate Damage draw pile - it's out of your deck. gems he may have missed on that momentous visit due to his tunnel vision. Trade it two for one. Choose a racing course and set up the board(s) and Flags In Phase 1, the Upgrade Phase, you decide, in play order, buy future e plastic Checkpoint Flags and cardboard Reboot Point Tokens are ok, but Avalon Hill/Hasbro c. at is, you can acquire one share of the newly Merged Chain (if any shares are available), for every two Space is extremely limited: a maximum of 8 players can chaotic, programmed movement accordingly. Reboot adds three new elements to the factory oor whether you want to buy one of the Upgrades available in the upgrades. If e rst player to successfully make all of his checkpoints, in really cheaped out on the Checkpoint Tokens, making them of the same thin stock as the player Unfortunately for my husband, I was not nearly as enamored by this acquisition. Don't get me wrong, I shares of your Defunct Chain stock. game of racing robots to succes- participate. Watch our web site for tournament details. board set up: Upgrade Shop. the space is empty you're out of luck unless it's order, wins the game. boards - which is very, very thin indeed. I'm already looking for a replacement. was very happy he'd found a treasure for which he'd long hunted. I just wasn't excited about playing it. Latest Acquire Editions sive numbered ags on a factory 1. A Priority Antenna that looks like a satellite dish. your 5th Register, in which case you can take an Energy e plastic box insert is a nice touch to hold all of the components, but I'm afraid it's not going to While I thought the 3D buildings were pretty and certainly made the game more appealing, I had somehow come to the opinion In the meantime, drop by Here oor lled with movement-altering and In Phase 2, the Programming Phase, you program your robot Components Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new version of Acquire near the end of 2016 with plastic components. e previous edition, that they Proximity to the Priority Antenna determines robot play Cube from the Energy Bank. take much wear and tear. Mine already has a crack in it. e boards store underneath the insert so that Acquire was too cutthroat, competitive, mathy and long for my tastes. So, I refused to try it and it Be Books & Games and Tim damage-dealing obstacles that you must successfully navigate for the rst leg of your race across the factory oor. Draw nine While I'm excited to see painted robots in the Robo Rally published in 2008, featured all cardboard components. Cardboard chits replaced the usual plastic tiles seen in most editions. One of order. 8. Checkpoints. You need to hit these ags in order to win you have to keep pulling it out of the box. I recommend you remove all the cards and components languished on our game shelf for many years. I was wrong on all counts. or Tina will teach you how to cards from your Programming deck. ey could be: Move 1, Reboot the most sought-after versions of Acquire is Avalon Hill's 1999 edition. It features beautiful 3D Chain markers and a nice tray to if you want to win the race. Whew! Say that one three times the race! While you can enter a Checkpoint from any , I'm otherwise unimpressed by the quality of the 2. Reboot location(s). Whenever a robot reboots, often Move 2, Move 3, Back Up, Left Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, before pulling out the insert to avoid damaging it. Designed by Sid Sackson who was designing Euro-style strategy games before such a hold the stocks, money and Chain markers during play. e 2008 cardboard version was a sad successor. play this excellent two-player fast. side, it only counts if you're on the checkpoint at the end components. due to damage, this is where it will reappear. Power Up, or Again. Visualize where you want to go, paying Rulebook thing existed, Acquire was first published in 1964 as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. game. I played Twitch who lived up to his name, twitching left and of a Register. Simply running through a Checkpoint Robots Which brings us to Acquire 2016. While it's certainly not as big or fancy as the prized 1999 edition, it at least returns to plastic tiles 3. Energy cubes. When your robot ends its move on a close attention to the obstacles on the factory oor and how e rulebook, while 31 pages long, is a simple read. e setup and basic rules are covered in the It's been through many iterations since then, with its appearance - and sometimes its and features 3D Chain markers, and tray for the stock and Chain markers. However, the publishers made a few more changes: right pretty much the whole game - by luck of the draw all I doesn't count. You have to be on the Checkpoint after all e robots are simply adorable. I love the new sculpts! Unfor- Sci Fi & Fantasy space with an energy cube, you can pick it up. they may advance or inhibit your movement, then choose 5 first 11 pages. The next 4 pages provide details on Board Elements, Robot Interactions and Damage and Reboots. A whopping 8 rules - changing depending on the publisher. e goal of Acquire, however, has always Game CLEARANCE SALE - Save up to got were left turns, right turns and u-turns. e few times I robots have completed their Register and the previously tunately, when the publishers reduced the number of robots • 10 x 10 square board - instead of 12 x 9 square board - with 8 less tiles. cards to play - one in each of the 5 registers on your board. You pages illustrate recommended racing course setups cataloged as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Robots Must Die! The last 8 remained the same: acquire the most wealth. Book Club Meeting moved, ended in disaster: I ran o the board due to a program- Each player takes a player board and chooses a robot. In Robo described factory oor elements have activated, to from 8 to 6, they left out my favorite: Twitch! ey left Trundle 50% on Board Games, Card Games don't always get the cards you want, so make the best use of the pages are a Card Index with additional details on the Programming Cards, Special Programming Cards and Upgrade Cards. e To accumulate your wealth in Acquire, you'll invest in Hotel Chains - Company • Two rule changes: ming error or other robots pushed me o the board. I got Rally Reboot, each player also takes the correspondingly-colored successfully complete a Checkpoint - take a Checkpoint Bot out, too. The rest of the robots - Twonky, Hulk x90, Current Read: Star Tide Rising by David cards on hand. You could get stuck twitching left and right the back of the rulebook provides a handy round reference. Chains in many of the newer versions - the names and colors of which change 1. Chains are Safe at 10 tiles instead of the 11 in previous editions. and Expansions pushed around and shot by fellow robot so many times, I lost Programming deck for her robot, shues it, and places it on token to signify this. Hammer Bot, Smash Bot (renamed from Squash Bot), Zoom Brin (Carmen’s pick) whole round - that's ok. depending on the publisher. While there are three tiers of stocks, each with its 2. Stock prices increase at di erent stages. count. It's hard to get out of the way when all you can do is the appropriate space on her player board. ere are three more factory oor elements: Pits, Walls and the Bot and Spin Bot - got remakes and new backstories. This I recommend reading the rst 15 pages of the rulebook and leave the rest to consult as a reference as needed. You also don't have to We’re clearing out some games and overstock to make In Phase 3, the Activation Phase, you own starting stock price, the actions you and your fellow players take will • Money is printed on only one side, presumably so you can keep it hidden Next Meeting: Friday, February 10 at 6 pm twitch left and right. I didn't even come close to making it to Players also each take 5 energy cubes for their Priority Antenna. ey don't activate, but you do need to be wasn't really all that surprising, since Hulk x90 is the only stick to the race courses in the rulebook. You can always do a random set up with a couple boards and ags. at's what we do most room for new arrivals in 2017. Tina’s poor clairvoyence is execute your robots' programmed primarily determine the value of each Chain's stock. For example, as you and your when playing Closed. at HBB&G. the rst ag, let alone the other two. My rst experience Energy Reserve. e leftover energy cubes aware of them. robot to survive from the rst to second edition. of the time. your gain. Over 130 games have been marked down 20% to 50%! Robo Rally movements, in turn order (proximity opponents add more blocks to a Chain, that chain's stock value increases as well. • All Stock Certificates have the same city-scape scene on the back. playing was so disastrous that Lori was quite form the Energy Bank near the board. The Price of Cheaper Components The Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club reads to Priority Antenna), beginning Pits are nasty. If your robot falls into a pit, you have to Reboot: Personally, I love the new renderings - particularly since I don't Game and Expansion Bundles surprised when I said I wanted to play again. I thought it was Setup If you're expecting the 2016 edition of Acquire to be as fancy as the 1999 Avalon Hill edition you'll probably be disappointed. fantasy and science ction, plus urban Sort the Damage cards (also with Register 1. After all players have to paint them. Of course, you can judge for yourself. As e publishers did pass some of the savings of the cheaper components on to you: the MSRP of Robo Rally Reboot is $10 less than hilarious fun - and I was determined to do better. • Take 2 Spam cards and place them on your discard pile. Everything in the 2016 edition is smaller: the tiles, number of tiles, and the board. Presumably, the publishers modied the rules to Plus, we’re o ering several game and expansion bundle deals while supplies last: fantasy, alternate history, etc. We meet about new in Reboot) into piles by have executed their action for a for the other components... the previous edition. Personally, I would've happily paid $10 more for better, more sturdy components. Mix the tiles facedown and set them aside in a cluster or in stacks near the board. Give each player $6,000 and six tiles (players e next game Twitch continued to live up to his name, but I • Cancel the rest of your programming for that round by should keep their tiles concealed). Some versions of Acquire come with tile racks, in other versions the tiles are chunky enough that compensate for fewer tiles. Whether the publishers bothered to test these changes and their e ect on game play is unknown. I once a month, usually the Friday after Game type - Spam, Worm, Trojan register, elements on the factory Can you play with everything as is? Of course. In fact the updates and changes to the game play are - in my opinion - what make • Buy Tragedy Looper, Get Midnight Circle Expansion FREE! actually managed to twitch my way to the rst ag. It didn't immediately discarding all cards in your remaining you can just set them up on edge like dominoes (true of Acquire 2016). haven't noticed that the changes make a huge di erence to play, but I'm not an Acquire acionado, so your mileage may vary. Night at 6 p.m. at the store. Horse, Virus - and place them oor activate in order: registers. Robo Rally Reboot a worthwhile purchase - even if you already own the original. • Buy Seasons, Get Path of Destiny Expansion FREE! matter to me that all the other robots raced on by, I made it to next to the board along with the Components-wise, I think Acquire 2016 is an improvement over the cardboard 2008 version, but not as nice as the 1999 Avalon 1. Blue Fast Conveyor Belts • Place your robot on the Reboot Point of the board you Players need to decide now, as a group, whether to play Open, money and stock holdings are public knowledge, or Closed, money Attending members submit a book title for the reading the rst ag! I was hooked. stack of Special Programming Changes to Play Hill edition. It's too bad they changed the Chain names again. e stock certicates and money from the 2008 version are prettier. • Buy Space Cadets, Get Resistance is Mostly Futile Expansion FREE! move any robots on the conveyor were on when you rebooted. You may face your robot in and stock holdings are hidden. I think playing Closed makes the game more challenging memory-wise and Open play makes it list. We pick one to read each month - usually the one Avalon Hill rst published Robo Rally in Cards. Special Programming Cards come Personally, I love Robo Rally Reboot's new streamlined play for a number of reasons: Acquire 2016's Information Cards are printed on sturdy cardboard with the Stock Pricing and Merger Bonus data on one side and belt 2 spaces, rotating robots when they go any direction. You cannot shoot or use an upgrade when more challenging strategy-wise. • Buy or Order Flash Point: Fire Rescue at regular price, Get an Expansion FREE! we’ve found the most copies of. When we’ve read all the 1994, following up with a few, now highly- into play when players purchase certain Turn Summary and Merger Steps on the other - nice touch. Plus, there's one for each player. around a corner. you reboot. However, other robots can shoot or push you ematic touches as described below. To determine start player, each player draws a facedown tile and places it on its matching space on the game board. e player Choose from 2nd Story, Dangerous Waters or Urban Structures. You can get 30% books on our list - one submitted by each member - we sought-after, expansions that added robot Temporary Upgrade cards. Acquire 2016's 2. Green Slow Conveyor Belts move any robots on the while you're on a reboot point. Determining priority is simpler. No more comparing numbers. Most of the time you can determine priority at a glance. emati- whose tile is closest to 1A goes rst. I've read many complaints on Board Game Geek about game board. I've heard it called imsy and hard to read. I OFF additional expansions, too! Already have the base game? You cn still buy the expansions at 30% OFF! start a new list. upgrades and factory boards featuring new Shue the Upgrade deck and turn up as many Upgrade cards don't agree with imsy at all: it's quite solid. It would've been nice if the manufacturers painted the lettering. e grey-on-grey is hazards and features. ey later reprinted the conveyor belt 1 space, rotating robots when they go Walls and the Priority Antenna. You cannot move onto or cally, the Priority Antenna is a nice touch. Not only does it resemble a satellite dish, but in the real world, your proximity to a Game Play • Buy Mr. Jack Extension, Get 50% OFF Mr. Jack (used) You’re welcome to join us. Just read the current selection as there are players to form the Upgrade Shop. hard to read. However, the lettering is raised, making it easy to make it more legible. I colored the letters with a silver Sharpie. Voilà! base game with double-sided boards on around a corner. through Walls or the Priority Antenna, push other robots onto Central Oce a ects your Internet access speed. and come to the meeting. More details are available on On your turn, do the following in order: You can shop In-Store or Online. Note any games published by Asmodee North America (includes Days of Wonder, lighter cardstock, new robots and a few other minor changes, Set the Checkpoint tokens nearby. 3. Push Panels labeled with a number matching the or through them, or fire through them. Likewise Laser Beams e new individual Player Programming Decks solve two big problems: downtime between rounds and luck of the draw. You e Chain markers, probably what most Acquire fans are looking forward to in the 2016 edition, are nice. ey're colorful, decent Fantasy Flight and many more) can only be purchased in-store. e game & our web site’s Book Club page, our Facebook page and but never got around to reprinting the expansions. Beginning with the youngest, players each place their robot on current register, push any robots adjacent to them into cannot re through them. Cards don't have to wait while one person shues a massive Programming Deck, gures out how many cards to deal each person and then 1. Place one of your tiles on its matching space on the board. If this creates a Chain or causes a Merger, complete all transactions sculpts. e publishers provided tiny translucent orange ags and embellishments for all but one of the buildings. I recommend that for the newly created Chain or Merger (explained below) before proceeding with your turn. expansion bundle deals only work in-store. our Meetup Group. one of the black and white gears on the Start Board, facing the the next space. e Outer Limits. If you move, get pushed o or ride a deals out the cards. Players simply shue their own small decks whenever necessary and draw their own cards. is really speeds up you remove them from the spur and apply them one at a time. Otherwise, guring out which goes with which building is a night- While I always enjoy playing Robo Rally, I've never felt really e cards are small and made of very thin cardstock. With all 2. Buy stock. You can buy up to three stocks total for any active Chains. The stocks can be for the same Chain or different mare. e embellishments have engraved details. A wash might bring them out. I'm gonna try it anyway. the race course. You're now ready to begin the race. Gamers 4. Gears rotate any robots resting on them 90 degrees in conveyor belt o the edge of the factory oor, your robot game play. Don't get me wrong, you can still draw a bad hand, full of turns and no moves or vice versa. However, chances are much Hurry in now to get the best selection. Current Reading List: comfortable teaching and running it. I teach complex games to the handling and shuing, they're likely to show wear quickly, Chains or any combination thereof, but the maximum stock certicates you can buy is 3. Consult the Information Card to start your robots! the direction of the arrows. Green gears rotate clockwise, Reboots. better that your next hand will be better. Sure, you can gum up your deck with Damage cards if you're not careful, but that's due to My Thoughts If you have copies you’d like to trade or sell, please people all the time, but Robo Rally with all the factory oor so I sleeved mine. Unfortunately sleeving presented its own determine each stock's price. red gears counter-clockwise. your game play, not sheer luck of the draw. I've spent more than my fair share of rounds in original Robo Rally twitching in place bring them in. elements going o at di erent times, robot moves happening Game Play Damage problem: none of the standard sleeve sizes t the Programming 3. Draw another tile to your hand. e rst time I nally played Acquire, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I even asked to play it again. While 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament according to particular priority, lasers ring and damaging 5. Board Lasers. Robots in the path of any laser beams and Damage cards. I ended up using Mini USA Game Size because I was dealt zero Move cards - round after round. Acquire is competitive, it's not the cutthroat, confrontational or take-that kind of competition. You do have to do a little math: Each round of Robo Rally Reboot has three phases. Proximity to It perhaps goes without saying that you want to avoid Damage. Creating a Chain - • Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines or Explaining Cthulhu robots which lock their registers and a ect each player's hand take damage. Each laser can only hit one robot - the Premium Sleeves by Mayday (41mm x 63mm) and trimming e new Damage system with Spam, Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm cards works quite well, streamlines play and is spot-on Whenever you add a tile to the board adjacent, orthogonally, to another tile (that doesn't have any other tiles adding up your stock purchases and divvying Merger bonuses, etc. No big deal. Playtime is 60 to 90 minutes, which is just right for Coming in June Damage cards gum up your Programming Deck. Whenever your already adjacent to it), you start a Chain. As that Chain's founder, you get to name it: choose one of the available inactive color to Grandma and Other Stories by Alex Shvartsman sizes... I have a hard enough time programming my robot to go closest to where the beam(s) originates - dealing 1, 2 or Programming Deck, initially 20 cards, runs out, shue your the tops. For the Upgrade cards, I used Mayday's Standard thematic. Spam gums up your deck just as bad as it does your email inbox. e only way to get rid of Spam is to deal with it. In a medium to light strategy game in my book. I don't know where I got the idea it was a 3+ hour game. Must've gotten it confused e wildly sucessful card-drafting gameplay of 7 (Diane) where I want it, orchestrating everyone else's robots, too, 3 damage, depending on the number of beams. For each USA Game Size Sleeves (56mm x 87mm). I would've preferred Robo Rally Reboot that means programming and activating it in one of your registers. Likewise, Rebooting is also quite thematic Company markers and place it on the tile you just placed. As a bonus, you also get one stock certicate for that Chain. Only seven with Diplomacy. discard pile to start a new draw pile. e primary way to get Chains can ever be on the board at one time. Wonders is reimagined in an exciting head-to-head • Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey or Another Fine seemed just too much. So when I read Richard Gareld's laser beam that hit your robot, take a Spam card and Damage cards out of your deck is to program and activate them. Premium for these, too, but they were a smidge too tight. e taking you out of the action for bit. e Viruses even spread to other robots, like computer viruses do among computers! Acquire reminds me a lot of Airlines Europe, which I love. Obviously, Acquire came first. Both games have a bit of luck:Acquire in article about his soon-to-be released Robo Rally Reboot that was good news is that the cards all t back in the molded box insert Resolving a Merger - Should you place a tile on the board such that two Chains become joined, a Merger occurs. e larger game. 7 Wonders: Duel pits two players against each Myth by Robert Asprin (Jonathan) place it on top of your discard pile. Laser beams cannot You'll usually want to nd a safe place to do this. Each type of I think all of these changes together, make for more streamlined play, while retaining all of the fun and chaos of the original Robo the tiles you draw and Airlines Europe in the cards that turn up, but it's the player actions that ultimately determine stock value. supposed to streamline some of the play, I was excited to give it re through walls, the Priority Antenna or other robots. after being sleeved. Chain, the one with the most tiles automatically takes over, swallowing up the smaller Chain. Should both Chains in the Merger other in a one-on-one struggle to build and guide their Get automatic updates and reminders via our Meetup Damage has a di erent e ect when activated: Rally. I feel much more comfortable teaching Robo Rally Reboot and recommending it to newbie gamers and families. In just this last Some versions of Acquire, including 2016, have variant rules to support 2 players. I haven't tried a 2-player game yet, so I can't a trial run. 6. Robot Lasers. Each robot res a laser beam in the Boards have the same number of tiles, the player who created the Merger gets to choose which Chain his tile applies to, thus determining cities through three Ages of development. With many • Spam is the simplest: Play the top card of your program- week, I've taught it three times. In all the years I've owned the second edition of Robo Rally, I may have taught it once. comment on the game play. While I'm happy my husband found the 1999 Avalon Hill edition, I group at: direction it's facing. Damage works the same as Board the Chain that will continue to exist. e smaller Chain becomes Defunct. ere are a few tasks you now need to perform to strategic paths to victory, 7 Wonders: Duel is a perfect game for Following is a run-down on the setup, game play, changes from ming deck in this register. e factory oor boards are thinner in Robo Rally Reboot than still bought Acquire 2016 to take places. Tim's not letting his treasure out of the house. The Glass Meeple www.meetup.com/Here-Be-Books-and-Games-Book-Club. Robo Rally Reboot (the box title is actually just Robo Rally) supports 2 to 6 players ages 8 and up. Playtime is 20 to 120 minutes complete the Merger: Game Reviews by Tina competitive tournament events and quick casual play alike. second edition Robo Rally, and components di erences. I'll Lasers. both of the previous editions. ey feel like they'll stand up to • Trojan Horse: Place 2 Spam cards on your discard pile - depending on the course you set up and the number of players. More players, longer course, longer game. 1. Award Majority Holders' Bonuses to two largest Stockholders in the Defunct Chain (the one being swallowed up). In Acquire 2016 supports 2 to 6 players ages 12 and up and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. 7. Energy Outlets. If you end your movement on an play ok, though. e boards are smaller, as well: 10 squares by 7 www.theglassmeeple.com Issue 47 Here Be Books & Games News February 2017 Here Be Books & Games will host a 7 Wonders: Duel Robo Rally Reboot refer to the new edition of Robo Rally as Robo Rally Reboot and the Priority Antenna determines play order - counted by rows, Energy Outlet space gumming up your deck even more. 10 squares versus the 12 x 12 squares in the earlier editions. e squares are the same size, there just aren't as many of them. So, I Acquire 2016 - Nice reprint of the classic stock market game. case of tie for rst place, add the rst- and second-place bonuses and split them down the middle. In case of a tie for second- Tournament in June during a special extra Game Night. the previous version as simply Robo Rally. then columns. Should two or more robots be at equal distance with a cube on it, • Virus: All robots within 6 spaces of you must put a Virus don't see any reason why you couldn't use boards from older versions of Robo Rally with the new game play of Reboot. place, the tied players split the second-place bonus. Game Library Additions New Arrivals! My rst experience with Robo I still remember the day my husband came into the house breathless with excitement. He'd found a Dispose of Stock in the Defunct Chain. Up to 8 players will compete for some pretty special Setup from the Priority Antenna, imagine a light beaming straight pick it up and card in their discard pile. For me, this is good news because my husband printed and mounted several special boards for me as a present one year. ere are 2. Beginning with the Mergemaker and continuing clockwise, players each handle their ... and en We Held Hands Acquire 2016 Oceanos Rally was at a gaming invitational out from the front of the antenna, then rotating clockwise - add it to your pristine copy of the highly-rated and valued 1999 Avalon Hill version of Acquire at our local thrift store. stock in the Defunct Chain in one or more of the following three ways: prizes: metal coins & bag, silver conict pawns and for all • Worm: Immediately Reboot your robot. hundreds of Robo Rally boards you can print and play at Planet Gareth: RoboRally Boards. in Raleigh, NC. Lori, a long-time Setup is much the same as in the original Robo Rally with a few like a lighthouse. e tied robots play in the order they're in Energy Reserve. He says he got tunnel vision, his heart was beating so hard with excitement when he found it, that all he a. Hold on to it. You might do this if you plan to start another Chain with that name. Acquire 2016 Celestia & A Little Help Exp e Oracle of Delphi participants, Statue of Liberty Wonder cards. exceptions: Tokens and Box Insert Robo Rally enthusiast and acio- the spotlight. It'll help you Whenever you activate a Damage card, place it back on the could do was carry it up to the cash register and pay for it immediately. I can't help but wonder what other b. Sell it at the price determined by the number of tiles that were in the Defunct Chain before the Merger. Celestia & A Little Help Exp Chimera Qwirkle Trio Details will follow on how to qualify for the tournament. nado introduced me to the appropriate Damage draw pile - it's out of your deck. gems he may have missed on that momentous visit due to his tunnel vision. Trade it two for one. Choose a racing course and set up the board(s) and Flags In Phase 1, the Upgrade Phase, you decide, in play order, buy future e plastic Checkpoint Flags and cardboard Reboot Point Tokens are ok, but Avalon Hill/Hasbro c. at is, you can acquire one share of the newly Merged Chain (if any shares are available), for every two Grand Austria Hotel Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on Space is extremely limited: a maximum of 8 players can chaotic, programmed movement Chimera accordingly. Reboot adds three new elements to the factory oor whether you want to buy one of the Upgrades available in the upgrades. If e rst player to successfully make all of his checkpoints, in really cheaped out on the Checkpoint Tokens, making them of the same thin stock as the player Unfortunately for my husband, I was not nearly as enamored by this acquisition. Don't get me wrong, I shares of your Defunct Chain stock. game of racing robots to succes- La Granja: e Dice Game the Cursed Island 4th Edition participate. Watch our web site for tournament details. board set up: Upgrade Shop. the space is empty you're out of luck unless it's order, wins the game. boards - which is very, very thin indeed. I'm already looking for a replacement. was very happy he'd found a treasure for which he'd long hunted. I just wasn't excited about playing it. Latest Acquire Editions Concordia Gallia/Corsica exp sive numbered ags on a factory Robo Rally Reboot 1. A Priority Antenna that looks like a satellite dish. your 5th Register, in which case you can take an Energy e plastic box insert is a nice touch to hold all of the components, but I'm afraid it's not going to While I thought the 3D buildings were pretty and certainly made the game more appealing, I had somehow come to the opinion Jorvik In the meantime, drop by Here oor lled with movement-altering and In Phase 2, the Programming Phase, you program your robot Components Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new version of Acquire near the end of 2016 with plastic components. e previous edition, that they Grand Austria Hotel Proximity to the Priority Antenna determines robot play Cube from the Energy Bank. take much wear and tear. Mine already has a crack in it. e boards store underneath the insert so that Acquire was too cutthroat, competitive, mathy and long for my tastes. So, I refused to try it and it Kanagawa Skip-Bo Be Books & Games and Tim damage-dealing obstacles that you must successfully navigate for the rst leg of your race across the factory oor. Draw nine While I'm excited to see painted robots in the Robo Rally published in 2008, featured all cardboard components. Cardboard chits replaced the usual plastic tiles seen in most editions. One of order. 8. Checkpoints. You need to hit these ags in order to win you have to keep pulling it out of the box. I recommend you remove all the cards and components languished on our game shelf for many years. I was wrong on all counts. La Granja or Tina will teach you how to cards from your Programming deck. ey could be: Move 1, Reboot the most sought-after versions of Acquire is Avalon Hill's 1999 edition. It features beautiful 3D Chain markers and a nice tray to Karuba Time’s Up Title Recall Expansion if you want to win the race. Whew! Say that one three times the race! While you can enter a Checkpoint from any , I'm otherwise unimpressed by the quality of the 2. Reboot location(s). Whenever a robot reboots, often Move 2, Move 3, Back Up, Left Turn, Right Turn, U-Turn, before pulling out the insert to avoid damaging it. Designed by Sid Sackson who was designing Euro-style strategy games before such a hold the stocks, money and Chain markers during play. e 2008 cardboard version was a sad successor. Jorvik Packs 1, 2, 3 & 4 play this excellent two-player fast. side, it only counts if you're on the checkpoint at the end components. Kodama: e Tree Spirits due to damage, this is where it will reappear. Power Up, or Again. Visualize where you want to go, paying Rulebook thing existed, Acquire was first published in 1964 as part of the 3M Bookshelf Series. Kanagawa game. I played Twitch who lived up to his name, twitching left and of a Register. Simply running through a Checkpoint Robots Which brings us to Acquire 2016. While it's certainly not as big or fancy as the prized 1999 edition, it at least returns to plastic tiles Lantenrs: e Emperor’s Gift Exp 3. Energy cubes. When your robot ends its move on a close attention to the obstacles on the factory oor and how e rulebook, while 31 pages long, is a simple read. e setup and basic rules are covered in the It's been through many iterations since then, with its appearance - and sometimes its and features 3D Chain markers, and tray for the stock and Chain markers. However, the publishers made a few more changes: right pretty much the whole game - by luck of the draw all I doesn't count. You have to be on the Checkpoint after all e robots are simply adorable. I love the new sculpts! Unfor- Karuba Games in Stock: 800+ Sci Fi & Fantasy space with an energy cube, you can pick it up. they may advance or inhibit your movement, then choose 5 first 11 pages. The next 4 pages provide details on Board Elements, Robot Interactions and Damage and Reboots. A whopping 8 rules - changing depending on the publisher. e goal of Acquire, however, has always Munchkin Coloring Book Game CLEARANCE SALE - Save up to got were left turns, right turns and u-turns. e few times I robots have completed their Register and the previously tunately, when the publishers reduced the number of robots • 10 x 10 square board - instead of 12 x 9 square board - with 8 less tiles. cards to play - one in each of the 5 registers on your board. You pages illustrate recommended racing course setups cataloged as Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Robots Must Die! The last 8 remained the same: acquire the most wealth. Kodama: e Tree Spirits My Village Book Club Meeting moved, ended in disaster: I ran o the board due to a program- Each player takes a player board and chooses a robot. In Robo described factory oor elements have activated, to from 8 to 6, they left out my favorite: Twitch! ey left Trundle 50% on Board Games, Card Games don't always get the cards you want, so make the best use of the pages are a Card Index with additional details on the Programming Cards, Special Programming Cards and Upgrade Cards. e To accumulate your wealth in Acquire, you'll invest in Hotel Chains - Company • Two rule changes: ming error or other robots pushed me o the board. I got Rally Reboot, each player also takes the correspondingly-colored successfully complete a Checkpoint - take a Checkpoint Bot out, too. The rest of the robots - Twonky, Hulk x90, Oceanos Current Read: Star Tide Rising by David cards on hand. You could get stuck twitching left and right the back of the rulebook provides a handy round reference. Chains in many of the newer versions - the names and colors of which change 1. Chains are Safe at 10 tiles instead of the 11 in previous editions. and Expansions pushed around and shot by fellow robot so many times, I lost Programming deck for her robot, shues it, and places it on token to signify this. Hammer Bot, Smash Bot (renamed from Squash Bot), Zoom e Oracle of Delphi Brin (Carmen’s pick) whole round - that's ok. depending on the publisher. While there are three tiers of stocks, each with its 2. Stock prices increase at di erent stages. Back in Stock! count. It's hard to get out of the way when all you can do is the appropriate space on her player board. ere are three more factory oor elements: Pits, Walls and the Bot and Spin Bot - got remakes and new backstories. This I recommend reading the rst 15 pages of the rulebook and leave the rest to consult as a reference as needed. You also don't have to We’re clearing out some games and overstock to make In Phase 3, the Activation Phase, you own starting stock price, the actions you and your fellow players take will • Money is printed on only one side, presumably so you can keep it hidden Pandemic: Iberia Next Meeting: Friday, February 10 at 6 pm twitch left and right. I didn't even come close to making it to Players also each take 5 energy cubes for their Priority Antenna. ey don't activate, but you do need to be wasn't really all that surprising, since Hulk x90 is the only stick to the race courses in the rulebook. You can always do a random set up with a couple boards and ags. at's what we do most Castle Panic: Engines of War Lanterns room for new arrivals in 2017. Tina’s poor clairvoyence is the rst ag, let alone the other two. My rst experience execute your robots' programmed primarily determine the value of each Chain's stock. For example, as you and your when playing Closed. Robo Rally Reboot at HBB&G. Energy Reserve. e leftover energy cubes aware of them. robot to survive from the rst to second edition. of the time. Catan: Cities & Knights Exp Legendary: Marvel DBG your gain. Over 130 games have been marked down 20% to 50%! Robo Rally movements, in turn order (proximity opponents add more blocks to a Chain, that chain's stock value increases as well. • All Stock Certificates have the same city-scape scene on the back. playing was so disastrous that Lori was quite form the Energy Bank near the board. The Price of Cheaper Components Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails The Sci Fi & Fantasy Book Club reads to Priority Antenna), beginning Pits are nasty. If your robot falls into a pit, you have to Reboot: Personally, I love the new renderings - particularly since I don't DC Comics DBG Lords of Waterdeep Game and Expansion Bundles surprised when I said I wanted to play again. I thought it was Setup If you're expecting the 2016 edition of Acquire to be as fancy as the 1999 Avalon Hill edition you'll probably be disappointed. fantasy and science ction, plus urban Sort the Damage cards (also with Register 1. After all players have to paint them. Of course, you can judge for yourself. As e publishers did pass some of the savings of the cheaper components on to you: the MSRP of Robo Rally Reboot is $10 less than hilarious fun - and I was determined to do better. • Take 2 Spam cards and place them on your discard pile. Everything in the 2016 edition is smaller: the tiles, number of tiles, and the board. Presumably, the publishers modied the rules to Flash Point: Fire Rescue Machi Koro Plus, we’re o ering several game and expansion bundle deals while supplies last: fantasy, alternate history, etc. We meet about new in Reboot) into piles by have executed their action for a for the other components... the previous edition. Personally, I would've happily paid $10 more for better, more sturdy components. Mix the tiles facedown and set them aside in a cluster or in stacks near the board. Give each player $6,000 and six tiles (players e next game Twitch continued to live up to his name, but I • Cancel the rest of your programming for that round by should keep their tiles concealed). Some versions of Acquire come with tile racks, in other versions the tiles are chunky enough that compensate for fewer tiles. Whether the publishers bothered to test these changes and their e ect on game play is unknown. I Gloom Once Upon a Time once a month, usually the Friday after Game type - Spam, Worm, Trojan register, elements on the factory Can you play with everything as is? Of course. In fact the updates and changes to the game play are - in my opinion - what make • Buy Tragedy Looper, Get Midnight Circle Expansion FREE! actually managed to twitch my way to the rst ag. It didn't immediately discarding all cards in your remaining you can just set them up on edge like dominoes (true of Acquire 2016). haven't noticed that the changes make a huge di erence to play, but I'm not an Acquire acionado, so your mileage may vary. Titles in Library: 563 Night at 6 p.m. at the store. Horse, Virus - and place them oor activate in order: registers. Robo Rally Reboot a worthwhile purchase - even if you already own the original. e Grizzled Patchwork • Buy Seasons, Get Path of Destiny Expansion FREE! matter to me that all the other robots raced on by, I made it to next to the board along with the Components-wise, I think Acquire 2016 is an improvement over the cardboard 2008 version, but not as nice as the 1999 Avalon 1. Blue Fast Conveyor Belts • Place your robot on the Reboot Point of the board you Players need to decide now, as a group, whether to play Open, money and stock holdings are public knowledge, or Closed, money Istanbul Skull Attending members submit a book title for the reading the rst ag! I was hooked. stack of Special Programming Changes to Play Hill edition. It's too bad they changed the Chain names again. e stock certicates and money from the 2008 version are prettier. • Buy Space Cadets, Get Resistance is Mostly Futile Expansion FREE! move any robots on the conveyor were on when you rebooted. You may face your robot in and stock holdings are hidden. I think playing Closed makes the game more challenging memory-wise and Open play makes it list. We pick one to read each month - usually the one Avalon Hill rst published Robo Rally in Cards. Special Programming Cards come Personally, I love Robo Rally Reboot's new streamlined play for a number of reasons: Acquire 2016's Information Cards are printed on sturdy cardboard with the Stock Pricing and Merger Bonus data on one side and We’ll teach you how to play! Istanbul: Mocha & Baksheesh Wizard Card Game & Deluxe Ed. belt 2 spaces, rotating robots when they go any direction. You cannot shoot or use an upgrade when more challenging strategy-wise. • Buy or Order Flash Point: Fire Rescue at regular price, Get an Expansion FREE! we’ve found the most copies of. When we’ve read all the 1994, following up with a few, now highly- into play when players purchase certain Turn Summary and Merger Steps on the other - nice touch. Plus, there's one for each player. around a corner. you reboot. However, other robots can shoot or push you ematic touches as described below. To determine start player, each player draws a facedown tile and places it on its matching space on the game board. e player Choose from 2nd Story, Dangerous Waters or Urban Structures. You can get 30% books on our list - one submitted by each member - we sought-after, expansions that added robot Temporary Upgrade cards. Acquire 2016's 2. Green Slow Conveyor Belts move any robots on the while you're on a reboot point. Determining priority is simpler. No more comparing numbers. Most of the time you can determine priority at a glance. emati- whose tile is closest to 1A goes rst. I've read many complaints on Board Game Geek about game board. I've heard it called imsy and hard to read. I Used Games For Sale OFF additional expansions, too! Already have the base game? You cn still buy the expansions at 30% OFF! start a new list. upgrades and factory boards featuring new Shue the Upgrade deck and turn up as many Upgrade cards don't agree with imsy at all: it's quite solid. It would've been nice if the manufacturers painted the lettering. e grey-on-grey is hazards and features. ey later reprinted the conveyor belt 1 space, rotating robots when they go Walls and the Priority Antenna. You cannot move onto or cally, the Priority Antenna is a nice touch. Not only does it resemble a satellite dish, but in the real world, your proximity to a Game Play Abyss Isis & Osiris Space Pirates • Buy Mr. Jack Extension, Get 50% OFF Mr. Jack (used) You’re welcome to join us. Just read the current selection as there are players to form the Upgrade Shop. hard to read. However, the lettering is raised, making it easy to make it more legible. I colored the letters with a silver Sharpie. Voilà! base game with double-sided boards on around a corner. through Walls or the Priority Antenna, push other robots onto Central Oce a ects your Internet access speed. Bombay Lord of the Rings: Card Game Star Trek Expeditions and come to the meeting. More details are available on On your turn, do the following in order: You can shop In-Store or Online. Note any games published by Asmodee North America (includes Days of Wonder, lighter cardstock, new robots and a few other minor changes, Set the Checkpoint tokens nearby. 3. Push Panels labeled with a number matching the or through them, or fire through them. Likewise Laser Beams e new individual Player Programming Decks solve two big problems: downtime between rounds and luck of the draw. You e Chain markers, probably what most Acquire fans are looking forward to in the 2016 edition, are nice. ey're colorful, decent Challenge Yahtzee Metro Star Trek: Five Year Mission Fantasy Flight and many more) can only be purchased in-store. e game & our web site’s Book Club page, our Facebook page and but never got around to reprinting the expansions. Beginning with the youngest, players each place their robot on current register, push any robots adjacent to them into cannot re through them. Cards don't have to wait while one person shues a massive Programming Deck, gures out how many cards to deal each person and then 1. Place one of your tiles on its matching space on the board. If this creates a Chain or causes a Merger, complete all transactions sculpts. e publishers provided tiny translucent orange ags and embellishments for all but one of the buildings. I recommend that for the newly created Chain or Merger (explained below) before proceeding with your turn. Citadels Mr. Jack Stratego expansion bundle deals only work in-store. our Meetup Group. one of the black and white gears on the Start Board, facing the the next space. e Outer Limits. If you move, get pushed o or ride a deals out the cards. Players simply shue their own small decks whenever necessary and draw their own cards. is really speeds up you remove them from the spur and apply them one at a time. Otherwise, guring out which goes with which building is a night- While I always enjoy playing Robo Rally, I've never felt really e cards are small and made of very thin cardstock. With all 2. Buy stock. You can buy up to three stocks total for any active Chains. The stocks can be for the same Chain or different mare. e embellishments have engraved details. A wash might bring them out. I'm gonna try it anyway. Cthulhu Fluxx Mr. Jack in New York Ubongo Trigo the race course. You're now ready to begin the race. Gamers 4. Gears rotate any robots resting on them 90 degrees in conveyor belt o the edge of the factory oor, your robot game play. Don't get me wrong, you can still draw a bad hand, full of turns and no moves or vice versa. However, chances are much Hurry in now to get the best selection. Current Reading List: comfortable teaching and running it. I teach complex games to the handling and shuing, they're likely to show wear quickly, Chains or any combination thereof, but the maximum stock certicates you can buy is 3. Consult the Information Card to Würfelwurm start your robots! the direction of the arrows. Green gears rotate clockwise, Reboots. better that your next hand will be better. Sure, you can gum up your deck with Damage cards if you're not careful, but that's due to My Thoughts DC Comics: Forever Evil Mousquetaires du Roy If you have copies you’d like to trade or sell, please people all the time, but Robo Rally with all the factory oor so I sleeved mine. Unfortunately sleeving presented its own determine each stock's price. red gears counter-clockwise. your game play, not sheer luck of the draw. I've spent more than my fair share of rounds in original Robo Rally twitching in place Dominion Patrician Xenoshyft bring them in. elements going o at di erent times, robot moves happening Game Play Damage problem: none of the standard sleeve sizes t the Programming 3. Draw another tile to your hand. e rst time I nally played Acquire, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I even asked to play it again. While because I was dealt zero Move cards - round after round. Acquire do Doom: e Board Game Small World Zooloretto 7 Wonders: Duel Tournament according to particular priority, lasers ring and damaging Each round of Robo Rally Reboot has three phases. Proximity to 5. Board Lasers. Robots in the path of any laser beams It perhaps goes without saying that you want to avoid Damage. and Damage cards. I ended up using Mini USA Game Size is competitive, it's not the cutthroat, confrontational or take-that kind of competition. You have to do a little math: • Goblin Quest by Jim C. Hines or Explaining Cthulhu Creating a Chain - Whenever you add a tile to the board adjacent, orthogonally, to another tile (that doesn't have any other tiles robots which lock their registers and a ect each player's hand take damage. Each laser can only hit one robot - the Damage cards gum up your Programming Deck. Whenever your Premium Sleeves by Mayday (41mm x 63mm) and trimming e new Damage system with Spam, Virus, Trojan Horse and Worm cards works quite well, streamlines play and is spot-on adding up your stock purchases and divvying Merger bonuses, etc. No big deal. Playtime is 60 to 90 minutes, which is just right for Haggis Smash Up & 2 Expansions Coming in June to Grandma and Other Stories already adjacent to it), you start a Chain. As that Chain's founder, you get to name it: choose one of the available inactive color a medium to light strategy game in my book. I don't know where I got the idea it was a 3+ hour game. Must've gotten it confused by Alex Shvartsman sizes... I have a hard enough time programming my robot to go closest to where the beam(s) originates - dealing 1, 2 or Programming Deck, initially 20 cards, runs out, shue your the tops. For the Upgrade cards, I used Mayday's Standard thematic. Spam gums up your deck just as bad as it does your email inbox. e only way to get rid of Spam is to deal with it. In Inltration Snorta! e wildly sucessful card-drafting gameplay of 7 (Diane) where I want it, orchestrating everyone else's robots, too, 3 damage, depending on the number of beams. For each USA Game Size Sleeves (56mm x 87mm). I would've preferred Robo Rally Reboot that means programming and activating it in one of your registers. Likewise, Rebooting is also quite thematic Company markers and place it on the tile you just placed. As a bonus, you also get one stock certicate for that Chain. Only seven with Diplomacy. discard pile to start a new draw pile. e primary way to get Chains can ever be on the board at one time. Wonders is reimagined in an exciting head-to-head • Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey or Another Fine seemed just too much. So when I read Richard Gareld's laser beam that hit your robot, take a Spam card and Damage cards out of your deck is to program and activate them. Premium for these, too, but they were a smidge too tight. e taking you out of the action for bit. e Viruses even spread to other robots, like computer viruses do among computers! Acquire reminds me a lot of Airlines Europe, which I love. Obviously, Acquire came first. Both games have a bit of luck: Acquire in Here Be Books & Games article about his soon-to-be released Robo Rally Reboot that was good news is that the cards all t back in the molded box insert Resolving a Merger - Should you place a tile on the board such that two Chains become joined, a Merger occurs. e larger game. 7 Wonders: Duel pits two players against each Myth by Robert Asprin (Jonathan) place it on top of your discard pile. Laser beams cannot You'll usually want to nd a safe place to do this. Each type of I think all of these changes together, make for more streamlined play, while retaining all of the fun and chaos of the original Robo the tiles you draw and Airlines Europe in the cards that turn up, but it's the player actions that ultimately determine stock value. supposed to streamline some of the play, I was excited to give it after being sleeved. Chain, the one with the most tiles automatically takes over, swallowing up the smaller Chain. Should both Chains in the Merger 4650 Ladson Road, Suite I, Summerville, SC 29485 other in a one-on-one struggle to build and guide their re through walls, the Priority Antenna or other robots. Damage has a di erent e ect when activated: Rally. I feel much more comfortable teaching Robo Rally Reboot and recommending it to newbie gamers and families. In just this last Get automatic updates and reminders via our Meetup a trial run. have the same number of tiles, the player who created the Merger gets to choose which Chain his tile applies to, thus determining Some versions of Acquire, including 2016, have variant rules to support 2 players. I haven't tried a 2-player game yet, so I can't Phone: (843) 695-1498 • Hours: Tue - Sat 10am to 6pm 6. Robot Lasers. Each robot res a laser beam in the Boards week, I've taught it three times. In all the years I've owned the second edition of Robo Rally, I may have taught it once. cities through three Ages of development. With many group at: • Spam is the simplest: Play the top card of your program- the Chain that will continue to exist. e smaller Chain becomes Defunct. ere are a few tasks you now need to perform to comment on the game play. While I'm happy my husband found the 1999 Avalon Hill edition, I Following is a run-down on the setup, game play, changes from direction it's facing. Damage works the same as Board Web: HereBeBooksAndGames.com • Online Store: HereBeBooksAndGames.com/onlinestore strategic paths to victory, 7 Wonders: Duel is a perfect game for www.meetup.com/Here-Be-Books-and-Games-Book-Club. ming deck in this register. e factory oor boards are thinner in Robo Rally Reboot than Robo Rally Reboot (the box title is actually just Robo Rally) supports 2 to 6 players ages 8 and up. Playtime is 20 to 120 minutes complete the Merger: still bought Acquire 2016 to take places. Tim's not letting his treasure out of the house. competitive tournament events and quick casual play alike. second edition Robo Rally, and components di erences. I'll Lasers. both of the previous editions. ey feel like they'll stand up to Facebook: www.facebook.com/herebebooksandgames • Trojan Horse: Place 2 Spam cards on your discard pile - depending on the course you set up and the number of players. More players, longer course, longer game. 1. Award Majority Holders' Bonuses to two largest Stockholders in the Defunct Chain (the one being swallowed up). In Acquire 2016 supports 2 to 6 players ages 12 and up and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. 7. Energy Outlets. If you end your movement on an play ok, though. e boards are smaller, as well: 10 squares by