ROBOTS! is a casual strategy card game where players try to collect robots—consisting of runs like 2,3,4 or sets like "three of a kind" in poker—while defending collections from the onslaught of robot violence. It's a race to collect as many points as possible while dodging freakin' laser beams and avoiding short circuits. It can be played with 2-5 players ages 12+ with a single game consisting of multiple hands, lasting about 60-120 minutes total. Gameplay ROBOTS! is a take on Rummy meaning it's a "draw and discard" card game, but with a Take That mechanic. The "Constructed Robot" cards are removed from the deck and each player is given an "Attack Card" to help remember the rules. The most technically inclined player is selected to deal first (this is ROBOTS! after all). The dealer shuffles the deck and deals each player seven cards, clockwise starting to the dealer's left. The remaining cards are placed face-down in the center of play and the top card is turned face-up. The face-down cards become the "Robot Factory" and the face-up cards form the "Scrap Heap" (also known as the discard pile). The first player is the person to the dealer's left. The Player's Turn On a player's turn, they will first draw from either the "Robot Factory" (stack of face-down cards) or pick up one or more cards from the "Scrap Heap" (the face-up/discarded cards). If the player picks up more than one card from the Scrap Heap, the bottom-most picked up card must be played that hand in a spread (we'll get to that in a minute). Otherwise, picking the top card from the Factory or Scrap Heap does not require the player to lay down any cards at all; the player may save the card for later play. The player now makes a spread if they have the ability, although sometimes waiting can be a useful strategy. A spread must consist of at least three cards and can be: A sequence of numbered cards (run) of the same suit (color) such as all gray 2,3,4 or all purple 11,12,13. A set of the same numbered cards such as red 9, green 9 and blue 9. A star card can be used as either a 1 or a 15, but runs cannot wrap around. Red star, 2, 3 is allowed, but 14, star, 2 is not. The wild robot can be used in place of any number, but it will prevent the player from constructing a robot (stay tuned). These spreads will go in front of the player face-up for all to see. They will remain there until the end of the hand (or until an opponent blows them to bits with an attack card). The player can lay down as many spreads as desired on their turn, but they may never pick a card back up from a laid down spread. Once the player has completed their laying down of spreads (or of course done nothing), the player must discard a card from their hand to the top of the Scrap Heap. Be sure that all of the card numbers are visible since players may elect to pick these cards up on their turn. Ending the Hand and Scoring Play will continue clockwise until one person plays all of their cards leaving one final card to discard, thus ending the hand. Points are tallied and the dealer duties rotate to the left. Points are awarded for cards played in a spread such that: Cards numbered 2-9 are worth five points Cards numbered 10-14 are worth ten points The star cards are worth fifteen points Wild cards are worth zero The spread points are positive, but any cards still in a player's hand when another player discards their last card become negative. Yup, it's entirely possible to end the hand with less than zero points. Write the scores down and the dealer passes to the left. At this point, you might say, hey, this is EXACTLY Rummy. But no! We have robots, and these robots have special powers. Building a Robot If a player makes a spread of all five of the same robot, the player has "constructed the robot" and gets 50 bonus points in addition to the normal point values of the cards. However, if a player uses a wild card in the set, the player does not build a robot and thus earns zero bon

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