SNAP Review – Robots & Rockets LIGHTSPEED

Robots & Rockets: LIGHTSPEED is the second entry in the Robots & Rockets series from designer Sye Robertson. Now that you’ve mastered robot tourism, you must practice the art of building rockets.

Did our rockets launch to lightspeed, or did this game fizzle out? Listen to our thoughts in under 5 minutes, or read on below.

Setup

Arrange four launchpads around the central deck, with the scrap yard card nearby. Place a card face up near each launch pad, as the starting rocket parts.

Then deal each player 4 cards for their hand, and you’re ready to begin.

How to Play

Play part cards from your hand to a rocket. The first card must match either the color or the number already present on the launchpad. Subsequent cards must match either number or color of the card previously played.

To launch a rocket, the topmost card value must equal the number of part cards present on the rocket. A rocket with with 4 parts on it could be launched by playing a number 5 part card.

If you successfully launch a rocket, take all of its cards and place them face down in front of you. Then play a card from your hand onto the launchpad.

At the end of your turn, draw back up to a hand of 4 cards.

If you choose not to play a card, play one to the scrap yard instead, then draw a new card.

When there are no cards left in the draw pile, each player gets one more turn, then the game ends.

Scoring

When the game ends, discard all unplayed cards from your hand. Then turn over all the launch pads to reveal the master builders.

Sort your rocket cards by color; score 1 point for each card you have.

If you have the most cards in a given color, take the matching master builder card to receive an additional 3 points. (If players tie for majority in a color, they each receive 3 points.)

The player with the most points is the master builder – this time!

Impressions

We like the bright colorful art, and building rocket ships is a pretty cool theme. Robots & Rockets LIGHTSPEED is easy to learn and to teach.

On almost every turn, you have a chance to launch a rocket, which keeps the game exciting. Tension mounts when you play a card that can’t launch the rocket, but sometimes that risk can pay off for you later on.

There is no take-that in LIGHTSPEED, keeping it very family-friendly. It has a very low barrier to entry; kids only need to be able to recognize numbers and count to launch rockets and understand end-game scoring.

Unfortunately, luck of the draw means that some games can end up with very lopsided scoring.

We like Robots & Rockets LIGHTSPEED as a compact game you can bring almost anywhere. It’s simple for kids to teach to their friends or grandparents. It’s probably too light for a group of adults only, but makes a good quick family game.

And who doesn’t want to build a rocket?

Buy Robots & Rockets: LIGHTSPEED directly from Rule & Make Games for $10 or less.

The Family Gamers received a promotional copy of Robots & Rockets: LIGHTSPEED from Rule & Make Games.