Stress Botics

Stress Botics is a science fiction adventure in which four stress-prone robots (known as Beta Bots) are sent to an exoplanet by their corporation. Cubebotics CORP®. to extract its resources. Once these resources have been extracted. the Beta Bots' task is to deliver them to the corporation's ships. It won't be a piece of cake. For starters. the exoplanet is unstable. so the Beta Bots will have to adapt to a constantly changing environment. In addition. each of the corporation's ships requires different resources. and each cargo delivery requires perfect timing and alignment with the orbital trajectory of the corresponding ship. And last but not least. rival corporation Cylindroids INC® has sent its own robots to steal resources and interfere with yours. But don't worry! The Beta Bots can count on the help of Alpha Bot. a support robot with a (very) short-tempered AI. Alpha Bot will unlock new mining locations. give the Beta Bots more actions. and generally make their lives easier... but keep an eye on those pesky Cylindroid robots. as they won't pass up the opportunity to harm your guardian. Mechanical description: The game is organized into rounds. In each round. an event takes place (which can be a problem for the Beta Bots!) and players program actions to interact with the planet's resource-filled chambers. enemies. Alpha Bot. or each other. Actions are chosen in secret. and players commit to them before they are revealed. Each robot's stress level determines the turn order. as well as their possible resource deliveries. Players then take turns revealing their programmed actions and executing them. Each player has their own robot blueprint. where they store resources using multiple containers of limited size. These resources can be delivered to passing ships. or they can be transformed or spent to improve the robot's capabilities. During the adventure. the autonomous Alpha Bot will advance through the planet's chambers until it reaches the surface. Players can interact with Alpha Bot to gain advantages or steer it away from danger. as it is vulnerable to enemy attacks and the planet's adversities. At the end of each round. there is a maintenance phase that includes the activation of enemy robots (Cylindroids). These can move. attack. or occupy resource chambers. In addition. players will receive benefits or penalties (stress) based on their distance from Alpha Bot. The game ends when the Alpha Bot reaches the last chamber. Players add up their victory points. which can be earned in different ways: through successful resource deliveries. upgrades to their robot. completion of other objectives. etc. Next. each player's victory points are reduced by the amount of stress they have accumulated during the game. and the player with the most points remaining wins the game. Author: Fernando Barbanoj Illustrator: Pedro Alberto