Robots Love Ice Cream: The Card Game
Robots Love Ice Cream: The Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 65 Weaponized Ice Cream Cards: 5 Brain Freeze | 15 Single Serve | 15 Rapid Pop | 15 Boomsicle | 15 Funday
- 4 Ice Cream Truck Cards
- 13 Ice Cream Tokens
- 15 Planet Cards
- 27 Unique Boost Cards
- 40 Sprinkletonium Cards
- 3 Spinston Beam Tracker Cards
- 1 First Player Card
- 60 Robot Cards: 3 Spinston | 3 Spinston 2.0 | 12 Little Chip | 8 Little Chunk | 8 Peaboty | 6 Pewboty | 8 Punk Rockit | 6 Scrambles | 6 Ray
- 1 Rulebook
Card Explanations
Boost cards. Each boost card shows a title, a description, a boost type, and a price in Sprinkletonium.
- Title: the name printed across the top of the card.
- Description: the card's effect text.
- Boost Type: the icon at the bottom left, showing whether the card is a Truck Upgrade or a Game Effect.
- Price: the Sprinkletonium icon and number at the bottom right.
Example boost cards printed in the rulebook:
- Power Pack (Truck Upgrade, price 5): Add 1 to any attack value against a robot with a defense of 3 or more. Works with any Weaponized Ice Cream type.
- Free Sample (Game Effect, price 3): Take one random Weaponized Ice Cream card from any player. Effect may only be used once per planet.
Robot cards. Each robot card shows:
- Defense Value: the heart icon at the top left. This is the size of the matching set needed to destroy the robot.
- Sprinkletonium Reward: the Sprinkletonium icon at the top right. This is the amount collected when the robot is destroyed.
- Robot Name: the name printed on the coloured band.
- Attack Description: the ability text at the bottom of the card.
Example: Spinston has a defense value of 4 and a Sprinkletonium reward of 3. Its attack description reads: move an Ice Cream token up one level.
Layout cards.
- Spinston 2.0 and Spinston cards are placed in the columns on the planet setup. Robot cards to draw are shown in the column positions on the planet card.
- The Ice Cream Truck card has Upgrade Boost Slots (two, for equipped upgrades) and Effect Boost Placement (for game effects). Its bottom strip gives the game phase quick guide: Planet Setup, Player Phase, Robot Phase, Upgrade Phase, Next Planet or Victory.
Game Objective
Take control of your ice cream truck and collect matching sets of Weaponized Ice Creams. Each planet features a variety of robots that attack players while Spinston steals that planet's ice cream. Defeat Spinston robots to rescue the ice cream supply.
Using your matching Weaponized Ice Cream cards, shoot at the attacking robots which, when destroyed, will drop Sprinkletonium. In-between planets, you can use your Sprinkletonium to purchase upgrades for your truck, making them more effective in battling the robot invaders.
How To Win
Players work together to save as many ice creams as possible over the 5 different planets.
The group's mission is a success if you can save a combined 10 out of 13 possible Ice Cream tokens.
At the end of the 5th planet, if your group has saved at least 10 ice creams, you will each score your own Victory Point totals. The player with the highest score is the Champion of the Galaxy.
Example Game Setup
The example setup shows the table layout: Discard piles for the Boost, Robot and Weaponized Ice Cream decks; the Boost Deck; the Planet Deck; the Robot Deck; the Spinston Beam Track; the Sprinkletonium Deck; the Ice Cream Pool; the First Player Card; each player's Ice Cream Truck with its equipped upgrade cards and effect cards; spare upgrade cards; collected Ice Cream; collected Sprinkletonium; and the player's hand.
- Distribute an Ice Cream Truck card to each player to be placed in front of them.
- Select the grouping of planets corresponding to the number of players, order the planets in a deck from 1 to 5, and place them as shown.
- Place the 3 Spinston Beam Track cards vertically near the playing area in numerical order with 1 being at the bottom. The bottom card should be flipped to show the man and Ice Cream.
- After setting the Spinston and Spinston 2.0 cards aside, shuffle the Robots cards and place the deck near the playing area allowing space for discards beside them.
- Shuffle the Weaponized Ice Cream cards and place the deck somewhere all players can reach, allowing space for a discard stack.
- All Boost cards (upgrades and effects) should be shuffled and placed near the playing area.
- The Sprinkletonium deck should be placed nearby and accessible to all players.
- Deal 7 Weaponized Ice Cream cards from the deck to each player.
- The person who has most recently eaten ice cream is given the First Player card. If a tie, the youngest player receives the card.
How To Play
The game is played out over five planets with each planet consisting of three rounds. Rounds are broken up into two phases: Player and Robot. During each phase, players will each take one turn followed by all the robots utilizing their attack abilities.
I. Preparing the Planet
The robots are invading and the players discover what challenge they'll be facing on that planet.
A. Reveal the top card from the planet deck by turning it face up. The remaining planet cards will be revealed in order 1 through 5 as you progress through the game.
B. Arrange the Spinstons as indicated on the current planet card. Take note of the proper color so that the correct Spinston or Spinston 2.0 are placed in their corresponding columns.
C. Draw and place robots from the robot card deck into the locations indicated by the current planet card.
D. Place Ice Cream victory tokens, equal to the number of Spinstons on that planet (either 2 or 3), onto the card at the bottom of the Spinston Beam Track.
2. Planet Invasion - Defend the Ice Cream!
Starting with the first player card holder, each player, in clockwise order, takes a turn.
Note: Players are allowed to discuss their plans with each other prior to taking their turns.
A. Player Phase
A1 - Draw: Draw 2 Weaponized Ice Cream cards and choose 1 to discard.
Beginning on the 3rd planet: Players who have zero Ice Cream tokens and zero Sprinkletonium may draw up to 7 cards at the start of their turn.
A2 - Fire Ice Cream Weapons: Use matching sets of Weaponized Ice Cream cards in your hand to attack a single robot in the lowest occupied position of any column. In order to defeat the targeted robot, the player must discard a matching set of Weaponized Ice Cream cards; the set must be equal in number to the defense value indicated on the targeted robot. Brain Freeze cards are wild and can be used as any type.
A3 - Clean Up: Place destroyed robots in the robot discard pile, setting aside the Spinstons for use on future planets. The active player collects Sprinkletonium in an amount indicated by the destroyed robot. If a Spinston was destroyed, the player additionally claims 1 Ice Cream token from the Spinston Beam Track.
The example on this page shows a destroyed Scrambles robot giving its Sprinkletonium reward, and a destroyed Spinston giving its Sprinkletonium reward plus 1 Ice Cream token.
A4 - Optional: After collecting Sprinkletonium, the active player may choose to spend one of them at the end of their turn to fill their Weaponized Ice Cream hand back up to 7 cards.
A5 - End Player Phase: Once all players have taken their turn, the robot phase begins.
B. Robot Phase
B1 - Attack Effects: Each remaining robot's attack ability takes place, starting with the robots on the lowest row and going from left to right, followed by robots from the next lowest row and going from left to right until all robot attack effects have been activated.
The rulebook shows the resolution order as numbered on the columns: robots on the lowest row are resolved first, then each higher row in turn, from left to right within each row.
B2 - Ice Cream Beam Tracker: Flip the cards in the beam to represent the round change. The man holding the crate and the remaining Ice Cream tokens move together up the track.
After the 3rd round the Ice Cream token at the top of the beam are moved above the track.
B3 - Players Turn: If any Ice Cream tokens remain on the track, a new player phase begins with the player holding the first player card.
B4 - Escape: After the 3rd robot phase is complete, any Ice Cream tokens that were moved above the track are captured by the Spinstons. These Ice Cream tokens are removed from the game. All remaining robots on the planet escape to the robot discard pile. Place the Spinston cards off to the side for use on future planets.
3. The Store Phase - Upgrading Your Truck!
During the store phase, each player takes turns purchasing useful effects and upgrades for their trucks. Boost cards include permanent truck upgrades and beneficial effect cards that either resolve immediately or remain in play for later use.
A. At the start of the store phase, 3 Boost cards are drawn and placed face up in a row.
B. Taking turns, players may choose to purchase Boost cards using their Sprinkletonium. Buying takes place in order of the player having the least Sprinkletonium to the player having the most. In case of a tie, the player sitting closest to the first player in counter-clockwise order goes first.
The active buying player may either:
- Purchase 1 card from the face up cards
- --OR--
- Pay 1 Sprinkletonium to discard the face up Boost cards and draw 3 new Boost cards
C. After a card is purchased, a new Boost card is drawn to replace the purchased Boost card. Players may purchase more than one card if able. Any play immediately effects are resolved at the time of purchase.
D. After all players have had a chance to purchase Boosts, remaining Boost cards are sent to the discard pile.
Tip: As the invasion forces become larger on later planets, it will become impossible to save all of the Ice Creams without truck upgrades. Spend your Sprinkletonium wisely!
4. The Equip Phase - Load Up Your Truck!
Prepare your truck with the purchased upgrades as you get ready to save another planet from the robot invasion.
A. Before traveling to the next planet, players may choose to equip their truck with a maximum of two upgrades. Place these two cards in designated areas located on the Ice Cream Truck card.
B. Unused upgrades in a player's inventory may be saved for use during future equip phases.
C. While upgrades are limited to two per truck, players may use an unlimited number of "remains in play" effect cards purchased from the Boost deck.
After completing the equip phase, pass the first player card clockwise to the next player. Repeat preparing the planet (page 9), planet invasion (page 10), and the store phase (page 15) for the next planet in numbered sequence.
Game Overview
5. End of Game
After completion of the fifth and final planet, Victory Points (VP) are counted. If the players were able to collectively defend a total of 10 or more Ice Cream tokens from escaping, then they share in glorious group victory.
Additionally, the Champion of the Galaxy is determined based upon which player acquired the most Ice Cream tokens and Sprinkletonium during the game.
Each Ice Cream saved counts as 2 VPs and each Sprinkletonium counts as 1 VP. In the event of a tie, the Champion of the Galaxy is the player with the most Ice Cream tokens. If their Ice Cream total is also equal, then the tied players revel in becoming co-champions of the galaxy!
VICTORY!!!
Variant Rules
Solo Play
When playing a solo mission, several rule changes take effect.
Remove the following Boost effect cards from the deck before play:
- Ice Cream Party
- Free Sample
- Yoink!!
- Line Cutter
- Expanded Capacity
- Team Player
Solo players use the 2 player planet cards to determine robot placement. Want a harder challenge? Try the 3 player planet cards!
Solo player may attack twice per turn.
Solo players begin the game with 8 cards in hand. Discarding Sprinkletonium to refill your hand will also draw up to 8 cards instead of 7.
During the draw step, the solo player will draw 3 Weaponized Ice Cream cards and keep 2.
During the equip phase, solo players may equip their truck with up to 3 truck upgrades rather than 2.
Challenge Variants
If players want to increase or decrease the difficulty of the game, the rule changes in these variants provide greater flexibility in customizing your Robots Love Ice Cream experience. It is also possible to combine these variants for even more fun!
A. Harder Robots: Remove 6 Lil Chips, 2 Peaboties, and 2 Punk Rockits from the robot draw deck.
B. Weaponized Sprinkletonium: When paying 1 Sprinkletonium to refill the hand, the player may additionally weaponize 1 Sprinkletonium by pulling 1 of their own Sprinkletonium into their hand rather than drawing a 7th (or 8th in the solo variant) card. The weaponized Sprinkletonium behaves identically to a Brain Freeze card.
C. All Red Spinstons: All Spinstons are Red Spinston 2.0.
D. Ice Cream Social: After all players have loaded their truck upgrades, an Ice Cream Social occurs wherein a number of Weaponized Ice Cream cards equal to the number of players are drawn and placed face-up. The group then decides which card goes to each player. If no agreement can be reached regarding who gets the cards from the Ice Cream Social, then all of the Ice Cream Social cards are shuffled and randomly distributed among the players.
E. Attack Twice Per Turn: On their turn, players may perform two attacks instead of one. There is no drawing of new cards between the two attacks. Boost and robot placement rules are the same as in regular mode.
F. Boost Purchase Limits: During each store phase, players may only purchase 1 Boost card. You may still use a Sprinkletonium to flush the cards before purchasing.
Clarifications
Lil Chip: When Lil Chip moves to the right, he moves to the highest open space available in a different column, starting with the column to the right of its current position. Little Chip can move to different rows. The lowest row (4th level) is only considered to be open space during 4 player games and only on those rows which show a 4th level on the planet setup card. Available columns must have a Spinston to be considered a valid open space. If no other columns are available, Lil Chip stays in place.
Lil Chunk: When Lil Chunk summons a robot, the summoned robot is placed in the same column as Lil Chunk if possible or in the first open space available starting with the highest open position in the column to the right of Lil Chunk. Available columns must still have a Spinston. The lowest row (4th level) is only considered to be open space in 4 player games. If no open space is available, no new robots are placed.
Shuffling Decks: The robots, Weaponized Ice Cream, and Boost cards are shuffled when each of the decks are depleted. Do not reshuffle the discards if there are still cards remaining in the draw piles.
Sprinkletonium: Sprinkletonium cards do not have a discard pile. Lost or spent Sprinkletonium cards are simply placed back in the deck. Should a player need to draw Sprinkletonium and there is none available in the deck, they simply do not receive any that turn.
Boosting Second Attacks: Rapid Pop Special and Sunday Special upgrades cannot be used to boost the second attack using either Hit Em Quick and Oh Fuuuuuuudge upgrades.
Robot Card Notes
The attack descriptions for the robots are printed on the robot cards themselves; the rulebook's own illustrations and text confirm the following robot abilities:
- Spinston (defense 4, reward 3 Sprinkletonium): Move an Ice Cream token up one level.
- Lil Chip (defense 1): Lil Chip moves right to the next open robot spot (see Clarifications).
- Lil Chunk: Summon new additional robot (see Clarifications).
- Scrambles: All players discard a random Weaponized Ice Cream card.
Transcriber's note: the card-face text for the remaining robots (Spinston 2.0, Peaboty, Pewboty, Punk Rockit and Ray), together with their defense and reward values, is printed in very small type over overlapping card art in the PDF and could not be read reliably. Those entries are omitted rather than guessed; consult the physical robot cards for them.
Transcriber's note on Boost cards: the rulebook shows only example Boost cards (Power Pack, Free Sample, Chocolate Shell, Deflector Shield, Voink!!, Funday Special, Line Cutter, Bigger Tires, Ice Cream Party, Expanded Capacity and Team Player) and does not print the full set of 27 unique Boost cards.