Rumblebots Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Overview
• Setup
  • Player Setup
• Core Elements
  • Bot Cards
  • Contraptions
  • The Laboratory
  • Scraps
  • Crystals
  • The Workshop
• Playing the Game
• Build Phase
  • Scraps Income
  • Build a Bot
  • Recycle a Bot
  • Upgrade Your Workshop
  • Energize a Crystal
  • End of the Build Phase
• Battle Phase
  • Beginning of the Battle
  • Attacking
  • Becoming the New Champion
  • Surrender
  • End of the Battle
• Dominance Victory
• Showdown
• Abilities and Keywords
• Glossary
• F.A.Q.

Contents

• 98 Bot cards
  • 12 tier 0 Bots
  • 18 tier 1 Bots
  • 24 tier 2 Bots
  • 20 tier 3 Bots
  • 16 tier 4 Bots
  • 8 Transformations
• 4 summary cards
• 4 Workshop boards
• 1 Laboratory board
• 8 Workshop markers
• 1 Champion token
• 30 crystals

Overview

Rumblebots is divided into six rounds, each consisting of two phases: Build and Battle.

In the Build Phase, you assemble new Bots, adding them to your deck. In the Battle Phase, you compete with other players to get precious crystals. The last one standing during the final round, known as the Showdown, wins the game. Alternatively, anyone who has 6 crystals more than each of the other players before the Showdown wins.

Setup

A. Place the Laboratory board in the middle of the table.

B. Separate the Bot cards by tier (0, 1, 2, 3, 4) and Transformations, to form the respective decks. Place the tier 0 cards and Transformations aside for the moment.

C. Shuffle each deck separately (tiers 1, 2, 3, 4), then place them, facedown, on the matching Laboratory spaces for their tiers.

D. Reveal the top 4 cards from the tier 1 deck and place them in a row next to the Laboratory board: These are the Bots available to be built, at the beginning of the game.

E. Take the Transformation deck set aside previously and place it face up in the top left of the Laboratory board. This deck can always be consulted; the card order does not matter.

F. For two-player games: Place 2 crystals in the first five spaces (1-5) of the Round Track. Leave the space with the crown (Showdown) symbol empty.

For three- or four-player games: Place 3 crystals in the first five spaces (1-5) of the Round Track. Leave the space with the crown symbol empty.

G. Keep the rest of the crystals in a common supply near the board.

Player Setup

H. Each player takes a Workshop board and two Workshop markers. Each player places a marker on the tier 1 space of their Workshop Tier track and the other on the 0 space of their Scrap track.

I. Take the tier 0 Bots set aside previously. Each player forms their starting deck by taking a set of three tier 0 Bot cards: Bulby, Mechchicken, and Wrench Toast. Each player keeps these three cards face up in front of themselves, placed below their Workshop board.

J. Each player takes a summary card. Return any undealt cards, boards, and markers to the box.

K. The player who built a robot most recently is the first to play: They take the Champion token and keep it in front of them.

Core Elements

Bot Cards

Bots are at the heart of the game. They have attack and defense values, and they make up your battle deck. Some Bots have critical hits, barriers, or abilities that activate under certain conditions (for example, when they come into play or if your deck is running low).

The Bot card's attack value is at the top of the card. When the Bot is in attack position, you must place it so the attack value points towards the other players. The defense value is on the left side of the card. When the Bot is in defense position, you must turn the card sideways so the defense value is pointing towards the other players.

You can add Bots to your deck by building them, choosing from those available in the Laboratory and paying their cost (bottom right of the card) with scraps. You can also recycle them to obtain additional scraps (shown in green) which can be used to build other Bots. Bots are divided into four tiers (top right of the card): The higher the tier, the greater the power of the Bot. To build higher-tier Bots, you need to upgrade your Workshop.

Each Bot has a name and belongs to one or two of the following factions (shown at the top left of the card): Animal, Appliances, Bio, Steam, Mech, Warfare.

Contraptions

Contraptions are a particular type of Bots, capable of expanding your strategies with powerful abilities, but only under specific circumstances. Unlike other Bots, Contraptions have no attack or defense values, critical hits, or barriers, and do not belong to any faction. They are never shuffled into your deck.

Keep the Contraptions you build in front of you, face up. When a Contraption card is upright, it is enabled and available for use. When used, the card must be rotated to the side, which indicates that the Contraption is unavailable and cannot be used until it is turned upright again.

The Laboratory

The Laboratory holds Bots of all tiers and shows which ones can be built. As Workshops level up, new Bots become available to build, in new rows. At the bottom left of the Laboratory lies the Recycling Area: When a Bot is trashed for whatever reason, put it here, face up. At the top left is the deck of Transformation cards: Under certain circumstances, some Bots can transform into an evolved version.

On the left of the Laboratory there's the Round Track. This track holds the crystals which are awarded each round.

Scraps

Scraps are the game currency. Each player keeps track of their scraps using a marker on the relevant track in their Workshop. When you earn or spend scraps, move the marker forward or backward, accordingly. It is not possible to keep scraps between rounds.

Crystals

Crystals are gained by winning Battles or thanks to some Bots' abilities. They are used for:

• Obtaining additional Scraps.
• Drawing Bot cards from the Laboratory decks.
• Activating specific Bot abilities.

The Workshop

The Workshop tier determines the highest level of Bots you can build. The Scrap track indicates how many scraps you have. Store any crystals you get in your Storage. From there, crystals can be used by moving them into the Reactor to get bonuses. After each Battle, the energized crystals go into the Cryo-cell from which, under certain conditions, they may return to your Storage.

Playing the Game

The game is divided into six rounds, each round is divided into a Build and a Battle Phase. Each phase is carried out by the player who has the Champion token first, and then by the other players, following the direction of the arrows printed on the current round space (clockwise or counterclockwise). The current round is indicated by the lowest space on the track that still contains crystals. The last player in the game after the final round, i.e., the Showdown, wins the game.

Alternatively, you may win immediately, before the Showdown, if at the end of any phase, you have at least 6 crystals more than each of the other players.

Build Phase

Scraps Income

At the start of your turn in the Build Phase, you receive a number of scraps equal to the number of the current round (1 scrap at the start of the first round, 2 at the start of the second, etc.). Update the Scrap track accordingly by moving the marker.

Underdog bonus: At the start of your turn, if you have at least 2 crystals less than the player who has the most, you receive 1 additional scrap. In the first round, this bonus is not collected.

Note: The number of crystals you have is always equal to the sum of all the crystals in your Workshop (total crystals in the Storage + Reactor + Cryo-cell).

Example. In the third round, Lisa receives 3 scraps as her basic income, plus 1 additional scrap thanks to the "underdog bonus", as she has 0 crystals while Jack, the player who has the most, has 4.

Once your income has been collected, you can do the following actions:

• Build a Bot (2x)
• Upgrade your Workshop (1x)
• Recycle a Bot (unlimited)
• Energize a crystal (3x)

You can perform these actions in any order, some even multiple times. At the start of this phase, place all the cards in your deck below your Workshop, face up, so that they are visible to all players (in the first round, these would be the three tier 0 cards: Bulby, Mechchicken, and Wrench Toast).

Build a Bot

You may perform this action a maximum of twice during each Build Phase.

You can Build a new Bot by choosing one from the face-up Bots in the Laboratory or one that you have in your hand (see "Energize a Crystal"). You can only build Bots of the same or lower tier as your Workshop.

Pay the scrap cost shown in yellow on the Bot, at the bottom right (2 in the example on the right; decrease the value on your Scraps track accordingly), then place the Bot in front of you, face up, above your Workshop so it is separate from the Bots below your Workshop.

Finally, reveal a new Bot from the corresponding tier deck to replace the one you just built. If there are no more cards in that deck, leave that space empty.

There is no limit to the number of Bots you can have, even ones with the same name.

Recycle a Bot

You may perform this action as many times as you want during your Build Phase.

You can recycle your Bots to get additional scraps. Trash one of your Bots by placing it in the Recycling Area, and gain the number of scraps shown in the bottom right of their card (3 in the example on the right), in green. You cannot recycle a Bot in the same phase that you built it (for this reason, the Bots you build this round are kept above your Workshop, and those you had before below it).

If you only have one Bot, you can't recycle it. You can never have a deck made entirely of Contraptions.

Example. It's the first round. Lisa, during her first Build Phase, decides to recycle two of her starting Bots (Wrench Toast and Bulby), obtaining 2 additional scraps (each provides 1). Lisa cannot recycle Mechchicken as well, since it's the last Bot she has. Lisa has a total of 3 scraps to use (1 from her initial income plus 2 from recycling), and decides to build Rocket Bill by spending what she has accumulated.

Upgrade Your Workshop

You may only perform this action once during each Build Phase.

You spend 3 scraps to improve your Workshop, leveling it up one tier: Move the marker on your track to the next tier. The maximum tier that can be reached is four.

If you are the first player to reach a specific tier, reveal four new Bots from the new tier's Laboratory deck and place them in a new row beside it. These new Bots are now available to be built by all players whose Workshop is at least that tier.

Energize a Crystal

You may perform this action up to three times during each Build Phase.

You can energize a crystal by moving it from your Storage to the Reactor. When you energize a crystal, you choose one of these options:

• Gain 1 additional scrap. Increase the value on your Scraps track accordingly.

OR

• Scan.

Scan: Draw the top 2 cards from one of the Laboratory decks which is of the same or lower tier as your Workshop. Keep the drawn cards in your hand. You can build these Bots in the same way as those available in the Laboratory, paying their cost as normal. At the end of the Build Phase, you must return any cards that you did not build to the bottom of the matching deck in random order, without showing them to the other players. Remember to respect the building limit of two Bots in your Build Phase!

End of the Build Phase

At the end of your turn (in the Build Phase), you must:

1. discard any Bots you still have in your hand (those drawn by Scanning, that you have not built) under the matching decks;
2. add the Bots above your Workshop (the ones you built in this phase) to those below;
3. reset your Scraps track to 0: It is not possible to keep scraps between rounds.

Example. At the start of her Build Phase turn in the third round, Lisa gains 3 scraps and 1 additional scrap for the underdog bonus. She decides to energize a crystal and Scan: She moves a crystal from the Storage to the Reactor, then draws the first 2 cards from the tier 2 Laboratory deck. Then she decides to build a Bot from the Laboratory, paying 2 scraps. Next she energizes a second crystal to Scan again: She draws 2 more cards, this time from the tier 1 deck. Lisa decides to energize her third and final crystal to get 1 additional scrap, which she uses to build one of the Bots in her hand, paying 3 scraps and placing it in front of her. To end her turn, Lisa places the cards in her hand at the bottom of their matching decks and moves her new Bots below her Workshop.

After everyone has finished their Build Phase, it's time to Battle!

Battle Phase

In this phase, you will use the deck formed by your Bots to fight, in an almost "automatic" way, to become the Champion.

All players are involved in the Battle Phase, taking turns in a series of clashes as long as they have cards in their deck. The order of play follows the same direction as the Build Phase. The first Champion is the player who holds the Champion token.

In each clash, two players fight for the title of Champion. The clash continues until one of the two players is defeated and loses the clash—at which point the next player in turn order becomes the new Challenger to the current Champion.

Clashes continue as long as the players have cards in their decks. When a player is defeated and has no more cards in their deck, they must surrender, abandoning the Battle round. The other players continue the Battle: clashes with the current Champion resume with the next Challenger in turn order.

When there is only one player left in the game, that is, the last one to be Champion, they are the winner of the current Battle round.

Beginning of the Battle

At the start of the Battle Phase, shuffle your Bot cards to form your battle deck. Don't shuffle in any Contraptions: Keep them face up in front of you, ready to use (upright position).

The Champion reveals the first Bot from their deck and places it face-up in front of them in defense position: The card must be placed horizontally in order to point the defense value toward the other players. This Bot constitutes the Champion's defense gang for the first clash.

A defense gang is made up of any number of Bots of the same faction, in defense position.

The next player in turn order is the first Challenger, who will try to beat the Champion's defense gang and take their place.

Attacking

As Challenger, you flip over cards from the top of your deck, one at a time, resolving any Bot abilities as they are triggered. Place your Bots in front of you, vertically, stacking them if necessary, but leaving the critical hit icons visible: The Bots that you place in front of you form your attack gang. An attack gang is made up of any number of Bots of any faction, in attack position. As Bots are added to your gang, add up their attack values, as well as the number of critical hits.

You defeat the Champion's gang immediately if:

• The total attack value of your gang is greater than the total defense value of the Champion's gang; if the attack value is the same as the defense value, keep drawing!

Or if:

• The total number of critical hits of your gang is 4 or more, if the Champion's gang has no barriers. Each barrier visible on the Champion's gang increases by 1 the number of critical hits you need to beat the defense.

You must continue to flip cards over until you either run out of cards without beating the Champion (and must therefore surrender, see below), or until you defeat the Champion. As soon as you defeat the Champion, you must stop drawing cards.

A defeated Champion must discard all of the defense gang's Bots from in front of them, into their own discard pile, next to their battle deck. You become the new Champion.

Example. Jack is the reigning Champion and his gang has a total defense of 7, plus 2 barriers. Lisa, the Challenger, attacks by flipping cards until Jack is defeated: Her total attack value of 7 is not enough to overcome the defense, but the number of critical hits is 6, enough to beat Jack's gang (4+2 barriers).

Note: The cards you discard during battle are not trashed and continue to belong to you. Discard them into your own discard pile, not the Recycle Area.

Note: If you beat the Champion with your last card, you still become the new Champion, but with no more cards in your deck.

Becoming the New Champion

When you become the new Champion, take the Champion token and put it in front of you. Then choose a faction of Bots to form your defense gang. All Bots in your attack gang that are of the chosen faction remain in play as your defense gang (rotate them to the defense position, in order to point the defense value of each Bot towards the others), while the remaining Bots are discarded in your discard pile. A Bot that belongs to two factions can be used for either of them.

Your new total defense value is the sum of the defense values of the Bots in your defense gang. Additionally, each barrier increases by 1 the number of critical hits needed to defeat it.

The battle continues in the direction indicated by the arrows on the current round's space. The following player becomes the new Challenger.

Example. When Lisa becomes the new Champion, she chooses to defend with the Bio Bots. Optimus Primate and Andruid are Bio Bots, while Thrash Panda is not: Optimus Primate and Andruid remain in the new Champion's defense gang, while Thrash Panda is discarded. Lisa's defense value is 9. Meanwhile, Jack, having just been defeated, discards his entire gang. Vincent is preparing to attack the reigning Champion, Lisa, as the new Challenger.

Surrender

If, after revealing and resolving the effects of the last Bot in your deck, you fail to defeat the Champion's gang, you must surrender: All of your Bots are discarded and you can no longer participate in this round's clashes. A Champion who is defeated and who has no cards left in their deck also surrenders.

Note: Some Bots activate their effects when the gang they belong to is defeated while defending (see Cogmender, for example). This could make some Bots available again and form a new deck. Before a Champion is forced to surrender, all of their Bots that can activate, do so.

When you surrender, if there is another Challenger after you who still has cards in their deck, they will challenge the Champion. However, if all players have surrendered except the Champion, the battle ends: The reigning Champion wins this battle!

End of the Battle

When the Battle ends, the Champion takes 2 crystals from the current round's space and places them in their Storage.

With three or four players: The player who surrenders last, as a reward for ranking second, takes the remaining crystal.

At the end of the Battle Phase, all players move all their energized crystals (in their Reactors) to their Cryo-cells. As a reward for winning, the Champion then moves all crystals from their Cryo-cell to their Storage (these crystals can be energized again).

Example. All players have shuffled their Bot cards into their decks (Vincent left Oogle in front of him, since it is a Contraption). Lisa has the Champion token, so it is up to her to start the battle: She flips the top card of her deck and places it in defense position in front of her. It's Pengutron, defense 3. Jack is the first Challenger and to become the new Champion he must beat the defense of Lisa's gang (made up of just Pengutron): He flips the top card of his deck, Wrench Toast, which has an attack value of 2, not enough to beat Pengutron. Jack then flips a second card from his deck (the last card!): Rocket Bill, which has an attack value of 7! He manages to overcome the defense of Pengutron (9 vs 3): Jack is the new Champion and now he prepares to defend. He chooses the Warfare faction, and since both cards he played belong to that faction, he leaves them both on the table in front of him, turning them to defense position. His gang's defense value is 2 (0+2). Play passes to Vincent, the new Challenger: He will try to beat Jack's defense. If Vincent beats Jack's defense, Jack would be forced to surrender from the current Battle Phase: Having no more cards in his deck, Jack cannot become a new Challenger.

Dominance Victory

If, at the end of any Build or Battle Phase before the Showdown, you own at least 6 crystals more than each of the other players (regardless of where they are in your Workshop), you immediately win the game!

Example. After the Battle Phase of the fifth round, Lisa has 12 crystals in her Workshop, Jack has 6 and Vincent has 0. Lisa has at least 6 crystals more than each of the other players and is declared the winner for Dominating the game.

Showdown

At the end of the fifth round, if no one has achieved a Dominance Victory, a final, sixth round is played: The Showdown.

The Showdown plays like any other round, with the following exceptions:

• Scrap Income – Gain 6 scraps at the start of your Build Phase.
• Build a Bot – During the Build Phase, you may build up to three Bots instead of two.
• Upgrade Your Workshop – You may upgrade your Workshop as many times as you want, instead of just once.
• Energize a Crystal – You may energize as many crystals as you want, instead of just three. Each crystal energized for scraps provides 2 scraps instead of 1. You can also energize crystals in your Cryo-cell; move them to the Reactor (not to the Storage!): Each gives you 1 scrap. Crystals can still be energized as usual to Scan.

The Battle Phase proceeds as usual. Whoever holds the Champion title at the end of this battle wins the game!

Abilities and Keywords

Most of the Bots in the game have abilities that make them special. Some abilities are activated when the Bot enters battle, others are always active, others are activated during the Build Phase. If the text of an ability contradicts what's written in this rulebook, the Bot abilities take precedence.

Loop rule: If, due to any combination of cards, a player plays the same sequence of Bots 3 times in a row, without any Bots being defeated, that player immediately surrenders the clash.

Many abilities are summarized by keywords, explained below:

• ENERGIZED: Activate the ability following this keyword only if, during the Battle Phase, there are crystals in your Reactor. Remember: Crystals can only be moved to the Reactor during the Build Phase.
• ENTER: During an attack, if you reveal a Bot with this keyword from your deck, resolve that ability before any other ability in play.
• FINALE: Activate the ability following this keyword when you have 1 or 0 cards left in your deck.
• REBOOT: When activated, put this Bot on the bottom of your deck (face down). This Bot is no longer part of the gang (therefore it does not add to the attack, nor does it activate its own abilities or those of other Bots).
• RIPENING: When you recycle this card, in addition to the scraps obtained for recycling, you gain a number of additional scraps equal to the tier of your Workshop.
• SWARM: Activate the ability that follows this keyword only if this Bot is part of a gang of three or more Bots (including itself).
• TRANSFORMATION: Bots that have this ability can, under the circumstances described on the card, transform into an enhanced version of themselves. When a Bot transforms, it must be replaced with its version: Trash the original card and replace it with its transformed version taken from the Transformation deck (top left of the Laboratory board). Do not trigger the ENTER ability of a card when you TRANSFORM it. You can look at the cards in the Transformation deck at any time. A Bot may only transform if its evolved version is in the Transformation deck.
• Contraptions: Contraptions are never put into your battle deck. Always keep them in front of you. Activating a Contraption is always optional. You can activate a Contraption only when you are part of a clash, either when attacking or when defending. Contraptions are enabled (i.e., in vertical position) at the start of each Battle Phase. Contraptions do not belong to any faction.

Glossary

• Barrier: Bots can have 0 or more barriers (next to the defense value). Each barrier cancels 1 critical hit of the attacking gang. In other words, the number of critical hits to defeat the Champion gang is increased by 1 for each barrier.
• Basic Attack: The value in the top center of a Bot card. Indicates the Bot's ability to attack, along with critical hits.
• Basic Defense: The value on the left side of the card. The defense value is used by the Champion's gang.
• Buddy: A Bot on your gang different from the one this ability appears on.
• Cards (owned): The cards you have in front of you, both Bots that will form your deck for the Battle Phase and any Contraptions.
• Challenger: The attacking player, against the current Champion.
• Champion: The defending player that the Challengers attack, in turn.
• Clash: Within a Battle Phase, a confrontation between a Challenger and the Champion, which ends with the victory of one of the two.
• Creating crystals: A Bot that has this ability can, under certain circumstances, generate crystals. These crystals are equivalent to the crystals won in the Battle Phase. The crystals obtained with this ability are taken from the common supply and placed in Storage.
• Critical hit: Bots can have 0 or more critical hits (next to the attack value). With 4 critical hits, you can beat a defense gang that has no barriers.

F.A.Q.

• Anubis: To activate its ability, you must have a Contraption enabled, in a vertical position. Anubis' ability must be resolved in full. The Contraption is rotated horizontally as if it had been used, but its ability does not activate. When it is defeated, put the "borrowed" Bot in its owner's discard pile.
• Bunnivatrix: Must be part of the defense gang to activate its ability. You can choose which Bots to keep in defense regardless of their faction.
• Candispenser: Counts for its own ability. A single 2-faction Bot counts for both factions. Contraptions do not belong to any faction, so they are not counted.
• Chronik: When it ENTERS, if you have 0-1 cards left in your deck, TRANSFORM it.
• Chronok: When it ENTERS, if you have 0-1 cards left in your deck, TRANSFORM it. Do not activate its own ability when TRANSFORMING from Chronik, since it's not ENTERING play.
• Chronarch: Do not activate its own ability when TRANSFORMING from Chronok, since it's not ENTERING play. Opponents can keep Bot cards already constructed in their decks, no matter their tier.
• C.O.R.E.: The Bot obtained with its ability cannot be recycled again during the same Build Phase. It does not count against your two Bots-per-turn build limit.
• Frystoise: Counts for its own ability.
• Grr-Howdy: Cannot defeat Contraptions.
• Hextic: This ability is based on your Workshop tier. If your Workshop is tier 3, Hextic has a total of 2 Critical Hit. If your Workshop is tier 4, Hextic has a total of 3 Critical Hits.