Quirky Circuits Preview #2
Meet Gizmo!
Hello, and welcome back to the second preview for our upcoming cooperative robot-programming game, Quirky Circuits: Penny and Gizmo’s Snow Day. In today’s article we will be taking a look at Gizmo, the robot vacuum cleaner.
Robotopia is a world populated by adorable robots who love to follow their programming and complete tasks. It is your job to program them correctly so they can complete their tasks with enough battery power to get back to their charging unit where they can chill out and wait for their next task.
Dust to Dust
Gizmo is a robot vacuum that loves to chase the dust bunnies. However, Gizmo has a playful kitty, Tux, that likes to joyride on its back. The mischievous kitty swats at Gizmo’s buttons making its tasks a little more difficult but way more fun!
Dust bunnies tend to hide in corners and collect along walls at the edges of the map. Some pesky dust bunnies get on the furniture or under the tables and chairs, making them harder for Gizmo to catch.
Gizmo is represented by a cute little plastic figure. When placing and moving Gizmo on the map, facing is important. Gizmo’s front is where its eyes are. Kitty is facing the same way as Gizmo so you can easily see which way they are going.
Let’s look at Gizmo’s Reference Card!
You see the example to the right of Gizmo’s portrait? That’s Gizmo’s special function. All robot buddies have a unique way of interacting with the map’s environmental challenges. Gizmo’s special function means that whenever Gizmo is halted by bumping into something like a wall or a chair, Gizmo will always turn to the left. Keep this in mind and factor it in to how you play your command cards.
Speaking of command cards, notice in the blue field at the bottom of the reference card there is a group of numbers and symbols. This shows Gizmo’s command card type by symbol and the number that appear in its deck. Knowing this information, helps you intuit what your fellow players might have in their hand. Notice how few left turn command cards Gizmo has.
Just above that is a little yellow field. These are Gizmo’s Quirk cards. Like command cards, it’s important to know what Gizmo’s quirks do, and how many it has. Quirks are only used when directed by the scenario.
Let’s Look at Gizmo’s Command Cards!
Each command card shows an illustration of the action that command card will program Gizmo to perform. Next to the illustration is a symbol of the command. This symbol matches one of the symbols listed on Gizmo’s reference card. The lower portion of the card shows an example of that command being performed.
The backs of the command cards show a symbol that indicates what kind of command it is. Cards that turn Gizmo will have the turn indicator. Cards that move Gizmo will have the move indicator.
Gizmo’s Quirks!
Quirk cards are yellow command cards that are played a little differently. When a scenario setup instructions indicates, you will shuffle Gizmo’s quirks into the command deck.
Gizmo has 2 turn left quirks, and a single move forward 2 spaces quirk.
All Quirk Cards have the Quirk symbol on the back of the card and never indicate whether it is a move or a turn.
Stuck Inside
It’s snowing outside in Robotopia and the dust bunnies are restless. Gizmo has to round them up, but kitty is restless too.
The first Gizmo scenario is pretty easy. It’s a great way to learn the game if you haven’t played before. It’s also a great warm-up if it’s been a while and your teamwork skills are rusty. In later scenarios, new challenges will test your skills.
Barriers and Obstacles
Barriers are represented by solid black lines and obstacles are outlined by solid yellow lines. Robots cannot move through barriers or obstacles. When Gizmo collides with a barrier or obstacle, it halts its movement and turns left due to its special function.
Climbing Bunnies
Dust bunnies sometimes like to get on furniture. If Gizmo collides with an obstacle that has a dust bunny token on it, the dust bunny falls off the obstacle and moves 1 space away from Gizmo. Gizmo will now be able to clean up that dust bunny by moving onto or through it.
Flower Fiasco
Some obstacles have flower pot tokens placed on them as part of the scenario setup. If Gizmo collides with an obstacle that has a flower pot on it, the flower pot falls off the obstacle, moving 1 space away from Gizmo and shatters (flip the token). Gizmo must now clean up the shattered flower pot by moving onto or through it just like a dust bunny. Gizmo must clean up any shattered flower pots before it can complete its goal.
Chairs
Chairs are outlined by blue dashed lines. If Gizmo moves into a chair space via a move 2 forward or a move 3 forward card, it halts its movement and rotates left due to its special function. If Gizmo moves into a chair space via a single forward or reverse card, it does not turn left. When navigating around those chair legs its good to go slow.
So now you know all about Gizmo. Come back next week when we will be taking a closer look at Penny the snowboarding penguin!
Quirky Circuits: Penny and Gizmo’s Snow Day is currently available for preorder and is projected to be in stores around March 9th!
