Raising Robots: Assembly and Discovery Required
Take on the role of a young inventor focused on building detailed robots and excelling in classes with Raising Robots.
There have been a bunch of new board game arrivals that made it to the step of getting unboxed and organized… Then practically forgotten. Raising Robots deserved better! I brought this one off my shelf and was utterly amazed with myself over the decision not to play it right away. Everything drew me in, and I was eager to start assembling robots!
Game Overview
Game Name: Raising Robots
Publication Year: 2023
Designers: Brett Sobol & Seth Van Orden
Artists: Viktoriya Fajardo & Howard McWilliam
Publisher: Nauvoo Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Robots take center stage as resources are collected and used to build them. However, variable energy applied to certain phases means it’s a complex road to figure out how to best apply actions during each round. Don’t forget to focus on classes, too, for top marks are most valuable!
First Play
February 14, 2024
Complexity
4
Latest Play
February 17, 2024
Expansions
1
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
6
Play Time
45 Minutes
High Score
122
Game Area
26" x 22"
Low Score
80
The Wonder of Crafts
Somehow, I wrote this one off as a very tech-heavy theme of simply collecting different robots. So wrong! This is about being a young inventor and making cool robots.
There are 14 asymmetric individuals in the base game, each with a complexity level. Tons of diversity here, too, with the pleasant message that anyone can be an inventor.
I started off with Ada, mostly because her ability was easy to understand and she was at the start of the alphabet. Ha!
Although I found the overall game to be somewhat complex, it was pretty quick for a heavyweight game!
Saving the Pet Robots
Even though I prepped the expansion with all of its new pet robots, I ended up leaving out this content for my first few plays. I know… How could I, especially with Horton?!
Keep in mind that Raising Robots: Pets adds a new set of icons and powers that have to do with adjacency. In a nutshell, even more complexity when learning the basics.
I don’t consider this a negative, though! Just a ton of other content I can dig into once I improve enough. Maybe? Ha!
Just taking a look at these rules, the pet robots and new inventors all sound amazing. A very nice step up for later!
Abilities and Upgrades
Phases are carried out according to a few restrictions that have to do with choosing cards and seeing which random cubes are placed out in the solo mode. Very neat!
Upgrade involves unlocking more benefits, and also placing that token on a robot or class for extra credit.
Assemble creates new robots, and the other phases activate a few abilities and the related row of robots.
During setup, 5 of 8 robot cards are kept, and 2 of them may be placed at no cost. I welcomed Jaws and Lollipop! Need I go into detail about how adorable they are?!
Headed to Class
At the start, there is a choice to keep 1 of 2 class cards. These have awesome, realistic names, and provide an idea of how to proceed to gain the most victory points.
For example, software engineering is focused on building robots that require the programs resource. Very clever thematic connection to scoring better and better!
There are opportunities to pick up more classes during play, although the maximum tops out at 3 cards.
It might not always be possible to earn the top grades, but extra credit can help move up a single tier for some help!
The Magic of Not Knowing Exactly What to Do
Pardon this forthcoming ramble, but I promise it ties back into board games! As this one is very much about learning by trying in the realm of science and technology, I remembered one of my most formative experiences. It was a computer game I received for my birthday with minimal instructions… And it was all about keeping adorable critters alive.
Creatures is a video game from the 90s that most people have never heard of. I vividly remember receiving it for my birthday one year, and it didn’t come with detailed instructions about how to take care of the beings, known as Norns. They were adorable and featured extremely advanced concepts like artificial learning, biochemical systems, and brains!
I had to learn by trying. Everything was a mystery to me, yet I was introduced to fairly complex biology years before it came up in my classes. How cool! It was a real sense of discovery and was a major life experience. Although board games aren’t exactly the same, that magical sense of seeing everything come together and make sense is beyond words.
Robots might not exactly tie back to raising Norns, but it brought me back into that world where science just feels so clever. It also helps that all of the robot artwork is adorable! Thank goodness none of them can break… I would be heartbroken if any of them fell apart! Science and technology are amazing, and they can inspire in unexpected ways.
A Complete Tableau
How cool! My first play went smoothly enough, thanks to a great rulebook with clear iconography explanations.
My final score was barely in the middle scoring tier for the solo mode, but that was perfect! Just meant I wasn’t going to earn a high score simply by getting lucky my first time.
With the robot cards I had, design was where Ada focused her time. I even placed the maximum number of robots and had some really cool turns where everyone activated!
The upgrade system added an additional challenge where I had to balance getting new stuff and improving robots.
Amazing Artwork
As far as I could tell, every robot in the gigantic deck featured unique artwork. Plus… The best names!
Every robot is made out of components that are easy to recognize, and their name is often a nod to something in the image, pose, or pop culture reference. So much fun!
The different rows focus on various abilities, making it easy to figure out how to gain certain resources.
I liked how the resources seemed to tie into the robots themselves, too. I could picture Watson here being used to write more programs to craft even more robots!
Middling Class Marks
Although I did my best to try to build the robots that Ada needed for her classes, she ended up with grades of A, B, and C. Not particularly great… But room for improvement!
I made some silly strategic mistakes with the upgrades, too, and didn’t focus enough on drawing more robot cards.
Being able to understand what I did to limit my scoring opportunities told me I had an idea of what I was doing!
There is a neat solo campaign to play out over 3 games, which I slightly modified by accident to keep Ada out and follow her journey to earn straight A’s… Hopefully!
No Robot is the Best
Practically every time I had a chance to draw more robot cards, I declared a new favorite. In the end, I just had to say that they all were the best. I loved them all!
Take a moment to look at all of the details here and the related names. Glaze crafts pottery, Drone creates honey, Focus examines samples, and Ctrl+C copies! But then…
Yeah, that’s Ken up there, created from a dollhouse and clutching a rather familiar figure. Absolutely hilarious!
This attention to detail is what I love in a lot of games, and it was so much fun to look at all of these illustrations.
Fabrication Expert
Without really planning it out, I ended up focusing on fabricate robots with Ada this time. It all played out entirely differently, too, as I had even fewer robot cards!
She didn’t get the highest grades, although there was a slight improvement this time. I saw my score go up a little bit, too, so I was moving in the right direction!
I really enjoyed the decision space and speed of play. For something that felt complex, it was over in under an hour.
In the end, I felt like I created a tableau that was worth it, too, and the class performance was everything! Go, Ada!
Putting the “A” in Ada!
Thank goodness Ada didn’t decide to spell her name in her grades… Ha! As I moved close to finishing my third play, I could tell that things were going much better.
More robots were out in my tableau, and I even built a robot who could transform batteries into an upgrade. Everything looked like it aligned with the classes…
With a few upgrade tokens saved up to place near the end, I slowly calculated Ada’s grades… Wait, what?! Ada did it!
There were some close calls where I used every resource, yet it worked out with a pretty awesome first victory!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1-3
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 80, 88, 122 (1 Win & 2 Losses)
Yeah! Even more surprisingly, I realized I focused on different robot rows across these plays. The recycle robots were pretty great here, yet that was because they aligned with the class goals. Also, Spree was just great for getting upgrades! As usual, I took a little extra time during play to appreciate the wonderful artwork. How could I not get a little laugh out of each robot?! Now I’m looking forward to another campaign with a new inventor. Simply amazing!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
6
Quality
Components & Rules
8
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
8
+ Pros (Positives)
- Not enough can be said about how wonderful the robot artwork is with lovely details and clever constructs.
- Being able to play as a young inventor captures a theme that highlights the magic of early discovery and learning.
- The sequence of play is easy to follow with many decisions, but not too much overhead in terms of steps.
- Choosing which phases to activate during a round is quite challenging, and the solo mode works amazingly well.
- There are all sorts of strategies to try out and plenty of variety with the large decks of classes and robots.
- Scoring tiers and a short solo campaign help provide overall goals where the highest scores aren’t easy to reach.
– Cons (Negatives)
- It may be an anomaly, but all of my player boards are warped to the point of having some edges floating in the air.
- Although the area for tracking resources is great, it’s central and easy to accidentally knock the tokens off.
- The class reference page in the rulebook is awesome, yet it would have been nice to have a separate summary.
- Multiple resource types make sense, although at times, it feels like there is just a little too much to keep track of.
Victory Conditions
Score 120+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 33%
Goals and Milestones
Earn straight A grades in all classes in at least 1 game.
Place an upgrade token on every robot in at least 1 game.
Score at least 120 points.
Score at least 130 points.
Win at least 1 game as each base game inventor. (2 / 14)
Continue the Conversation
What have you enjoyed about Raising Robots? Dare I ask… Do you have a favorite robot? I was delightfully surprised by the theme and gameplay as I worked through this short solo campaign! Playing as Ada again wouldn’t even feel too repetitive, yet there are all sorts of other abilities to check out. Beep boop bop… Building these robots is so much fun!
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