I first saw Ricochet Robot at a World Dip Con 2000. After the Diplomacy had wound down one night, some players were hunched over a board silently staring at a few plastic robots on a grid. After awhile one player would yell out a number and the rest would swear. I didn't hang around to see how the game was played, but I picked up a copy when I got back to Minneapolis. I'm glad I did.

Ricochet Robot is a game of short term puzzles. It takes only a minute to learn and players can join and leave the game at any time, which makes it ideal for light gaming at parties and the like. Each turn a new puzzle is presented and the players compete to see who can arrive at the best solution in the shortest amount of time. One frustrating thing I've noticed is that age has little to do with skill in this game, so one can be soundly beaten by an 11 year old. Fortunately, not all 11 year olds gloat as much as I did when I was 11.

A daily Ricochet Robot puzzle can be found here. It's a fun diversion, and a quick way to learn the rules, but it differs from the game in one major way. When playing Ricochet Robot one must work out a solution in one's head; the online puzzle allows one to move the robots about when looking for a solution which changes the game significantly.