[EricAnderson191]

I agree that the game could have been a bit more interesting, but after watching matches at regionals across the country and participating in the Finger Lakes Regional, Recycle Rush is far from boring.

Watching a team move a six-stack with can and litter onto the scoring platform with the whole structure tottering back and forth generates a thrill. Knowing that dumping that stack puts an alliance in a deep hole adds to that thrill.

At Finger Lakes, the finals went to three matches with match three decided by 3 points. You should have heard the crowd!

While each year's game is all about decisions, Recycle Rush makes the implications of decisions made in January loom large in March and April. Teams that leaned too heavily on Ri3D videos probably missed chances to think outside the box. Teams that chose to build without fully understanding the game probably built competent robots that are too slow to compete well. Teams that did not bother with autonomous programming missed out on points. (That 3rd final did not have any auto points scored and it would have made a difference).

I have watched teams spend a match trying to drag totes from the landfill while the human station was ignored. You wanted some way to communicate with the team and get them to make a better choice.

All of this can be explained to spectators and team members and I think makes the game more compelling than one that looks more straightforward.

All of that said, a match with scores below 50 would send me home early.

Eric