Best FIRST Game EVER?

[BenHildy]

I have looked at the past games, and I found that the games that have been designed for FRC and FTC in particular are very interesting. Some are fantastic, some are sub-par. I want to know what you all think is the best game ever made, based on difficulty, new concepts, unique playing pieces, or overall entertainment factors. FTC and FRC can be ranked separately, but they can also be ranked together. Personally, my picks are:

FTC: 2014 Block Party
While I may be biased because I played this game, it was a well designed game with lots of different ways to score. It is known for being easy, but it introduced many new concepts, such as the balancing scoring bins and the flag-spinner. Plus, the pull-up bar was a fun challenge to attempt.

FRC: 2004 FIRST Frenzy
While this may be a controversial selection, I personally believe that this was a very innovative game with interesting goals. The return of the rolling goals was no surprise, but the idea of a multiplier was innovative. The combination of two differently sized balls allowed for a larger variation of strategy, and the scoring center structure required a drive train capable of climbing steps. Finally, the hanging option is always entertaining!

EDIT: I've added a poll of the top five FRC games that people have voted for so far. Please vote for your favorite!

[carpedav000]

My favorites are a bit different:


FLL: 2011 BODY FORWARD
- My first year of FIRST, founding member of Bullotics

FTC: 2015 CASCADE EFFECT
- Was a driver, finalist alliance captain at state.

FRC: 2012 REBOUND RUMBLE and 2011 LOGOMOTION
- Couldn't decide I LOVE the designs that came from these games (especially 118 in 2011)

[Lobão]

2004 First Frenzy
Always say that.
Different ways to score, 2 sizes of balls, movable parts, great field with big obstacles but plenty of space to move and the human player could make difference too.

and also

FRC 2007 Rack n´Roll
Strategy game (board game with robots) with great autonomous challenge and interaction between robots (one climbing the other at the end)

[JohnFogarty]

2014 - FTC Block Party was very good. It was the best balanced game I'd seen since Get Over it.

2014 - Aerial Assist is going to be my favorite game for a long time for FRC.

[Robogeddon]

My favorite is 2013 - Ultimate Ascent. Challenging game piece, pyramids were cool. Fun to watch, easy to understand for people who don't get FIRST.
Just my opinion

[kyle_hamblett]

I've got 3
2006 - Aim High
Lots of heavy hitting, shooting balls (Who doesn't like that?) and dedicated defense period.

2013 - Ultimate Ascent
Shooting frisbees, wide open field, and an extremely simple yet fun game.

2014 - Aerial Assist
A bit biased due to being my first actual game, but lots of defense, open field, and it was hard to get carried. It truly required the efforts of the entire alliance to be successful.

[mrnoble]

This is my 12th year of involvement in FRC. I think this game is the best designed, and it's pretty fun to play. I still like 2014 better personally, because I think it could actually be turned into a sport for robots if it was developed further.

[Zuelu562]

With my 9th FRC season under my belt (4 as student, 5 as a mentor), my top 3 FRC games:

#3 - 2014;Aerial Assist: The first year I can solidly remember (in my time) a box on wheels being a viable, albeit suboptimal, alliance partner at any time, as long as the robots were competent. Great game/design, great elimination play.

#2 - 2010;Breakaway: I was spared the end of season shenanigans involving scoring on yourself, and I loved the pure simplicity of the game from a rules/non-initiated viewer's perspective.

#1 - Rebound Rumble: My favorite game, partially because it's one of the best bots my current team has ever built. Another in the "simple to watch" category, it fit well in that space, and thrived on it. High level play was awesome to watch.

[Chris Hibner]

2000 (Coopertition FIRST) was easily the best game in my mind. It could be played on TV and do well. It had everything that makes a great game for me:

1) Great race at the start of the match to tip the balance, but the advantage can be overcome.

2) The scoring is at the center of the field, so you can see all of the action.

3) You can always tell who's winning just by looking at the field - no need for real-time scoring.

4) Many ways to play the game led to many different robot designs.

5) Great end game

6) Great strategies

To me, 2000 is the only game that could make it in front of a non-FIRST audience.

[BenHildy]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

2000 (Coopertition FIRST) was easily the best game in my mind. It could be played on TV and do well. It had everything that makes a great game for me:

1) Great race at the start of the match to tip the balance, but the advantage can be overcome.

2) The scoring is at the center of the field, so you can see all of the action.

3) You can always tell who's winning just by looking at the field - no need for real-time scoring.

4) Many ways to play the game led to many different robot designs.

5) Great end game

6) Great strategies

To me, 2000 is the only game that could make it in front of a non-FIRST audience.

That's an interesting take on this question. I like it. I've never taken into account which game would be best for non-robotics audiences. Another couple that would be interesting for TV audiences would be 2012 or 2010, based on the fact that both were relatively low scoring in their early days, and they are based off of wildly popular sports and don't stray far from their core concepts.

[Drakxii]

2012 Rebound Rumble good auto, good teleop, and best end game.

2014 Aerial Assist is a close second for me, with it's great teleop and good auto.

[Wert3141]

I thought 2012 (Rebound Rumble) was an amazingly well designed game. It was very easy for newcomers to follow and watch, the real time scoring was spot on, it had just the right amount of defense, and the end game was insane to watch.

[macman828]

Originally Posted by Chris Hibner

2000 (Coopertition FIRST) was easily the best game in my mind. It could be played on TV and do well. It had everything that makes a great game for me:

1) Great race at the start of the match to tip the balance, but the advantage can be overcome.

2) The scoring is at the center of the field, so you can see all of the action.

3) You can always tell who's winning just by looking at the field - no need for real-time scoring.

4) Many ways to play the game led to many different robot designs.

5) Great end game

6) Great strategies

To me, 2000 is the only game that could make it in front of a non-FIRST audience.

I agree. As a students it was close enough to 1998 Ladder Logic game that we knew where to start. We had a blast. Team 170 back then.

[Alex2614]

Originally Posted by Zuelu562

With my 9th FRC season under my belt (4 as student, 5 as a mentor), my top 3 FRC games:

#3 - 2014;Aerial Assist: The first year I can solidly remember (in my time) a box on wheels being a viable, albeit suboptimal, alliance partner at any time, as long as the robots were competent. Great game/design, great elimination play.

#2 - 2010;Breakaway: I was spared the end of season shenanigans involving scoring on yourself, and I loved the pure simplicity of the game from a rules/non-initiated viewer's perspective.

#1 - Rebound Rumble: My favorite game, partially because it's one of the best bots my current team has ever built. Another in the "simple to watch" category, it fit well in that space, and thrived on it. High level play was awesome to watch.

Also my 9th season (4 as student, 5 as mentor). Before Stronghold, these were my top three, but in a different order. I'd put Aerial Assist first, Rebound Rumble second, and Breakaway third. For me, though, 2016 moves up to #1 so far. And I'd add Overdrive to the list too.

Now for least favorite games? starting with least favorite, Lunacy, Recycle Rush, Logomotion, Ultimate Ascent, in that order.

[JackN]

In this context I think Best and Favorite have very different meanings.

To me the two BEST games that FIRST has released since I have been involved (2005-Present) are Aerial Assist and Aim High. These two games are the closest I think FIRST has ever come to nailing the idea of competition robotics. In my opinion FIRST should be striving to create games that are easily accessible to the average person and could be broadcast on TV.

Aim High works because it is so conceptually simple. Three robots try to shoot balls into a goal, most balls wins. I think the other variations on this idea (2012/2016) have tried to introduce more elements that generally detract from what makes this game so fun, the ball shooting. Of the ball shooting games this had the easiest goal and I think it works because teams of all skill level could contribute pretty easily. My only complaint was the shooting speed limits because I think that did limit some of the more interesting possibilities for the game.

Aerial Assist is the closest we have ever come to a full contact game where teams have to play offense and defense. It is fairly simple conceptually and could work for the general public, though assists are kind of a weird concept in practice. Having said all of that, I honestly think that this game played out pretty miserably in practice and I have never figured out why anyone likes it. The game always struck me as very shallow strategically, with every alliance eventually doing the same thing by championship.

My personal favorite game is Ultimate Ascent for a variety of reasons. You could replay that game two or three years in a row with zero changes, and the best robot design would change every single year which I think is mind boggling. The diversity of alliance composition and strategy exhibited at the highest levels was so interesting to me and unique in almost any game designed by FIRST. All four Einstein alliances attempted to play the game in a completely different way, which is something that never happens in any game. I think this game's flaw is that there were so many different and unique things happening that it is pretty hard to impossible to tell who was winning at most times, so it would probably be a bad game for the general public. Even still, I would love to play this game again and it is my favorite game ever designed.