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Competition

Reading the Game Manual

How to read Manual 0, 1 and 2 like a referee instead of a rookie.

1 min readUpdated Jul 30, 2026

The team that reads the manual carefully wins matches the team that skims does not. Rules are precise documents; read them as such.

The three manualsLink to this section

  • Manual Part 0 — the season's introduction and program rules.
  • Manual Part 1 — team, event and general competition rules.
  • Manual Part 2 — the game, scoring, and robot construction rules.

MethodLink to this section

  1. Read Part 2 end to end once, without stopping to argue.
  2. Second pass: highlight every rule with a number your robot touches.
  3. Track the Q&A forum weekly — answers are binding.
  4. Keep a one-page rules cheat sheet in the pit.