In the 2010 game, robots play "soccer" in a field divided into three zones by "bumps". The object of the game is for robots to kick the 12 soccer balls on the playing field into their own goals, located on their end of the field. Once scored, balls are returned through a hanging guardrail system. Points may be earned in the end game by climbing onto the platform located on the bumps or hanging off of a bar above the platform (or even hanging off of another robot!).

In the 2009 game, robots are designed to pick up 9" game balls and score them in trailers hitched to their opponents’ robots for points during a 2 minute and 15 second match. Additional points are awarded for scoring a special game ball, the Super Cell, in the opponents' trailers during the last 20 seconds of the match. “LUNACY” is played on a low-friction floor, which means teams must contend with the laws of physics.

In the 2008 game, students’ robots are designed to race around a track knocking down 40" inflated Trackballs and moving them around the track, passing them either over or under a 6'6" overpass. Extra points are scored by robots positioning the Trackballs back on the overpass before the end of the 2 minute and 15 second match.

In the 2007 game, students’ robots are designed to hang inflated colored tubes on pegs configured in rows and columns on a 10-foot high center “rack” structure. Extra points are scored by robots being in their home zone and having been lifted more than 4” off the floor by another robot before the end of the 2 minute and 15 second match.

In the 2006 game, students’ robots are designed to launch balls into goals while human players enter balls into play and score points by throwing/pushing balls into corner goals. Extra points are scored by robots racing back to their end zones and climbing the ramp to the platform before the end of the 2 minute and 10 second match.

The game for the 2005 season is played on a 27' wide by 52' long playing field with the 9 goals configured in 3 x 3 matrix, similar to tic-tac-toe. The robots will attempt to place the red and blue game tetras in or on one or more of the nine goals to score points and “claim ownership” of the goals.

The game for the 2004 season requires robots to collect and pass 13” balls to the human player, who then shoots them into fixed and moveable goals. There are three 30” balls on the playing field that can be placed on top of any goal by a robot, which will double the point value in the goal. Additionally, robots may attempt to “hang" from a 10’ bar.

The game for the 2003 season requires robots to collect and stack plastic storage containers on their side of the playing field. The location of the robots and containers and the height of the stacks at the end of the match determine each team’s score for the round.

Each two-minute match begins with the 24’ x 48’ field broken up into five zones and set up as follows. Four robots start on the playing field and are paired in alliances of 2. There are 2 robots at diagonally opposite corners, 10 soccer balls in each driver station area, 20 soccer balls centered along each side of the field, and 3 moveable goals weighing approximately 130 lbs each in the center zone. The strategies are endless, but the basic objectives are simple. Robots race around the playing field trying to gather balls, place them into goals, place the goals in their scoring zone, and return their robot to their starting zone before the 2 minutes have elapsed.

Four teams work together as one alliance to achieve as high a score as possible in each match. Points are scored by placing balls in their goal, and by positioning their robots and goals in designated areas at the end of each match. At the start of each match, the alliance station contains twenty small balls. In addition there are twenty small balls and four large balls on the far side of the field which may be used to score points.

At the end of the two minute match, points are awarded as follows: the alliance will receive one point for each small ball in the goal and not in contact with a robot, and ten points for each large ball in the goal and not in contact with a robot. Each alliance will receive ten points for each robot that is in the End Zone. An additional ten points will be added if the stretcher is in the End Zone. The alliance doubles its score if the bridge is balanced. The alliance multiplies its score by a factor of up to three by ending the match before the two minute time limit. Each team receives the alliance score. A team multiplies its’ score by 1.1 if its large ball is on top of a goal. Scores are rounded up to the nearest whole point after applying all applicable multipliers.

Four teams, paired in two alliances, will compete in each match. An alliance scores points by placing balls in their goal, and by positioning their robots in designated areas at the end of each match. At the start of a match each alliance has seven yellow balls and one black ball in their station. In addition, there are fifteen yellow balls and two black balls on the far side of the field which may be scored by either alliance.

Points are scored by positioning “floppies,” robots, and the “puck” on the playing field. Floppies are light weight, pillow-like objects with Velcro-loop material located in the center and around the perimeter. Each alliance has ten color-coded floppies located on the playing field and at the player stations.

At the end of each two minute match, points are awarded as follows: Each two-team alliance will receive one point for each of its floppies that is at least 2” over and not touching the playing field surface, and less than eight feet above the surface if the playing field. Each alliance will receive three points for each of its floppies eight feet or higher over the surface of the playing field. Any robot that climbs onto the puck will multiply its alliance’s score by three.

In two-minute matches, the three robots and human players score points by placing the balls onto the side goals shaped like ladders or into the central basket-like goal. The balls are color-coded to identify team ownership. A human player, located outside the perimeter of the field, is allowed to hand balls to the robot or throw balls directly at the goals.

In two-minute matches, the three robots and human players score points by placing the inner tubes onto pegs in the goal, or around the top of the goal. The tubes are color-coded to identify team ownership. Human players are not allowed onto the field, but they may hand tubes to the robots or throw tubes directly onto the goal.

In two-minute matches, the three robots, with their human partners, score points by placing the balls in the central goal. The balls may be carried, pushed or thrown into the goal by the robots. The human players are not allowed on the playing field as they are seat-belted down at their stations, but they may score points by throwing balls into the central goal. Points are awarded for balls located in the central goal at the conclusion of each two- minute match.

In two-minute matches, three robots race down a 30-foot raceway, over a speed bump just wide enough for two to pass through, to retrieve their 24” and 30” vinyl balls. To score, they must carry the ball(s) back up the raceway and push or shoot the ball over a nine-foot field goal from either the playing floor or a raised platform area, all the while trying to keep their opponents from scoring. Teams may score more than once with each ball – the smaller ball is worth two points and the larger ball is worth three points.

Contestants attempt to place as many of their soccer balls possible inside one of two goals. In each match, three-team alliances compete to place 12 balls of their team color inside either the high goal, worth 3 points, or in the low goal, worth one point per ball. The winner is the team that has the highest total point value of soccer balls within the two goals at the end of the two-minute match. In the case of a tie, the team with more balls in the upper goal wins.

Contestants attempt to collect balls from either the playing field or their opponents’ goals, place them in their own goals, and defend them. There are five large air-filled kick balls each worth five points, and twenty smaller water-filled balls worth one point each. The winner is the team with the highest total point value of balls within their goal at the conclusion of a two-minute match. In the case of a tie, the team with the most large balls wins. If still a tie, the team which collected their balls first wins.

FIRST began its legacy in a game where four contestants vie in a round to see who can collect the highest point value total of tennis balls, return to home base, and defend their cache successfully. Each round is two minutes long. The game is played on a 16’ X 16’ square playing arena covered with 1-1/2” layer of whole corn kernels.