Hexbug MoBots Speed Shot and Shift Shot Games Review

Remember those silly MoBots that change the sound of your voice, dance and record messages, and even carry your stuff? Now those robotic sidekicks want to play a game with you. It’s called MoBots Speed Shot, and it’s a robotic tabletop tug-o-war family game. Land the ping pong balls into your cup to scoot the robot closer to your side.

First, you’ve got to get set up. With the robot in the middle, each player sets up three ping pong balls in his end strip on his side of the table. The instructions don’t say how far apart you need to be, but there needs to be some distance so that the robot doesn’t move once and immediately end the game. The next step is to choose your difficulty mode: Easy, Medium, or Hard. You’ll find that switch at the robot’s antenna. In Easy mode, each shot you make moves the robot closer to you. But in Medium mode, each shot on your side moves the robot farther away from you, and in Hard mode, the robot will move away from the last person to make a basket. Once the countdown stops, start shooting! Both players shoot at the same time. If the ball goes in the cup, it’ll roll right out the bottom. And if you miss the cup, the ball will roll away. So along with fast-paced shooting, you might also be running to retrieve balls. Also as you play, the robot’s LED face lights up and plays sound effects. Once the robot reaches one player’s end strip, the game is over. If two minutes pass and the bot is still somewhere in the middle, use the center marker piece as a tiebreaker.

There’s also a non-MoBot version of the game called Shift Shot. You set up the game in exactly the same way, except each player gets five ping pong balls in his end strip. This version also has three difficulty levels, which are the same as in Speed Shot: Easy – each shot you make moves the robot closer to you, Medium – each shot on your side moves the robot farther away from you, and Hard – the robot will move away from the last person to make a basket. The motorized unit gives a countdown, and then both players start shooting. Blue lights on the sides flash when someone makes a basket. Once the unit reaches one player’s end strip, the game is over.