Reading the Game: Rules and Scoring Opportunities
Learn how to read a Competition Manual on kickoff day and turn it into lists of scoring actions, penalties, and constraints. Then compare scoring options with expected points and points per second.
In this lesson you will
- Explain how to read a Competition Manual systematically on kickoff day.
- List the scoring actions, penalties, and constraints of a game in a structured table.
- Calculate expected points and points per second using example numbers.
- Identify which scoring actions give a beginner team the best return for its effort.
Lesson
Every season FIRST reveals a brand-new game at kickoff, together with the official Competition Manual. Teams that understand the rules deeply make better design decisions, waste less build time, and avoid penalties. That is why strategy starts before you cut a single piece of metal: the game decides what your robot should do, and what it should do decides how you build it.
What stays the same every season
Some things are stable enough to plan around. A match is played by two alliances, red and blue, with two robots each, on a 12 ft x 12 ft field made of 24-inch foam tiles. A match starts with a 30-second Autonomous period, followed by an 8-second transition and a 2-minute Driver-Controlled (TeleOp) period. The final part of Driver-Controlled is usually called endgame and often has special scoring tasks. Even these basics should be checked in the current manual.
Reading the manual on kickoff day
- 1Read the game section once, without notesGet the big picture first: what the game elements are, where they start, and how they are scored. Watch the official game animation if one is released.
- 2Read it again with a highlighterMark every way to score points, every rule that gives a penalty, and every limit on the robot or the drive team. Use one colour for each.
- 3Build three listsCopy what you marked into three lists in a shared spreadsheet: scoring actions, penalties, and constraints. Note the manual section number for each line so you can find it again.
- 4Write down questionsAnything unclear goes on a question list. The manual explains the official way to ask rule questions; use it instead of guessing.
- 5Re-read after every updateFIRST releases manual updates during the season. Check each update and change your lists if a rule or value moved.
| List | What to record | Generic example |
|---|---|---|
| Scoring actions | The action, which period it counts in, its points, and how referees check it | Place a game element in a scoring zone during Autonomous (example: 4 points) |
| Penalties | The rule, what triggers it, and how serious the penalty is | Controlling more game elements at once than the rules allow |
| Constraints | Limits on the robot, the drive team, and where robots may go | Starting size limit, allowed motors and servos, zones a robot may not enter |
Turning points into decisions: expected points
The point value printed in the manual is not the whole story. An action worth many points is useless if your robot rarely completes it, or if it takes so long that you could score twice elsewhere. Two simple numbers help: expected points = points x the chance of success, and points per second = expected points / the time one attempt takes.
| Scoring action (example) | Points (hypothetical) | Time per attempt | Success rate | Expected points | Expected points per second |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low scoring zone | 2 | 6 s | 95% | 1.9 | 0.32 |
| High scoring zone | 5 | 12 s | 60% | 3.0 | 0.25 |
| Endgame task (once per match) | 20 | 15 s | 70% | 14.0 | 0.93 |
For this imaginary robot, the low zone earns more per second than the high zone, even though each high-zone score is worth more. The endgame task happens only once, so judge it separately: 14 expected points for 15 seconds is a great deal, which tells you to save time for it. At the start of the season your success rates are guesses, so mark them as estimates and replace them with measured data as soon as you can test.
The result of this lesson is a game analysis sheet: three lists and an expected-points table. It guides your design priorities now, and in the next lessons it becomes the base for your Autonomous plan, your cycle plan, and your conversations with alliance partners.
Key terms
- Competition Manual
- The official FIRST document for a season that defines the game, scoring, penalties, robot rules, and event rules.
- Scoring action
- Anything a robot or drive team can do that earns points for the alliance under the current rules.
- Penalty
- Points or other consequences given to the opposing alliance when a team breaks a rule during a match.
- Constraint
- A limit set by the rules, such as robot size, allowed parts, or areas a robot may not enter.
- Expected points
- The points an action is worth multiplied by the probability that your robot completes it successfully.
- Points per second
- Expected points divided by the time one attempt takes, used to compare actions fairly.
Practical exercise
Build a Game Analysis Sheet
- 1Get the current Competition Manual from official FIRST sources. If the season has not started, use a past season's manual for practice.
- 2Give each team member one section to read. Together, fill a shared spreadsheet with three lists: scoring actions, penalties, and constraints, with section numbers.
- 3For every scoring action, record its period and points, then estimate the time per attempt and success rate for your robot. Mark every estimate clearly.
- 4Calculate expected points and expected points per second for each action.
- 5Rank your top three actions and write one sentence explaining each choice.
Knowledge check
Answer every question, then check your answers.