If your robot has collected a lot of SPAM, you will be drawing fewer and fewer new cards from your programming deck each round. Your robot might be in a tricky area where one wrong move could find it in a pit or, worse, a Checkpoint behind the leaders. If that is your predicament, you might want to declare a Shutdown.

After all players, including you, have completed the Programming Phase, but before players have revealed their Register 1 cards, you may declare: “I am shutting down!” If you do:

1. Your robot immediately shuts down for the round.

2. Reveal all cards in your registers.

3. Place all damage cards (both SPAM and Haywire) in your registers, hand, and discard pile into the damage discard pile.

4. Place all regular programming cards in your registers and in your hand into your discard pile.

Your robot will not resolve any programming cards this round, but remains on the race course. As such, your robot is subject to Board Elements, being pushed, and laser fire (both robot and board lasers).

Hint: Shutting down on a conveyor belt that’s headed towards your next Checkpoint is a great way to make some progress despite being powered down.

Note: Your robot cannot collect Energy from batteries nor can it reach a Checkpoint while shut down. At the start of the next round, you continue the race as usual.