Posted by Geenius at Wrok on August 14, 1998 at 13:36:41:
A rec.games.board thread reminded me yesterday about a game that might be
of interest to enneagram fans, Robo Rally. It's a board game produced by
Wizards of the Coast; you should be able to find it at any specialty game
store (as opposed to a place like Toys 'R' Us). The game itself is
strategy-oriented -- the object is to "program" robots to maneuver through
a hazard-strewn obstacle course -- but the game contains eight robot
"characters" that are almost uncannily enneagram-consistent:
* Twonky, a video display bot, the only one of the bots that understands
fully what's going on and greets its fate with resignation. Clearly a
Five.
* Squash Bot, a steamroller, which considers flatness good and believes
that everything not-flat needs to be made flat. A One, what else?
* Twitch, a quality control bot with an intensely acute awareness of every
possible thing that can go wrong, anywhere, anytime. What else but Six?
* Spinbot, an always-spinning robot of rather vague purpose that has a
tendency to fly out of control when its gyroscopic eye gets stuck. Seven,
anyone?
* Hulk, a heavy-lifting robot that delusionally thinks it's hundreds of
feet tall and impervious to harm. Methinks Eight.
* Zoom Bot, an eager-to-please protocol bot that believes it will be
rewarded for its dutiful service in the robot afterlife. A Two, I think.
* Hammer Bot, a robot that fantasizes about being a rock & roll drummer
and has a tendency to pound the floor out from underneath itself. The
correlations are getting vaguer now, but I'll say Four.
* Trundle Bot, which is convinced that it's tougher than any other robot
out there and isn't shy about saying so -- according to the Robot Roll
Call, Trundle Bots actually get destroyed at the same rate as other bots
but are "rather more surprised when it happens." Could it be ... a Three?
Anyway, I encourage you all to buy this game and play the robot that fits
your type. SQUASH BOT FOREVER!
P.S. There doesn't seem to be a robot whose personality corresponds to
type Nine, but since Nines are so accommodating, they can play anything
that's left over after the other players are accounted for. :-)