Master the swarm.

Twenty-four little robots. Put a brain hat on each, set down a light, and watch what they decide.

1–4 players · 14+

Bots, brains, and pads.

Every bot is the same. The hat you put on it decides how it reacts to what it sees.

A bot with its pink Lover hat lifted off, showing the battery and contacts inside.

Bots.Twenty-four identical robots, 40 mm across, each with two eyes, two wheels and a light of its own. Without a hat, a bot stays still.

Brain hats.Forty-eight hats, six of each of eight kinds. The top of each hat shows its wiring: crossed or straight, speeding up or slowing down.

Pads.Six flat lights the bots can drive over. A signal hat turns each one into LIGHT, WARMTH, OXYGEN or FOOD, and each kind sends its own infrared signal that only the bots can see.

A row of bots, each hat in its own colour with its wiring printed on top.

How to play.

Set up in a few minutes, become the master of the swarm.

A bot at the mat’s black border, turning back.

Unroll the mat.Its black border keeps the bots on it.

A pink Lover hat about to snap onto a bot.

Put on the hats.Choose a brain hat for each bot.

A light pad with its LIGHT hat lifted, glowing yellow.

Place the pads.Set each one bright or dim, steady or pulsing.

Six pink bots resting in a ring around a lit pad, two blue bots heading away.

Watch.Then swap one hat and see what changes.

Your first game

Pick your game.

Start with these three. The field guide has ten more, each a little harder to predict.

The whole mat from above, mid-game: bots of every colour among five glowing pads.

All thirteen games in the field guide

For advanced players.

Once you know every hat, try to read a bot without seeing its hat.

Uphill Analysis

1–4 players · 10 minutes per round

Four bots wear blind hats, which pick a brain at random, so nobody knows which one, not even you. Eight more bots in ordinary hats get in the way. Write down your guesses, then lift the hats: each bot lights up in the colour of its brain.

Read the rules

Lift a blind hat: the band shows the brain it drew, for three seconds.

For developers and researchers.

Every part of Botmeister is open to change, from a single hat to the firmware.

Write a brain

A brain is 59 bytes: which signal drives which wheel, crossed or straight, faster or slower. Build one in the hat editor, watch a bot try it, then write it to a blank hat with your phone. The eight brains in the box use the same format.

Flash your own firmware

The firmware is plain C with host tests. Under each bot’s cover is a six-pad programming footprint: connect a Tag-Connect cable and a debug probe, and flash it with pyOCD.

Run experiments in the simulator

The simulator runs the same brain format as the bots, and every run can be repeated from a fixed seed. Test an idea in the browser, then run it on the mat.

Open the hardware

STEP files for every part, the netlist, the parts list and the checks the design passes, all in the workbench. Spare parts are standard: M1.4 screws, O-ring tyres, JST SH plugs.

Tinkerer’s guide Make a hat Open the workbench Run the simulator

A pink Lover hat being set onto a bot, its keys lined up with the slots; beside it a finished bot with the printed AGGRESSOR · 2b hat.

What’s in the box.

Everything for one to four players. No app, no account, nothing to download.

The open case from above: twenty-four bots in their charging pockets, six light pads, the hats sorted by colour in the lid, the folded mat and the field guide beside it.

24 VV-Bots, 40 mm across
48 brain hats, six of each kind
6 light pads, 90 mm across, 6.5 mm high
8 signal hats: two each of LIGHT, WARMTH, OXYGEN, FOOD
6 blind hats for Uphill Analysis
1 felt mat, 100 × 70 cm, with a black border
1 hard case that charges every bot and pad with the lid closed; the lid holds the hats
1 USB-C cable, 1 m, stored in the case (you need a USB-C charger, 45 W or more)
1 field guide with the rules for every game

The closed case on a table with a USB-C cable running from the port in its end wall to a charger; three bots and a light pad in front. — Put the bots in their pockets, close the lid and plug in: the whole set charges in about an hour and a half. Charge indoors, out of direct sun.

The specs.

Plays in any normally lit room. The bots respond to infrared signals, not to room light.

Bot: Ø 40 × 22 mm
Eyes: Two infrared, ±30°
Floor eye: Sees the border and the pads
Play: Bots about an hour, pads about 20 minutes, a charge
Charge: About 1.5 hours in the case
Battery: 150 mAh, replaceable under a screwed cover
Signals: Seven infrared channels, 1.5–7.5 kHz
Screens: None. No app, no account, no Wi-Fi
Hats: NFC tags: write your own brain from a phone

One bot pulled apart along its axis: hat, rim, battery and main board, glowing band, motors and wheels, base.

The field guide.

Why does a Lover stop at the light while an Aggressor charges it? The answer is two wires.

The guide starts where Braitenberg started, with a vehicle simple enough to wire yourself. Then it covers every hat, every pad and all fourteen games, with the setup, how to win, and the line from the book behind each one.

Learn how they think Open the field guide

Questions.

How many people can play?

One to four. Every game can be played alone, including Uphill Analysis: with blind hats, nobody knows the answers.

Do I need an app, an account or Wi-Fi?

No. Everything you need is in the box.

How long does a game take?

Most games take a few minutes. One charge lasts about 30 minutes of play, enough for three to five games. Charge and play between 0 and 35 °C: never in direct sun, on a heater or in a hot car. A bot that gets too hot slows down and rests until it has cooled.

How much space do I need?

Room for the mat, about 100 × 70 cm: a dining table or the floor.

Does room light confuse the bots?

No. Each pad and bot sends its own infrared signal, and the bots respond to those signals, not to room light.

Are the bots loud?

No. The motors make a quiet whirr.

Who is it for?

Anyone aged 14 and up who likes to predict, experiment and be surprised. There is no winner: the fun is in making patterns and learning to see them.