Game piece discussion!

[24523B]

Octoballs? Octoblocks? Hexagonablocks? Blocks?

[76782AHighVoltage]

Octoball
Octoblock
Hexagonablock😫
Block

[Cookedcattlefreind]

Octoballs: good
Octoblocks: Ok
Hexagonablocks: Bad
Blocks: Ok

[Gigahertz.t]

@76782AHighVoltage

Octoball

Bloctoballs?

[5686T]

• Octoballs
• Octoblocks
• Hexagoablocks
• Blocks
• Octadecahedrons
• Chamfered cubes
• Other (reply)

[SpencerFrom1060]

Octaballs. No question. Anything else sounds bad.

[cymullins]

obviously truncated cuboctohedron

[24523B]

Erm actually, it’s OCTOBALLS

[Daveisarobot]

I guarantee this will not stick, in early season HS people were determined to call rings “donuts” or “bagels” or “dorbs” and then within a month everybody just called them rings.

[lacsap]

@Daveisarobot

I guarantee this will not stick,

I can’t argue with wisdom of the masses but objects in PB and HS are named in the Game Manual in a way that is pretty clear. Not so much with objects in Star Struck, they resembled Jacks. In Tipping Point, they were not really rings that teams could relate to, so Pringles and other other names stuck.

Lots of examples.

That said, be sure in your engineering notebook to clearly define any jargon you use, do not expect Judges to be fluent in new speak.

[Neon]

I feel like the name of “Blocks” in this years game (push back) is kinda Generic and Inaccurate.
So I did some research and got some More Complicated names.
#1 being my Favorite (weather by the looks or the name). and the #4 being my Least Favorite.

Note: Not all of these are accurate, but are similar or close to.

1. Rhombicuboctahedron

(Has too many sides. but is SUPER Fun to Say)

2. Donut Holes

(Last year (High Stakes) we called the “Rings” Donuts. So Donut Holes Seemed fit for the job)

3. Chamfered Cube

(Pretty Close to the shape of the “Block”)
4. Octadecahedron

(I think it is Accurate. I’m pretty sure “Blocks” have 18 sides)

5. Polyhedron
(Generic Term so I don’t really have 1 single image to describe it)

---

Which is Your Favorite? And do you have any other Names to Suggest?

[GIGITTYGIGITTY]

Our team calls them Gushers… but like guys c’mon they look js like Gushers

[Foster]

@Daveisarobot

dorbs

I vote for dorbs. Easy to say, easy to spell.

[1064]

Gems is a good word!

[Ethan26]

You read my mind
Blocks are boring
Hexagonablocks is a mouthful
Octoblocks just don’t have the same ring to it, unlike the
OCTOBALL
The official name for the 2025-2026 vex robotics game’s scoring object, the octoball!

[NeradRobotics]

Gems, they look like rubies and diamonds

[joebotics]

Our team calls them Gems too.

Most other proposed names are just too long and unwieldy.

We can probably agree that Blocks is a bland term that’s just a touch more interesting than “solid” and “thing”. Other reasons to vote for Gem:

• The word evokes sparkly-ness, and sparkly is nice
• Evokes video game gem collection, earning gems, etc.
• Short: one syllable in English and most languages
• Better to type 3-4 letters than 14 letters (octodecaheron) over and over in a notebook
• Overall positive word in English (as in “she’s a real gem”), but no worse than neutral in most languages
• In IQ elements are Pins (a good name). 3-4-letters and monosyllabic, so Gems would be a nice parallel: “This season, it’s Gem and Pin collection”

[Ethan26]

Not going to lie, this is actually smart. You have some good points as to why s are a good name, and I feel I will call it that in the notebook too. It is easy to say and works in many languages (good for worlds), and is overall good. I feel I will refer to the objects as gems in the notebook and during driving matches, like if I want to tell my driver “There’s a ton of gems over there!” or something along those lines, and it’s easy to type for the notebook.
Otherwise, I feel I will call them octoballs in casual conversation, as they have a better ring to it

[joebotics]

Thanks for reminding me there’s a emoji. Yet another reason to like Gem!

GDC dropped the ball, erm gem, on this.

[24523B]

ITS OCTOBALL!!! (Twenty chars)