🎮 2026 VEX IQ Game – Mix & Match
(Official game for the 2025–2026 VEX IQ season — including elementary teams)
🧠 What Mix & Match Is
Mix & Match is the official VEX IQ Robotics Competition game for the 2025–2026 season. In this game, teams design, build, and drive robots to work with special game pieces called Pins and Beams to earn points by building and placing Stacks on the field. Two robots work together during matches to score as many points as possible in a short time. VEX Robotics+1
🤖 How the Game Works
📍 The Field
Matches are played on a 6‑foot by 8‑foot rectangular field. Each team’s robot starts on the field and competes in 60‑second Teamwork Challenge matches, where two robots work together to score points. VEX Robotics
🧱 Game Pieces
There are two kinds of objects used to score points in Mix & Match:
Pins – tall, colored scoring pieces
Beams – longer pieces that help connect Pins and add bonus value
Students use these pieces to build Stacks — combinations of Pins and Beams — that score points when placed in the right ways. VEX Robotics
📊 Scoring — Simple Overview
Teams earn points based on how pieces are connected and placed:
Each Pin connected in a stack: 1 point
Each Beam connected in a stack: 10 points
2‑color stack bonus: +5 points
3‑color stack bonus: +15 points
Stack placed in a matching color Goal: +10 points
Stack placed on the Standoff Goal: +10 points
Each starting Pin removed: +2 points
Robot touching scoring objects at match end: +2 points
(Scoring values are from the official game rules.) VEX Robotics
🤝 Match Types
🕒 Teamwork Challenge
Two robots work together for 60 seconds to score as many points as possible by building and placing stacks.
Robots collaborate with another team’s robot (not against them in this game) to make the best score. VEX Robotics
🚗 Robot Skills Challenges
Teams also get a chance to show what their robot can do on its own in two skills events:
Driving Skills: Students drive the robot by remote control to score points.
Autonomous Coding Skills: Students program the robot ahead of time, and it runs by itself without any driving. viqrc-kb.recf.org
Scores from these Skills Challenges can help your team earn ranking points at larger tournaments.
🛠️ Students Build the Robot
One of the most important parts of VEX IQ competition is that students design, build, and improve the robot themselves.
Students take apart, rebuild, and revise their robot using the VEX IQ parts (gears, motors, sensors, beams, etc.).
Adult coaches and parents may guide, ask questions, and help students understand instructions — but may not build, modify, or make design decisions for the robot.
This helps ensure that the learning experience — problem‑solving, engineering, teamwork, and creativity — stays with the students. (Aligned with REC Foundation student‑built rules you already use.)