Bug Race
Bug Race Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setting Up
First of all assemble the playing field. It consists of nine parts and will resemble a cross once assembled. First of all place the central part of the field, the one with the apple on it. To the central element four tracks are added (each consist of two elements). If there are less than four players then it isn't necessary to assemble all the tracks, two or three is fine. As you may have noticed the images on each side of the tracks vary. You can make a "forest" track or a race in outer space on a space station. It doesn't matter which side you decide to assemble as it has no impact on the overall game.
Once the field is assembled each player takes a beetle and six leg tokens of the same colour as the beetle. You can place the beetle any side you want, a robo-beetle can just as well run on the forest track.
After that the player place their beetles on one of the race tracks before the starting line and place the legs as shown on image 1.
The game deck is thoroughly shuffled and placed next to the playing field.
How Do the Beetles Move?
The beetles move forward on their respective tracks toward the center of the field. The tracks have segments and beetles may only move by them. Between the segments on the side of the track there are slots for the leg tokens. To be able to move the beetle you will need to place the legs in the correct places. The important rule is the beetle cannot lose his legs! The legs need to be near the beetle's body or diagonally from it. First we move the legs then the beetle (see image 2).
Image 2 captions: "The beetle can be moved" and "The beetle cannot be moved".
Which leg tokens will be moved is determined by special cards. The card shows a silhouette of the beetle and six of its legs and also the legs that can be moved by using this card.
Different cards allow the players to move different legs. By playing a card you can only move the legs shown on that card. You can move some or all the legs allowed by the card. Legs are moved by one a turn. It happens that a slot for the leg is occupied by another leg of the beetle. In this case you cannot move the leg. The beetle cannot jump over its own legs since it will get mixed up and tumble (see image 3)…
Image 3 captions: "All legs can be moved" and "The right leg cannot be moved".
At any moment of the turn you can move the beetle token if its legs allow it. The beetle can be moved between card plays or even between moving its legs with a single card.
Game Turns
The game is turn-based. Each turn consist of two phases:
- Each player draws two cards from the deck. One card he keeps for himself, the other he passes on to his neighbor to the left. If there are two players they simply switch the second cards. If there are three of four players than the next turn they will pass the second card to their neighbor on the right. Then left again, the next turn to the right and so on.
- Each player plays one of their two cards of their choice and moves the leg tokens shown on that card (and the beetle itself if possible). The player must move all the legs shown on the card if he can. The second card is then played and the player moves the leg tokens shown on it. Once both cards are played the turn ends.
All played cards are discarded. If the deck ends, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.
Rules for Experienced Players
Try drawing four cards at the start of each turn instead of two. Keep one of the cards and pass the remaining three to your neighbor to the left. When you get the three cards from your neighbor on the right keep one and pass the remaining two to the left. Keep doing this until there are no cards left to pass. Once you have four cards this way play each one by turn in the second phase. On the next turn pass the cards to the right.
Game End
The game ends if a beetle has fully crossed the finish line at the end of a turn. Only the body of the beetle counts, his legs can remain behind it. The owner of that beetle is the winner. If you like you can continue playing to determine second and third place.
If more than one beetle crossed the finish line at the end of the turn then the winner is determined by its legs. The beetle whose legs are further ahead is proclaimed the winner. The bottom legs are compared first, then the middle legs, and if they are equal, the first legs.