A futuristic 2-player game by Bez Shahriari
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Published:
October 2023
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Available from this website​ now!
Last Bug Standing
in the Circle of Doom!
Designer: Bez Shahriari
Players: 2
Duration: 15-30 minutes
Age: 12+
Publisher: Surprised Stare Games
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In a futuristic arena on a planet far, far away, can your crew knock out enough weird creatures to have the Last Bug Standing in the Circle of Doom?
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Reviews:
Board Game Happy at Zatu Games
Oliver Kinne at Tabletop Games Blog
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A game in which the Navigator directs the driver of the crew’s Vehicle through an alien landscape, whilst the Gunner shoots at Bug-Eyed Monsters (BEMs). If you plot the right course, make the right moves, and pick the right shots, you will have the Last Bug Standing in the Circle of Doom!
Examples of artwork for the game by Akha Hulzebos
The card above (one of 11 in the game) illustrates our Vehicle and its driver, as well as a bit of the Alien Landscape (Landscape tiles that the Vehicle drives over), plus also a hint of one of our 4 Bug-Eyed Monsters (BEMs). These latter weird creatures are the targets for the Gunner on the left. The middle figure is the Navigator.
News about Last Bug Standing in the Circle of Doom!
We have launched the game at Essen Spiel 2023. Copies are now available in the UK, and the wider world. Available from this website now!
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We playtested at AireCon (9-12 March, Harrogate Convention Centre) and at BayCon (13-16 April, Exeter Court Hotel). We also demoed at the UK Games Expo (2-4 June, Birmingham NEC).
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I (that is, Alan!) playtested it in various groups, including with our regular Ely playtesters (group run by Brett Gilbert), and with a couple of other fellow designers who happened to be visiting. This resulted in some further development to make the game smoother and to increase its playability. Fortunately, no radical re-think was necessary, and there was no impact on the artwork.
I had intended to run a crowd-funding campaign for this game, but as War of the 3 Sanchos is our priority for crowd-funding this year, and SSG cannot run 2 campaigns concurrently, we’ve decided to bring out Last Bug Standing in the Circle of Doom at Essen Spiel 2023 in October, then to normal retail.
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Versions include the standard game, in which you draw up to 2 cards during play, and can play them to break the normal movement rules for the three pieces; a version where the Alied Landscape 'wraps' from one side to the other as the Vehicle moves off an edge, a tournament mode (best of 3), and a BEM Collection Agency, whereby you win by having the very Last Bug Standing in the Circle of Doom.
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