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This year at Airecon I stumbled across Surprised Stare Games and one of their games immediately grabbed my attention with its ‘cheesy but cool’ 1980’s UK comic scene artwork. The game in question is ‘Last Bug Standing in the Circle of Doom’ (let’s just call it Last Bug) by designer Behrooz ‘Bez’ Shahriari .
There’s A Story Jim, But Not As You Know It
I am still trying to get my head around the story behind Last Bug. You are one of the bug types but you control the navigator who moves the vehicle who moves the gunner but you are the bugs???? Maybe the bugs are controlling them all telepathically? The story doesn’t really matter, because what you have here is an abstract two player game with direct conflict that plays in just 15 to 30 minutes.
In Space No One Can Hear You Scheme
At the beginning of the game you choose which one of the two bugs of your colour (red or blue) you want to be and then on your turn you move the Navigator one to three spaces (clockwise) around the compass.
Where the Navigator lands on the compass you move the Vehicle one space in that direction (on the separate map made up of 16 tiles). You then check to see how many bugs are on that space and move the Gunner (on a separate map made up of three squares for each bug type laid out like a clock – called the Circle of Doom) that many spaces clockwise.
If the Gunner and Vehicle spaces both have the same bug type then you kill that bug and remove that tile from the Circle. If the tiles do not match then you flip the tile beneath the vehicle revealing a new picture depicting all bug types together with the number two (the number of spaces the gunner will move from landing on this space from now on). This tile matches any bug so it becomes very valuable and players will desperately try to land on it. Tiles can only be flipped over if none of the other four tiles around it (orthogonally) have been flipped.
The player who manages to kill all three of their opponent’s bugs first wins.
You read that right, there are three different boards / maps / areas you need to consider. But fear not, as the game feels intuitive and within a few turns you will be planning moves two or three goes in advance.
It’s Written In The Cards
The first time you kill either a red or blue bug you gain a card. These cards are very powerful, so much so that you will go out of your way to kill a bug of your own colour at some point in the game, not necessarily one of your bugs (or will you…..to throw your opponent off the right track).
As you can only gain two cards in a game you have to carefully plan when to use them. Being able to move the Navigator anti-clockwise or not moving the Vehicle for a turn could be the difference between winning and losing.
Cereal Variety Packs
We all like variety, especially in our games and thankfully Last Bug has that covered. The rules include several changes you can make to spice up your gameplay. The first variant ‘All Wrapped Up’ changes the way the vehicle moves when it ‘hits’ the edge of the map. Normally it bounces along the outside (or stands still in certain circumstances) but when you play this mode the vehicle will wrap around the map and land on the other side. This causes a lot more thinking as you may not want your opponent to reach a valuable space so easily.
There are other variants as well and you can also change the layout of the map with the 16 tiles as well as the layout of the bugs in the Circle of Doom giving so much re-playability.
Draw It Like It’s 1989
I really like the art style (artist Akha Hulzebos) used for Last Bug, it definitely makes me think of a time long lost when I was in short trousers and could only afford one comic a month. That choice was always 2000AD. I really hope with the actual retail release the artwork remains as it stands out when compared to other two player games.
One thing I hope improves with the retails release is the inclusion of some screen printed wooden meeples for the navigator, gunner and vehicle. This would really help with the immersion and durability of the game. The current standees are cardboard and have a tendency to fall over which doesn’t make them seem very spacelike or heroic.
Warning Alien Life Forms Detected
I have really enjoyed my time with Last Bug Standing In The Circle Of Doom as I quite like direct conflict and quick two player games. The charm comes from its uniqueness, abstract gameplay, cool theme as well as the ability to turn what looked like a certain defeat into victory. You need to plan for future turns as well as being ready to change those plans on the fly due to the fact that each player controls the movements of shared pieces.
The feeling of impending doom, direct conflict and requirement to plan moves a few goes in advance gives Last Bug Standing In The Circle Of Doom a similar tense feeling like the end of a very close Chess match or Santorini.
I am looking forward to playing the final retail edition when it hits the shops later this year.