I love games as I think it is probably the easiest and less expensive way to incorporate quality family time. I love card games too and I’ve been playing card games with my grand kids since they have been three. I’m always on the prowl for card games that are fun and something I will never grow tired of playing as the grand kids love to play card games over and over again.

I recently played the card game called BUGS from the game company Valley Games. I wasn’t expecting that I would fall in love with a bug invasion but I did! I played the game first with my husband and grand son. We were impressed that there was so much more to this game than the normal fun you expect from playing cards.

I love this game because it is educational involving math skills and they send a long a sheet with information about the bugs on the card. It is also a strategy game and all three of us played it and turned around and played it again because we were so intrigued by how well this game was thought out. Another thing I liked was that they sent instructions to the games on separate booklets written in several foreign languages. I didn’t have to search through a booklet to find my language to begin reading the rules.

It is a multifaceted game that makes it really easy to enjoy and be challenged. It is suggested for 3 to 6 players ages 10+ and up. Most game time can take about 30 minutes to complete.
Miss B is 9 and she easily grasped the concept once I ran through the rules with her.

All the cards are passed out and it doesn’t matter if some get more cards than others. We only gave Mr. L a few so he could hold them in his hand but Mr. K preferred laying his out on the table to see them quickly and that didn’t cause any problems either.

I explained the rules to Miss B as we went through the first play of the game. We helped Mr. L but he loved looking at all the bugs on the card even though he didn’t really understand the game since he is only five.

The object of the game is to go out first without any cards. You accumulate points from the cards left in your hand so the person with the less points win.
To begin a player must lay down as many cards or the same bug they have and say the swarm size. Cockroaches are worth 1 point so if you have three and lay them down then the swarm size is 3.

The next person can lay a cockroach(or how many they have in their hand) on the cards laid and declare the swarm size 4 (or more) or lay down a different species.

Earwigs are worth 2 so a player can lay down 2 earwig cards and the swarm size now is 4. You can lay down as many cards of the same bug species you have in your hand and as the game goes on the swarm size grows and makes it harder and harder to beat the size of the swarm.

Action cards of nets, bug spray and exterminator may be played reversing the turn of the players or giving the player a reprieve from adding to the swarm. If a player is not able to play a card then they must pick up the pile but can not lay down an original swarm unless they can add to it. (The action cards are discarded that have already been in play so are not played again)
If you pick up 3 cockroaches then you must have a cockroach in your hand before picking up the deck to add to it making the swarm size 4.

Eventually you get a lot of cards but if you collect all of the cockroaches (9 of them) then you can show the other players and wipe out the colony by placing them in the discard pile but you must have all the cards for that bug species to do that. This starts eliminating cards from the deck so players may proceed to clearing their hands of bugs and win.

There are lots of more aspects of this game i have not even explained. You’ll have to buy the game to understand the genius behind it. It is simple yet challenging and it keeps kids using their math skills to defeat the swarm laid down by the last player. it also teaches strategy of using the action cards to your best advantage.

There are a lot of great games just waiting to be discovered at Valley Games I’ll be including this game for my Trick or Treat Family Activity Night to make our evening that much more special. This giveaway will not be over in time for Halloween so purchase yours now
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Valley Games have also provided the opportunity to let four readers each to win (1) one of the card game of BUGS.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received a product to review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed in this post are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Open to US shipping addresses only excluding Hawaii and Alaska No APO/FPO addresses.; 18 years old and above. All winners will be provided a tracking number and we will not be held responsible for damaged or lost packages. No other prizes will be used to compensate if lost or damaged.

about gracehodgin

Grandma Blogger encouraging grand parents to remain active in the lives of their grand children and to inspire imagination and creativity.
When Grace is not writing articles for her blog then she morphs into GracieLoo and is off to ZombieZoo where she is the resident Grandma who hands out cookies, kisses, band-aids for booboos and reads stories to her beloved ZombieZoo Residents.