Bugsnax card game brings the bizarrely charming video game of edible critters to the table

Goofy gourmet video game Bugsnax heads to the kitchen table for a snack-sized card game where players compete to catch and consume creatures that look a lot like Pokémon crossed with a grocery delivery.

Bugsnax: The Card Game comes from the same studio as the 2020 title, and Young Horses is currently crowdfunding the bounded collection of cards on Kickstarter - no expansions or booster packs here, as everything two the six players need will be packaged in a single box.

Players will choose a deck of cards based on their preferred Grumpus - Muppet-like denizens of the Bugsnax world with an appetite for ambulatory food. A lot of these cards will be traps for catching any Bugsnack they encounter, but other tools will allow players to snoop through opponents’ hands and otherwise thwart their plans. The ultimate goal is to munch six points worth of critters before any other opponent

Each turn consists of three actions that can be spent on three main verbs: playing cards from hand, drawing trap cards from the deck or eating a captured Bugsnack to gain points. Critter-specific cards also boast a Difficulty rating that must be overcome by tossing trap cards at the target until their total Power value overcomes the number listed on the card. Once captured, it goes into the winning player’s hand.

Players can also draw one trap card per action from the main deck to replenish their tools or take a load off by gnawing the points off their recent catches. Eating also earns players another Grumpus card from their specialised deck - these cards seem to be powerful and specific tools used to turn the tide or disrupt another player’s inertia.

The core game will include six base decks and 10 advanced decks so that groups can graduate to the more challenging advanced mode once they’ve full grokked the base rules. Every deck features a different Grumpus with slightly unique abilities, ranging from direct damage playstyles to slower, more disruptive approaches.

Bugsnax: The Card Game’s Kickstarter campaign runs through May 1st and is crowdfunding both physical copies and print-and-play files that can be created at home (or in the office if you don’t tell anyone, shh). Young Horses is limiting backer orders to shipping only within the US at launch but retails copies will be available to purchase through the studio’s website about one-month after the campaign closes.