Litter Bugs Board Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Objective of Litter Bugs

The goal of Litter Bugs is to get rid of trash by placing it in the trash can while letting as few flies out as possible.

Setup

Open the battery compartment on the bottom of the trash can using a screwdriver. Insert two 1.5V C batteries the way shown on the compartment. Screw the battery compartment door back into place.

Next, add all of the flies (there are 6 blue and 33 black ones) to the top of the trash can around the edges. Close the lid and slide the on/off switch to the “on” position. Place the trash can in the middle of the table or playing area and place the pieces of trash around it. If this is your first time playing Litter Bugs, place the stickers on the die. Place the blue sticker on top, the red and yellow stickers to either side of the blue sticker, the “skip a turn” and “play changes direction” stickers on the other two sides, and the yellow/red/blue multi-colored sticker on the bottom.

A picture of the setup for Litter Bugs. The trash has been scattered around the can and the flies have been put into the proper place in the trash can.

How to setup the game including where to put the flies in the trash can.

Playing Litter Bugs

Roll the Die

The youngest player goes first in Litter Bugs with play proceeding in a clockwise direction. On each turn, the current player rolls the die and performs an action based on what they rolled.

Die Actions

Blue, Yellow, and Red Sides

If you roll the blue, yellow, or red side of the die, choose a piece of trash of that same color. Then lift the trash can lid and throw your trash away as quickly as possible so the flies don’t have a chance to escape.

Multi-Colored Side

If you roll the yellow/red/blue multi-colored side, you choose one piece of trash of any color to throw away.

“X” Side (Skip)

If you roll the “X” side, you skip your turn and don’t have to throw away any trash this turn.

Rotate Side

Finally, if you roll the “rotate” side play changes direction. If it was going clockwise, it now goes counter-clockwise or vice versa. The official rules of Litter Bugs don’t say whether or not you throw away a piece of trash but since it isn’t mentioned, my guess is the answer is no.

End of Turn

After you have thrown away your piece of trash (if you even had to throw anything away in the first place), collect any flies that escaped the trash can. Place them in front of you. Your turn is now over and play continues clockwise (or counter-clockwise if the “play changes direction” side of the die changed the direction of play).

A picture of three flies escaping while the player threw away their trash (two black and one blue).

While throwing away their piece of trash, three flies escaped the trash can. This player will add these three flies to their pile.

Winning Litter Bugs

Litter Bugs ends when one of two things have happened: either all the trash has been thrown away or all of the flies have escaped the trash can. Players add up their points. Black flies count as one point and blue flies are worth three points. The player with the least amount of points wins Litter Bugs.

A picture of four players and their piles of flies at the end of the game.

All trash has been placed into the trash can and the four players total up their scores. The player on the left has nine points. The top player has ten points and the right player has eight points. The winner is the bottom player since they only let four black flies out (four points).

Litter Bugs FAQ

What happens if all of the trash of the color you rolled has already been thrown away?

The rules don’t mention this at all but presumably you don’t have to throw any trash away. Just skip your turn and continue play as normal.

Note: If you have any questions about how to play Litter Bugs, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

Components

All of the components included in Litter Bugs.

1 trash can
1 lid
12 pieces of trash
- 4 yellow pieces of trash (egg carton, newspapers, bag, juice carton)
- 4 red pieces of trash (laundry detergent bottle, plastic bottle, dented plastic bottle, ketchup bottle)
- 4 blue pieces of trash (opened pet food canister, opened can of food, dented can of food, whipped cream can)
6 blue flies
33 black flies
1 die
Rules
Sticker sheet

Year: 2020 | Publisher: Goliath Games

Genres: Children’s, Dice, Electronic

Ages: 4+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 5-10 minutes

Difficulty: Low | Strategy: Low | Luck: Moderate

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