Watch Bug-A-Boo spin and spin! Will he find the right colour for you to win?!?
Released in 1968 by Whitman, Bug-A-Boo was a literal spin-and-win game featuring a pair of tin-lithograph ladybugs on wheels. Two or four players were tasked with channelling the kinetic energy to move their scoring pegs from Start to Finish on the colour-coded scoreboard.
GAMEPLAY
To start, each player chose a coloured (red, green, blue, or yellow) scoring peg and placed it in the Start area of the scoreboard.
A turn consisted of a player revving up a ladybug by running its wheels on the table or in the center of the playing field and then dropping it onto the center of the game tray about ½-inch from the surface. The bug would then whirl around until it dropped into one of the coloured depressions along the sides of the playing surface.
Once the bug stopped, the player moved their peg forward to the next instance of colour in the scoreboard. If the ladybug landed in a white depression, the player did not advance. To win the game, a player had to “peg out” by having their bug land on the colour matching their peg.
The first player to peg out was declared the winner.
IN THE BOX
A complete Bug-a-Boo game included the plastic game tray, two action bugs, four scoring pegs, and a colour-coded scoreboard. Printed instructions were included in the box.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
A copy of Bug-a-Boo is relatively easy to find on the secondary market. The game’s kinetic nature was demanding on the two ladybugs and the playing surface. For this reason, looking for a copy that doesn’t show signs of wear from excessive gameplay will add to the collecting challenge.
Note: If you buy something using the eBay link in this story, we may earn a small commission.