How to play Beetle

Beetle is played with a single die, and every player needs a sheet of paper and a pencil. The game works for two to six players, and the goal is to be the first to draw a complete beetle: body, head, six legs, two eyes and two feelers.

Take turns rolling the die, one roll each. The number decides which part of the beetle you may draw:

• 6: the body
• 5: the head
• 4: a leg (you need six)
• 3: an eye (you need two)
• 2: a feeler (you need two)
• 1: nothing, the turn passes on

If you already have everything that number gives, both eyes for example, you draw nothing that roll either.

The beetle is built in a fixed order. Everything starts with a six: without a body you cannot draw anything at all. The head and legs attach to the body, and the eyes and feelers can only be drawn once the head is in place. Waiting for that first six is part of the game, and usually where the laughter starts.

The first player to complete their beetle shouts beetle and wins the round. If you want to keep playing, award one point per win and crown an overall winner at the end of the evening.

The game is also known as Bugs, and it has roots in the American children's game Cootie from 1948, where the beetle was built from plastic parts instead of pencil strokes.

Common house rules:

• Keep rolling as long as you get to draw something. This speeds the game up considerably.
• Swap which numbers give which parts, for example a tail on the one. Many setups exist, so agree before you start.

Around the Spot and Pig are other dice games that suit the youngest players.

Not at all. A circle with a few strokes is a perfectly good beetle, and half the charm is comparing the crooked creatures around the table afterwards. For kids, the game is also good practice in recognising the numbers on a die.