Designed by: Dave Chalker
In Get Bit! the players are pirates whose boat has sunk. Lost at sea, they are pursued by a hungry shark…
Each player has a plastic pirate and a set of cards numbered 1-7. The pirates are laid out randomly in a line, with the shark at the back, and on each turn players secretly choose a card to play. All cards are revealed simultaneously, and starting with the lowest number, that player’s pirate moves to the front of the line. The next highest number moves next, and so on, until the highest numbered pirate has moved to the front. Crucially, any players who played the same number as each other don’t move up the line, but stay where they are.
When everyone has moved, the pirate who has ended up at the back of the line gets bit: you physically remove an arm or a leg from the pirate. It’s not all bad though: bit pirates get to move to the front of the line instantaneously, and also return all played cards into their hand. The next round begins…
When a pirate has lost all four limbs they are out of the game, and this terrifying threshing machine of death continues until only two pirates are left – at that point, the pirate at the front of the line wins.
You are literally being savaged by a shark, so be prepared for some hurt.
Next to nothing - everyone is involved in every round.
It's more about hunches and second-guesses than calculus.
There's not a lot amount of variety in the game, but card play ensures a degree of randomness to proceedings.
3-6
Players
6+
Years
5-15
Mins
Sam says
Having the pieces actually losing their arms and legs elevates the game by giving it some visual and tactile focus. Outside of that though, Get Bit! is a little too random, for my tastes, to stand up to regular play. It's possible to play your cards without looking at them and win. Raj has a similar system of ties cancelling each other out, but with more room for tactics. This is more of a bunfight - brief and silly, but essentially a lottery.