Get Bit!

When creating a game its easy to get a bit too into it and over design causing more complexity and making the game more intimidating.
Get Bit is a card game that has taken the minimalist route of design only having seven playing pieces and a deck of cards to illustrate the simplistic gameplay aspects.



In Get Bit, three to six players aim to not get eaten by a shark, which is a no brainer really, by playing numbered cards but it can turn out to be harder than you think. You don't have to be faster than the shark, just faster then everyone else around you, which is also a good lesson for life.

The setup is really simple: Each player picks a coloured robot and the corresponding deck of cards. each player places their coloured robot in the centre of the table in a line as if they were swimming, then place the shark at the foot end of the line.

The gameplay is split into three rounds; Choose Cards, Move Robots, Get Bit.
In the first phase each player chooses a card from their hand and places it face down in front of them. These cards will stay face up in front of players until later on in the game. At the same time all players reveal their numbered cards and are ready to go to the next phase, Move Robots. The player that played the lowest untied number moves their robot to the front of the line, then the player that played the next lowest number moves their robot and so on. If two or more players played the same number then neither of those player gets to move their robot.

For example: If the first player plays a number 3 card, the second and third players play their number 4 cards and the fourth player plays their number 2 card. The fourth player will move to the front of the line first because 2 is the lowest untied number, the first player then moves their robot to the front of the line next as they played the next lowest untied number and players two and three don't move at all as they both played the same number. By the end of that phase player one will be at the front of the line followed by player four and then two and three bringing up the rear.

The last phase, Get Bit, is omitted during the first round to get players used to the gameplay and be able to set out the line up, but as the last phase of the round the Shark bites whichever robot is at the back of the line. When this happens that robot loses a limb and that player picks up all cards they have played previously. If a player ever has two or fewer cards in hand then that player picks up all cards they have previously played in order to carry on if required.

Because players keep their played cards face up in front of them it does give other players an opportunity to "count cards" and have an edge over what cards they can play to get maximum effect and not get bit by the shark.
  A player is out of the game when their robot has had four limbs removed by the shark and the last robot swimming wins.

The art style in Get Bit is colourful, rounded and well geared for younger players. The gameplay aspect is quick and simple to understand, the real challenge to Get Bit comes with the other players you're playing with, trying to get into your opponents head to try and figure out what they're going to play and counteracting that either in a way that benefits you so don't get stuck near the shark or, if you're feeling in a malicious mood, trying to match what they're going to play to keep them close enough to the shark that they get bit.
There are levels to this game and the mind-games really bring it together as a nice little next leveler, its the type of game that you will play multiple times with the same players trying to understand any patterns or ruin any plans they may have.

If you're looking for a small, simple game possibly to take on holiday or to have as part of your board game rotation, then look no further than Get Bit. Its a lot deeper than it looks and has a good amount of replayability to it, its easy to teach and good fun for younger and older players a like. I recommend Get Bit as a lovely little quick and easy game and i'm sure players will get a lot of enjoyment out of it as I have.

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