Insecta (board game)

Insecta is a cooperative board game of insect combat for two to seven players, designed by Philip Eklund and published by Sierra Madre Games and Fat Messiah Games in 1992. Each player designs a mutant insect by choosing a head, front legs, rear legs, appendages and a tail, and every body part brings advantages and drawbacks. For example, wings allow flight but cannot be used in tunnels. The player also divides points between Instinct and Dexterity, each rated from one to ten, and the two must add up to twelve at the start. The insects begin life in the Hive, and the object is for the players to work as a team to escape it by defeating guardians such as a black widow spider, a praying mantis or a honey bee. The box holds a paper hex grid map of the Hive, cardstock sheets of insect parts and enemy insect cards, reference cards and plastic bugs. A second edition appeared in 1995, followed by the expansions Rainforest in 1997, Trilobite in 1998 and Desert Hive in 2000.