Slug Bug

A very simple back-seat game, for use among siblings or good friends. It goes a little something like this :

You can play with anyone that's within arm's length. Stare intently out the window looking for Volkswagen Beetles. Once you see one, be the first to call out 'Slug Bug!'. If you were the first to call it, you get to thump everyone else involved in the arm. As hard as you can. Continue on until people are so hurt that they cry Uncle. The winner is the last man standing.

Variant rules :

• You gotta call out the color of the Beetle to make it stick (this is for those sticky cases where you see two Beetles).
• Should the previous rule be in effect, you gotta call out every color of paint on the Beetle - calling out 'Slug Bug, rainbow!' will not work.
• Should you call 'Slug Bug' with there being no reliable evidence that a Beetle did, in fact, enter your cone of vision, everyone playing gets to hit you three times.
• If you are playing with the 'color rules', and you screw up on the color, everyone else gets to hit you three times.
• Assuming that there is A Higher Power in the front seat (Mom, Dad, etc.), the one who incurs the wrath of said Higher Power is declared to have 'ruined the game', and he or she will be given appropriate punishments once away from the car (purple nurples, wedgies, etc.)
• For purists only : New Beetles are not fair game.

There's really no strategy you can use in this game, except to maybe do lots of push-ups to increase the force of your punch, and to make sure to hit your opponents in the same spot every time - create a weakness, and exploit it.

My favorite way to play is to get a window seat on an airplane, and play with your neighbor in the aisle seat - unless if someone smuggles a Volkswagen under their skirt ('Um... I'm pregnant. Yeah, that's the ticket...') you will have very smooth sailing.

In Canada and other parts, it's punch buggy.

In New Mexico, it's actually Slug-A-Bug. Most of the variant rules above are in effect, except the van rule and the dealership rule is different. Here, you just start slugging until the victim cries uncle.

My friend Sandra's family plays with her three children, and, having previously owned VWs, she knows where all the repair shops are. When she feels one of the kids is getting too "ahead on points", she will intentionally drive by one and "even the score."

This is a fun game, however, one must observe Pavel's Rules of Driving while playing.

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Married man that I now am, I love the "hug bug" idea.

With the insanely low amount of classic VW Beetles on the road today it is time to abandon the original game of Slug Bug for one that can see a little more action. (Using the New Beetle doesn't help either because they seem just as rare as the original).

New Slug Bug Variants

• Rice Boy
  In the game of Rice Boy you get a single hit on your opponent every time you see one of those japanese cars with oversized tailpipes and stickers all over it (Neuspeed, Honda, and VTEC etc stickers). Those stickers somehow make the car go faster apparently.
  If the the car has stock wheels or a dent of any kind then you get a double biffer, (2 hits instead of one).
  You must announce loudly "Rice Boy" and the make of car before dealing out any hits. Otherwise your opponent gets a free double biffer.
• Retard
  This game is quite simple. Everytime you see someone, (anybody at all) walking down the street you loudly announce "Retard ooort oort", and then hit your opponent with a single biffer.
  Children are immune to this game. Your opponent gets a free double biffer if you call retard on what turns out to be a little kid.
• Volkswagen
  This game is identical to Slug Bug except that all VWs are open game not just Beetles. You must announce the model, (Jetta, Passat, ETC) instead of the color. (With a triple biffer penalty for getting the model wrong).
• Dodge
  (A warning Dodge is the most violent known variation of Slug Bug. Do not play this unless you are willing to have the crap beat out of you).
  Dodge is simple. Everytime you see a Dodge car you yell "DODGE" and attempt to hit your opponent. They are allowed to try and dodge your swing.

This list is far from exhaustive feel free to add any variants you have observed.

This is a type of "slug bug" game that has been popular in Finland for some time now. It is just simply called Yellow Car. When you see a yellow car, you punch someone in the arm and yell "Yellow car!". The rules are the same as in the others.

Yellow Car game was made popular by a Finnish internet comedy video, where two boys are playing it. The game ends up violent.

A link to said video, in Finnish: www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9FPgPuhU-w