Bug Off is a push-your-luck set collecting game. The goal is to add bugs to your collection before the nets arrive and whoosh unsuspecting bugs off the table. In the game there are two types of cards: Bug Cards (showing 1 of 6 different bugs), and Bug Off Cards (Showing a particular net color). Every player begins the game with 3 randomly dealt Bug Cards.

During a players’ turn, the player draws a card and plays a card. To play a card, each player has the option to play a Bug Card face up to the table or use a Bug Card to collect matching face up bugs for all players. If a Bug Off Card is drawn during this turn, it is played as an interrupt. In this case, all bugs that match the color of the net are instantly removed from play and can never be added to any collection.

Players earn points for every bug they collect. The player with the biggest bunch of bugs after all the cards are played is the winner.