Hello!

My boyfriend and I are in differences of a rule. Please help. From point A to point B you see a bug (parked or not parked) and you punch on it. One person gets out of the vehicle at point B and gets back in to return to point A, can you punch on that same bug (parked or not parked). Does getting out of the car mean the game starts over?

Thanks Jillian

 

Jared: I thought you may be interested.

Greetings Karl, from: Lorie and Paul

Subject: ArtsBeetle Inquiry

Hi Karl,

Great to meet you Saturday and see the bugs to date. Here's my text: Kids have been playing an informal game known as "Punch Buggy" for at least a generation and the game is known in Australia as well as North America, perhaps it is universal. You see a VW Bug while riding with the adults and shout "punch buggy (colour) ... no return" then punch your back-seat partner lightly on the arm. Who knows where it started? For the "official" rules, check http://www.oocities.org/jaredperi/beetle/buggy.html

My son Jonathan says his is well under way. I'll forward a copy of this to him so he has an email address and web site.

Good luck with this venture

Paul

PS. The Interpreted ArtsBeetle travel exhibition is sanctioned officially by 'Volkswagen Canada' - Please visit www.ArtsHighway.com

 

Jared

( I am assuming this is your name from your email address) I have a couple of questions regarding your rules.

I too have been playing this game for over 30 years and had always just played with my three brothers growing up (I am the only girl in the family so I often wore bruises until I became good). We just always played the rules that we established amongst ourselves and when it became too rough my dad stepped in.

In the last year I have worked at a different unit that has taken me out on the road alot and I started playing the game with my new coworkers and they have since adopted the game with a vengence. Due to my years of experience I have been crowned the reigning champion and for a coworker to beat me in an outing they earn bragging rights for the day only.

When we first started playing they did not believe me when I advised them of the rules or that they existed and looked them up on the Internet about a year ago. In those rules VW dealerships did not count. They also said that the color red was the least popular color for VW bugs and due to their rarity could count for an extra point. For example a new red bug would be worth 2 points where an old red bug would be worth 3 (because you get the extra point for the original bug). The convertables too were worth an extra point as they are in your rules.

We have had a new addition to our unit and he too wishes to get in on the action of the game so I went on line to find the rules for him and could not find the same list of rules. I found yours which are the closest to the original rules we were playing with but the only variences are that VW dealerships do not count and the color thing.

Are you aware of red being a rare color for the bug? Maybe you could make this your non-existent rule #5 if it is. I suppose if we all agree to the rule at our end we could add it to your existing rules.

My next question is regarding your plain sight rule. If we are driving down a road and a bug is within a block on a side street and everyone else has the opportunity to see it why would it not be counted? If they do not choose to believe you and claim "prove it" you could.

I have also heard some players (from outside our circle) claim that a moving bug as opposed to a parked bug is worth a different amount of points. I have never played this nor do I agree with it. Are you aware of such a rule?

In any event thank you in advance for your time in answering these questions.

Susan D

Manitoba

Hi Jared!

My family has the rule about punch buggies with advertising. Any buggy that supports advertising like this Nerds on Site buggy gets to punch twice. Once for the bug and once for advertising. What do you think about that?

Also, our family has noticed that in the newer buggies, they all have this holder inside the vehicle for flowers. Not owning a new VW bug myself, I can only assume this is some sort of "flower power" item. Some bug owners sport flowers and some dont.....if we find a buggy with flowers, we also pumch for those. If identifyable, you should punch what kind of flowers they are. "daisies" and then punch. No response like "no punch backs" required for flowers. It's viewed to us like a second chance for the person who got punched. If they're whacked by surprise, they may be able to get redemption for the flowers.

Whattya think?

Ellen

Ontario Canada

Dear Jared,

Hey, i was reading your sight about the Punch Buggy game. Very cool! But i have known it as the Slug Bug Game...but maybe it's just a Texas thing. (laugh) But you need to add something in your rule book about people that own beetles. Because i have, and people are always beating each other up, or me, when they know they are going to see it EVERYDAY! (and i just don't like being hit...so if you could add something like, owners are exluded from the game....or something, that would be cool! or owners have special hitting rights?) I don't know...but it's just a thought!

thanks!

Have a great day.

Angela

Dear Jared,

Hi my name is Tim me & my wife & kids play punch bug all the time. I call punch bug for my 1968 pullbackrag tattoo that i have on my back. can i punch for it or not if you could let me know asap

thanks alot

buggmann

Dear Jared,

I was happy to find your Punch Buggy page. I play a world-wide treasure hunt type game called Geocaching. A side shoot to the game is Travel Bugs. The idea is that an item is registered on the site and travels from place to place by way of the cachers that find it. I play Punch Buggy with my son and we decided to launch our own Punch Buggy. It's a yellow VW Bug Hot Wheels car. I haven't activated it yet, but would like to add a link to the description of the travel Bug. It would link to your Punch Buggy Rules page.

I'm asking permission to link to your page.

Thanks Greg

Dear Jared,

Now my boyfriend and i can remain friends. We have had problems with the rules and you had the most humourous solutions.

Thanks Jared, we love you

ciao

Jane T.

Dear Mr. Punch Buggy Rules freak:

What the hell are you supposed to do if you had a car at one time and enjoyed punching your boyfriend and then your car dies and you can no longer punch your boyfriend. so then you have no real reason to punch your boyfried. My suggestion would be to allow pedestrians or those who are without car to punch each other hard, and I mean really hard right into their muscule until their eyes tear up and you are laughing sooooo hard that you have to pee? Now that we don't have a car, I can't beat his butt in the game because I am soooooo good, much better than he is because some people cannot drive, hold a mates hand, drink a slushy, go at their nose, and spot punch buggys at the same time like some people (me) can.

I think women like me just outshine men when it comes to multitasking. He says "I gotta keep my eyes on the road" but when I pointed out the blond with the big chest, he had no problem taking his googly eyes off the road to check out the bouncing duo.

Hmmmmmm, how would you explain that mr. freaky? By the way, I think you are kind of sexy in that consumer picture.

Anywho, I'll check back in a couple days to see if you really inserted Rule # 18. If not, you will definately be hearing from me again and next time I won't even bother correcting my spulling mistakes.

Signed, W

From: Kent K.

Hey, I'm writing a story about the Punch Buggy phenomenon. give me a call at 843-***-**** or toll free at 800-***-****, ext. 304

Kent.

 

Kent K. writes for the THE SUN NEWS, Myrtle Beach, SC