Tante Tarantel

About this board game

Tante Tarantel is a 1991 board game for 3–5 players, played in about 30 minutes, in which insects race across a spiral web while Auntie Tarantula hunts them down.

Each round, a die roll moves Auntie around the web. Players then take turns moving one of their bugs toward the exit space, trying to escape before the pursuing tarantula reaches them. The web creates a tense route through which every move can bring an insect closer to safety—or closer to danger.

At the beginning, Auntie is in a good mood. When she runs into bugs, those insects are sent back to her larder rather than killed. The moment any bug escapes, however, she loses her temper and kills anything she catches.

A scoring track steadily raises the pressure. Whenever a bug is caught or escapes, a marker advances, adding to the die roll and making Auntie travel around the web faster and faster. This escalating pace means that every escape changes the situation for everyone still on the board.

• Spiral web: Guide your bugs toward the exit while navigating Auntie’s route.
• Escalating movement: Catches and escapes increase the die-roll bonus.
• Player interaction: Bugs can share spaces and bump one another back and forth.
• Tactical hazards: Players can push other bugs into Auntie’s path.

In Tante Tarantel, a seemingly helpful position can quickly become a trap, especially after the first escape turns Auntie’s mood from forgiving to deadly. The original set included wooden bug pawns, while D&F later issued a series of distinctive rubber bugs that add extra style to the game.