tabletoppingboardgames 
Somewhere under a dusty bed, in a corner no one ever looks at, there’s a shiny piece of candy waiting to be discovered. It’s sweet, sticky, and very much not alone. Two groups of cheeky dustlings, the Grublins and the Crawlies, are crawling out of the shadows to claim it. Licking it, actually. They love that sugar rush. But there’s one problem. A soap creature, the Dustbuster, is lurking nearby. It likes things neat and tidy and has absolutely no time for sticky nonsense.
So here we are. It’s sugar-lovers versus soap-cleaners. Whose side are you on?
👥 2-3 players, ages 10+
⌛ Playing time: 20-30 minutes
📝 Designers: Krzysztof Głośnicki
🎨 Artwork: Joanna Michalska
🏢 Publisher: What the Frog (preview copy provided)
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Gameplay Overview
Dustlings is a game for two or three players where you control either a dustling creature with a sweet tooth or the Dustbuster who’s had enough of all the mess. If you’re playing one of the candy chasers, the Grublins or the Crawlies, you’ll start the game with a deck of creature cards. Each card shows a special ability and is tied to a token with two sides: one stronger, one weaker. You begin with three creatures on the board, ready to go.
At the start of your turn, you draw a boost tile from your own stack. These tiles can be used during your turn to give your actions a little extra punch. Then, if any of your creatures have been removed or are inactive, you get the chance to bring them back or flip them over to their active side again.
Once that’s sorted, you choose one active creature to take your turn with. You can move around the board as long as you stay within its line of sight, use its special power, bite opponents, or go straight for the candy. Licking the candy makes it slip to a new position, but it also moves you forward on your licking track, which is basically your race to victory.
The boost tiles help you do all sorts of tricks. You can move further, push others out of the way, jump over obstacles or enemies, or protect yourself from bites. Some tiles have flies, which make your creatures stronger, and others have stains, which weaken opponents when they pass through.
Once your creature has done its thing, it becomes inactive and won’t do anything until you refresh it again in a later turn. If one of the sweet tooth factions manages to lick the candy four times, they win.
Playing as the Dustbuster feels familiar, but it’s not exactly the same. Your boost tiles are all placed on the board in one large shared stack instead of a personal one. You start your turn by picking one tile from that stack, but doing so actually weakens your creature. So it’s a bit of a trade-off.
To refresh your Dustbuster creatures, you check the stacks on the board and add cards depending on how many piles you’ve built up. You can create more stacks by moving, and once per round you’re allowed to split one of your stacks into two. It’s a clever little system that rewards good positioning.
Of course, you’re not interested in candy. You’re here to get rid of the mess. You can make the candy slide out of reach, use your special powers, and try to eliminate those grubby little critters. If you manage to remove four of them from the board, you win.
Game Info
Dustlings: Clash for Candy is a small-scale game full of strange little creatures and their obsession with sweets. It’s designed for 2 or 3 players and works well from around age 10 and up. A game typically takes somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome. It’s been created by Krzysztof Głośnicki and is being published by the Polish team at WhatTheFrog. The game will be crowdfunding on Gamefound starting today, 8 May.
We got to try an early prototype, so everything you see in the photos and everything we mention here is still subject to change. But this gives a solid impression of what kind of game it’s shaping up to be, and hopefully it helps you decide whether it’s something for your table or not.
Visuals and Components
Even before setting it up, Dustlings makes a good first impression. The artwork, done by Joanna Michalska, is light-hearted, with that kind of hand-drawn charm that feels both modern and a little nostalgic. The under-the-bed world is packed with details like buttons, crumbs, and odd bits of forgotten toys, but somehow it doesn’t feel messy. It just works.
The characters have loads of personality. You’ve got determined little soap blobs facing off against sugar-hungry dustlings that look like they rolled straight out of a candy bowl. Despite the chaos in the theme, the game board is clear. The grid helps with movement and visibility, and the factions are colour-coded in a way that makes it easy to see who’s who, even if you’re not looking too closely.
The tokens have a nice chunky feel to them, and the icons on the cards and tiles are simple to read and understand. Everything on the table feels purposeful and helps keep the gameplay flowing. Even the candy and stain tokens have their own distinct look, so you’re not constantly double-checking what’s what. For a prototype, it already feels quite polished.
Rules and Ease of Play
We had no real trouble learning the game from the rulebook. It explains the basics in a straightforward way and doesn’t overload you with too much at once. That said, we did have to reread a couple of things during our first play. A few extra examples and maybe a page with frequently asked questions would definitely be helpful in the final version, especially when you’re trying to figure out how certain abilities interact.
Still, it does a decent job of getting you into the game without slowing you down too much, and once you start playing, it all clicks pretty quickly.
How It Plays
Gameplay in Dustlings lands in that nice space between light and mid-weight. It’s clearly designed to be accessible, but it’s not mindless. Turns are straightforward and easy to follow, which makes it a smooth ride for families and casual players. At the same time, the different factions play in their own way, which gives it some depth and keeps things interesting over multiple plays.
The candy-chasing dustlings are simple to handle, which is helpful when you’re teaching the game to someone new. The Dustbuster takes a bit more thought, so if you’re playing with kids or less experienced players, it’s probably smart to let them stick to the creatures at first.
What really keeps things engaging is the way you manage your boost tiles. There’s a bit of luck in what you draw, sure, but the choices you make with them carry more weight. Sometimes you’ll push an opponent across the board or give yourself a few extra steps to reach the candy. Other times you’ll have to decide whether to shield yourself or just take the hit and press on. As the Dustbuster, every tile you hold onto weakens your creatures, so the pressure is always there to make decisions rather than just sit and wait. It’s clever without becoming too thinky.
Player Interaction and Flow
What we enjoyed most is how much you’re interacting with each other. You’re not just doing your own thing and counting points quietly. You’re biting, pushing, blocking, and sliding the candy just out of reach at exactly the wrong moment for someone else. It’s chaotic, but in a playful way.
Even when someone pulls off a nasty move, it’s more funny than frustrating. The theme really helps with that. Somehow, when you’re crawling around under a teenager’s bed, trying to lick a rogue candy before a bar of soap knocks you out, it’s hard to take anything too seriously.
The game moves quickly, especially once everyone knows what they’re doing. And although it’s competitive, it keeps the mood light. Nobody’s getting crushed, and everyone’s got a chance to bounce back.
Accessibility and Language
There is some text on the ability cards, but nothing too heavy. All the cards stay face-up on the table, and since most players only have a few, it’s easy to help each other out. That’s especially handy when playing with kids or people who aren’t fluent in English. In our experience, language didn’t slow things down at all. The icons do most of the heavy lifting, and the theme makes it easy to remember what things do just by looking at them.
It feels like a game that wants to be shared with a mixed group. There’s no pressure to understand everything perfectly the first time. You can just start playing, and people pick things up as they go.
A Small Family Moment
During one of our plays, our youngest took on the Crawlies and immediately decided that messing with his parents was the funniest thing ever. And to be honest, it kind of was. He had a proper game face on, and by round three he had worked out a way to push the candy right into a corner where neither of us could reach it. He was completely in his element. And yes, of course he won. It was that perfect mix of kid logic and game mechanics coming together in a way that just worked.
That round really summed up what makes the game click. It lets younger players feel clever and sneaky without overwhelming them, while still keeping adults involved and challenged.
Final Thoughts
Dustlings: Clash for Candy surprised us in the best way. It’s silly and chaotic, but there’s real strategy underneath. Games are short, turns are fast, and most of the fun comes from how players mess with each other. If you enjoy interactive games with a strong theme and don’t mind a bit of candy-fuelled nonsense, this one’s worth a look.
It’s clearly designed for families and casual players, and in that space it really shines. But it also has enough clever mechanics to keep hobby gamers entertained, especially those who enjoy tactical movement and a bit of hand management. The asymmetric factions bring replayability, and playing with three gives you the best experience. That said, it also works just fine with two.
There are a few rough edges, like the rulebook needing a few tweaks, and some moments where certain interactions could use clarification. But that’s what prototypes are for. Overall, the game already feels quite complete.
If you’re looking for a short, playful game that combines strategy with a healthy dose of silliness, this one might be worth crawling under the bed for. Just don’t let the kids push the candy into a corner and trap you there. They’re smarter than they look.
📝 We received a prototype copy of the game from WhatTheFrog.
