The game is designed to be played by two teams of five players across two linked arcade cabinets, typically set side-by-side or back-to-back.

[2] It was released on October 11, 2019 on Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch, on February 22, 2021 for Xbox One, a month later on March 30, 2021 for Google Stadia, and on June 10, 2021 for Amazon Luna.

Teams can win by fulfilling one of three victory conditions: Workers can pick up berries (carrying only one at a time) and ride the snail, but cannot kill other units.

Killer Queen went through several iterations on its journey to the arcade, starting off as a college rec league-like outdoor field game inspired by the scent trails of ants.

[5] The duo wanted to maintain the social aspects of the field game, and pared down the player count to 10 total.

WIth five on each side, jammed close together jostling for space on the arcade machine’s control panel, the repeating theme of “Meet Thy Neighbor” flashing across the screen is fitting.

Community became integral to the game, with leagues similar to the competitive pinball scene growing to include an eager new fan base.

[8] The traditional arcade giant, headed by legendary designer Eugene Jarvis, made some changes to the cabinets and tweaks to the gameplay.

[9] Development continues on the game, with new maps, gameplay tweaks and more released through patches and updates to owners of the now 200+ cabinets in locations nationwide.

Community organizers began coordinating on Facebook and Discord to share best practices, strategies and ways to entice players to join.

League nights grew from small dedicated groups of friends returning to their local haunt weekly to play into crowded venues with Killer Queen at the center of all the action.

Self-organized, these teams showed up in other cities that hosted a Killer Queen cabinet for a weekend of tournament play in what became the beginnings of a more official competitive scene.

BumbleBash 1 was hosted in November 2016, with teams from Chicago, Portland, New York, San Francisco, Phoenix, Kansas City, Columbus, Charlotte, Minneapolis and Austin coming to compete.

In November 2021, BumbleBear hosted BumbleBash: Remix as a draft tournament at the Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee.