Geek vs Life

What you do if you had one to seven friends over for dinner? What would you do after dinner and the resulting clean up? Would you go out to the bars? Would you put on a movie? Would all disperse like a riot, when confronted with tear gas? Could I offer a suggestion? How about a board game? How about a game called “Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot?”

Killer Bunnies is a strategic card game, when a player tries to get the Magic Carrot. This game should not be confused with a card collecting game ala “Magic: The Gathering” or its ilk. (If one has played a card collecting game, they will be familiar with the ideas of rounds, turns, and upkeep.) One starter box is all you will ever need to play the game. (You can get booster boxes, but more on that later.)

So two things you need to remember in winning the game. First, you need to get the Magic Carrot to win. This is made difficult, because there are twelve possible carrots. Also the Magic Carrot changes every game, in a method like “Clue.” It could be the first carrot you received or the last carrot taken. So the best strategy is getting as many carrots as possible, but if you only receive one carrot, you still have a chance to win the game, albeit a small chance. How do you get carrots? Well there is a store, where you can buy carrots. Of course the store can become closed, which means no carrots can be bought. There are also cards that give you one or even two carrots. Once the final carrot is taken from the carrot pile, the game is over instantly. Second, you need a bunny alive at the end of the game. In fact, most cards you use, you need a bunny alive. So bunnies equal good, and are as important as carrots. So the best strategy in regards to the bunnies is killing the other opponents’ bunnies. (You should also try to keep your bunny alive or add more bunnies to your side.) This is achieved primarily through “Weapon” cards, which destroy other bunnies. You can also use cards that starve or thirst another player’s bunnies. So again those are the two things you need to remember, because they result in a win!

Of course there are other rules, and cards, but they all finesse to get you to victory! Another thing that sets this game apart is that it is planning of cards. Most cards have to be played two rounds later. They have to go through what is known as “Run.” So you place a card, face down, and wait two rounds to use it. This requires obvious strategy. It also breaks hearts. The result being that two rounds later your bunny is dead, and that cool card you wanted is now discarded. In fact, it was probably a “Choose a Carrot” card. So nothing is predictable, and constant change requires changing implements of strategy.

There are some cards that don’t have to go through the “Run.” They are called “Special” or “Very Special” cards. Specials cards are played during your turn, instead of flipping over a “Run” card. Very Special cards are used during anyone’s turn, and don’t count as a card being played, enabling you to play a “Run” or “Special” card during your turn.

Two other types of cards,” Money”, which go towards buying food or carrots, and “Play Immediately” which always kills your bunnies.

This may sound overly confusing. It isn’t really. Your actual turn is almost the same every time. Remember you have two cards flipped down called the “Run.” The first thing you do is flip over that top card. Do what ever the flipped card tells you to do. Be it a bunny, kill another bunny, or gain a carrot. Push what was the bottom “Run” position to the top “Run” position. Draw a card, and compare it with the rest of your hand. (You have five cards in your hand at the beginning and end of your turn.) Place whatever card you choose, including the recently drawn card, into the previous empty bottom “Run” card spot. This signifies the end of your turn.

This isn’t all the rules, and should not be misconstrued as the rules. Go to www.KillerBunnies.com to find the official regulations, or purchase the game.

As stated earlier you only need the starter box to have the complete game; however, you can get booster decks, which add more stratagems. For example the “Red Booster” adds a weapon shop, where you can buy back used or discarded weapons. You can also buy shields that block a weapon, but the shield is only good for one use. Oh, yeah four more carrots are added to the already twelve carrots, prolonging the game. There are nine boosters in total. A couple of notes on boosters, one is that you need to purchase the boosters in order. You can find the information on the boxes or website about what the following booster is. The second thing is the game is complete with any starter or booster that you get. For example you could buy the first two boosters of “Red” and “Purple.” You shuffle those decks with the blue and yellow cards of the starter box, but you don’t need more boosters to play the game. The game is complete if you stop buying boosters right there. Of course you can always buy more, and add the card to your deck.

It is a fun, devious, time killer, of a killing bunny game. What really gets people into the game is the strategy, with the combination of luck. The strategy is real easy to understand. Keep your bunny alive, and kill the others, while questing for that magical carrot. Yet, because it isn’t a pure strategic game, it becomes a broader game for the possible audience. The luck of draw changes the game. You never know what you are going to get. Hell, even winning is pure luck. It all boils down to who has the “Magic Carrot.” If you have all eleven carrots, and your opponent has only one…well the odds are in your favor, but you’re not guaranteed a victory. Unless of course, you kill your opponents’ bunnies. The game is a perfect balance of luck and tactics.