Killer Bunnies slaughters the competition

A new wave hitting the family gaming scene as of late includes a quirky sense of humor, often built right into game mechanics.  Classics like Monopoly and Scrabble may make us laugh whenever someone tries to trade Vermont Avenue for Boardwalk, or tries to pass "XANGPAR" off as an actual word, or the like.  At these games' core, however, you could avoid the goofiness if you wanted.  Not so with the fantastical card-and-dice game called Killer Bunnies.

Imagine cute little bunnies, with their puffy tails, long ears, and cute noses.  Now imagine them locked in a life-or-death struggle for the Magic Carrot, using nuclear weapons, guillotines, or such delicacies as The Quite Irascible Diffractable Cheese Balls to eradicate each other left and right.  In Killer Bunnies, cards and dice represent these weapons and your bunny army's defense against them, respectively.  Players can also use special cards to starve other bunnies to death, buy food, gamble for or steal things, create protective barriers, and acquire carrots to increase their odds of winning.  One major catch, though, is that if you have no bunnies in front of you, you can't do most of the things I just listed.  You can't even win, so it's important to maintain your bunny army, attack others' bunnies, and work towards the goal, all at once.

Killer Bunnies' single most interesting characteristic is that it is a non-collectable expandable card game.  What does that mean?  Games like Magic: The Gathering and Pokemon are collectable card games, where players develop individual decks by buying expansions and boosters, then customize them to their tastes.  Killer Bunnies, on the other hand, gives every player access to the same shared deck, but expansion sets exist beyond the base game that can make that deck bigger and more complicated. Expansion game elements include new dice and a shop for recycled weapons, for instance.

While juggling dozens of different elements within one game can be stimulating, the makers of the game fell short just a bit in ensuring balance as players expand their games.  The proportion of the total number of bunnies to the total size of a well-expanded deck can be a huge problem, as there simply are not enough of them to ensure that everyone usually has a bunny active or at least available.  The game stops being fun when, turn after turn, you find that cards you'd played have no effect, simply because you can't seem to draw a bunny card to save your life.  For this reason, a common house rule is to occasionally go on a "bunny hunt," where everyone can look through the deck and activate a bunny they find.  The problem's also fixable simply by omitting a non-bunny portion of the deck before beginning a game, but who wants to go to that trouble?

That minor irritation aside, Killer Bunnies truly is fun, and funny.  In addition to the basic concept, you might bust a gut at some of the text on the Terrible Misfortune cards, which kill your own bunnies instantly.  The little critters must be rather dumb to, for instance, have "pulled the pin on a grenade, thinking it would make absolutely fabulous jewelry!"  Even the carrot cards have personality, from waitress Flo and Terminator impersonator Arnie to swashbuckling Tucker and outdoor grill enthusiast Norman (complete with a "Kiss the Cook" apron.) 

Strategically, you'll have a blast, too.  The game rules force you to think ahead and commit to your plans a few turns ahead of when they actually do their damage.  For example, if all your bunnies are killed before you drop that nuclear warhead on your buddy, tough luck!  That puppy goes to the discard pile, as a dud.  So don't use such a great weapon when you only have one bunny!  The game gives lots of variety and opportunity to pick and choose.

In Des Moines, you can find Killer Bunnies at Games and More at Valley West Mall.  This store has this and many more great choices for gifts and new family entertainment options.  Keep an eye out for articles in the future about the store itself.  If you decide to check it out, ask about the base game first.  It comes with the blue and yellow cards.  Once you've got a few games under your belt, start expanding.  The first expansion consists of red cards, and includes very cool new bunnies that grant special powers, such as extra cash or food and the ability to re-roll bad die rolls.  From there, there's still eight more expansions, so the fun goes on and on.  The greatest part is that each expansion is afforable, costing only about $13, and even the base game is a reasonable $25.  I highly recommend Killer Bunnies. 

Have fun, and never lose that competitive spirit!