Game Review - Kinder Bunnies

I have been waiting for some time for my daughter to be old enough to play Kinder Bunnies (Killer Bunnies for children) and I finally found a copy in Australia just before Christmas 2010. I could barely wait until Christmas to give it to her. My daughter squealed with delight when she unwrapped the cheerfully cartooned box, and while she is not yet literate, she knew exactly what it was. My daughter has been coveting Killer Bunnies since spying our adult game. And I have been eager to play it with her, anticipating another cracker game that is fun for both adults and children.

I am undecided as to whether it is called Kinder Bunnies because the bunnies are kinder to each other than they are in the adult game, or because of the age bracket recommended for the game. Bunnies do not explicitly die in Kinder Bunnies, but they do encounter rather horrid hazards that imply great injury or dying potential (boiling water, stairs, broken glass). I have found myself having to say something along the lines of “playing on the stairs is not a good idea, but your Perky Bunny is on the stairs” as I slap a stair based Hazard card on her "Smart Bunny". So while there is no formal “killing”, it did not take my four year old daughter very long to realise that part of the aim of the game was to “die” my bunny. And it did not take her long to work out how to do it. She “died” bunnies whenever she could, grinning from ear to ear. The grin soon faded though when she herself encountered a hazard...

Kinder Bunnies is produced by Playroom Entertainment, and is recommended for two to five players, ages 5 to adult.

Kinder Bunnies come in a sturdy cardboard box adorned by misleadingly innocent girl and boy bunnies.  The game consists of four decks of cards - diminutive orange carrot cards, a pink deck of Carrot people, the beginner blue deck of cards, and the more advanced Sunshine yellow deck.  The brightly coloured cards are high quality and feel pleasantly slick.  The game also includes five ten sided die in pretty colours reminiscent of the game’s adult version.  Last but not least is the nicely produced instruction booklet (aka sticker and colouring book) complete with stickers.  My daughter was more keen to complete the stickers initially than to actually play.  This is a thoughtful touch, and complements the “special” feel of the game for this age bracket.  

The aim of the game is to collect as many carrots and bunnies as possible.  Kinder Bunnies allows for three levels of play - with the blue cards only for beginners, the yellow deck for children who can read, and the random carrot winning mechanism that adult players either love or hate as the most advanced way to play.  At the most advanced level, Kinder Bunnies plays much like the adult version in that players keep bunnies alive, and accumulate as many carrots as possible to increase their chances of having the winning carrot.  There is no victory without at least one live bunny.

In the blue deck there are six types of cards - “Choose a Carrot” cards, “Potential Hazard” cards, “Feed the bunny” Cards, food cards (either cabbage or water), bunny bucks (to help you buy your carrots), and the bunnies themselves - Perky, Sporty, Smart or Hero.  And then there are the pink cards - personalised alphabet carrots - meet Cleopatra Carrot, Dave, and Fonzie and their vegetative companions.  My not yet reading daughter is well able to identify the types of cards and what they do by sight only.  

The game play goes more smoothly for those who have played the adult game if you actually forget how to play Killer Bunnies.  The basic play is rather different.  I have only played the beginner game thus far, so may revise this when I play the more advanced versions of the game.   Each player in the beginner game is dealt four cards.  All bunnies are placed on the table immediately, and bunny bucks are put to one side.  Players take additional cards if required to make sure they have four cards in their hand.  A turn consists of either playing either a “hazard” or “Feed the bunny” card on someone else’s bunny, choosing a carrot, and buying more carrots where possible.  I found my daughter needed help adding up the bunny bucks, and reminding to buy carrots if she could.  When the card has been played, the player takes another card from the deck to maintain a hand of four cards.  Again bunnies and bunny bucks are put aside and replaced by more cards.  “Feed the bunny” cards result in either the targeted bunny being fed with cabbage or water as needed, or with the hapless bunny being banished to the discard pile.  Hazard cards are resolved by rolling the pretty dice.  Each card specifies a number.  If that number is rolled at least once, the bunny is protected from the hazard.  If not, the bunny is discarded, or “died” as my daughter bluntly puts it.  And winning?  When the cards run out, count up the bunnies and carrots and the highest score wins.  There are extra winning options in the book if there is a tie, including just simply declaring a joint winner.  I actually prefer this mechanism to the adult game, and may try it out with Killer bunnies.  

I have played the game with only my daughter, with three players, and with four.  I found that with the four player game, the card pile disappeared too quickly, and we decided to recycle the discard pile as the game was far too short.  This of course made it difficult to know exactly when to end the game as bunnies and carrots continued to be circulated.  At this stage I like it better with two or three players.  I am inclined to house rules with this one.  The beginner game doesn’t include all the carrots.  I think the game would play better to include them all, and have the game end when the carrots are all gone.  This gives a clear end but doesn’t rush the game as much.  I have started to selectively include cards from the sunshine deck to add more interest for me and to introduce my daughter to some more complex cards.  I am going slowly, as she will need to memorise the more text oriented cards.  

Kinder Bunnies is a great game to play with young children who understand turn taking.  My daughter plays with an open hand - for now.  It will not be long before she will be able to play the beginner game without prompting.  The cards can eventually be integrated into the Killer Bunnies deck.  Kinder Bunnies has educational benefits including simple strategy, colour and image matching, counting, and word / letter recognition.  But Kinder Bunnies is not really about education.  It is all about cheeky bunny fun, with a whole lot of hazards and carrots and cabbage going on.  My daughter announced it was her favorite game after her first play.  

Rating:

8/10

I have now played several games of Kinder Bunnies with my daughter, and it continues to meet with her approval and attentiveness. She is able to concentrate on two consecutive games of approximately 20 minutes duration each (a fair achievement for a game targeting this age group). I have adopted house rules. The game concludes when the carrots run out. This makes the end clearer for my daughter as she can see how many carrots are available. It also builds in tension. If the cards run out, we simply turn over the discard pile and start again. This game remains the four year old favorite for now.