Things are getting out of control, there are just too many bunnies out there. Can you do the best job of keeping your farm going while letting your opponents be overrun by bunnies? That’s the whole idea of Bunny Boom. Bunny Boom is a game of trying to get as few bunnies as possible. But it’s never possible to get zero bunnies in the game, but if you can limit it, your farm will thrive and you’ll be the winner.

How to Play Bunny Boom

In Bunny Boom you want to have the fewest bunnies in your garden or bag at the end of the game. There isn’t a good way to get rid of bunnies, so you need to be smart as you play out cards so you collect as few bunnies as possible.

The game is quite simple. On your turn you play one of the three cards in your hand. That card has three different elements to it. There is an on-play affect, there is a river affect, which we’ll talk about in a bit, and a move through value. When you play the card, you do the on play affect and then move to it. You gain bunnies equal the movement value to any of the cards that you moved through, plus any bunnies on those cards.

This pattern continues until the first layer of cards is laid down. Then you start to layer cards. If you watch the symbol on the card, that closes off that location. No more cards are allowed to be played there, but you still might cross over it. If it’s a different color than other cards can be played there still until two matching symbols are played in a row. When all piles are closed, the game is over.

The Cards and River

Let’s talk a little bit more about the cards and the river. When you play a card, at the end of your turn, you refill your hand. You either take a face-up card from the river to add to your hand, or you draw one from the top of the deck.

But that is not all that the river is for. The river is interacted with when you play down cards, sometimes, as well. Some of the on-play actions allow you to activate a river ability from the cards in the river. This might be something like drawing a card and swapping your hand with an opponent. Or other such things, but they don’t activate when they show up on the river, only when an on-play action let’s you pick to activate one.

There are a lot of on-play actions for the cards. Some of them are going to cause a bunny boom. This one is delayed when it goes off, so you move first than activate it because you place a bunny on each card in play. Others have you give or gain bunnies or move an opponent to the card you just played first so they collect any bunnies on the cards.

What Doesn’t Work

This game is a take that game in a lot of ways. It’s disguised as something else, but it’s all about how can you stick your opponent with as many bunnies as possible. The fewest wins generally means that it’s a game where you’re going to be hurting your opponents. So is that the type of game that you want to play? And I think this one, in particular disguises that fact with great artwork and a board so it seems like there is more game.

The game is also pretty heavy on symbols. I play on BGA and this is one that I learned there. Even with the nice descriptor text you get from hovering over, it is hard to keep track of everything. Now this is a problem that goes away with more plays. But there are a lot of symbols to keep track of at the start. If the game comes with a player aid, that’ll fix most of it. But there is going to be benefit to play a lot.

Finally, I think that this game is in an odd spot. I think that a lot of less frequent gamers would like the artwork and the theme and the style of game it is. But it is not a simple game. So I don’t know where this game is landing? Is it for people who like games a lot but only take that games? I don’t know. And that makes it hard to discuss the game with what works or doesn’t.

What Works

Firstly the aesthetic and theme of the game are fun. This idea of there being too many bunnies is basically the reality of me trying to garden. And the Andrew Bosley artwork on the game is great. So there is a natural appeal to the game that way.

The game play is pretty simple. I talk about the symbols, but the actual game play you do is easy to keep track of. The main loop is just play a card and refill your hand. That is something that makes it simpler to get to the table immediately. Or to learn when you play it digitally on Board Game Arena.

And while I talk about take that as a negative element to the game, it is also a positive element as well. Mainly because that is the game. It is not something that is thrown into a bigger game. I dislike it when I play a game and there are a handful of cards that are take that. The rest of the game is about building your engine but someone can just say nope. If that is a large part of the game it is better, and that is the game of Bunny Boom.

Who Is Bunny Boom For?

I think this is a next step take that game. I say next step because it is or feels like there is more going on in the game. If you already like games like Munchkin, I think that Bunny Boom is a better feeling game than Munchkin because it’s less ganging up, but is still going to give you some of the same feel. If you don’t like Munchkin but you have a play group who does, again, this is going to be a better feeling game.

Final Thoughts on Bunny Boom

I think this game is fine. Let me be clear, compared to a lot of other take that games, I like Bunny Boom. But take that is not a mechanism that I gravitate towards. I prefer a game with more positive player interaction. And the core of Bunny Boom is that negative player interaction. How do I set you up to take the most bunnies? That along with how do I get the fewest bunnies.

If that is the type of game that your group likes, I think it is solid for that. I also think, if you don’t love that type of game but your group does, this is a nice step to something that feels less bad. But I think based off how I talk about the game, you know if you want it or not.

But I really do want to say, I think this game is fine. That is not a bad game, it is not a great game. And it is not a game that I plan to keep playing a lot of on Board Game Arena or that I plan to buy. I think some games work better in person, this one might. It might be better with player aid, if there is one, in hand so I more easily know what I have. But it is still who does the least poorly for the game, and that is okay for me to pass on.

My Grade: C-
Gamer Grade: C-
Casual Grade: B-
Strategy (out of 10): 5
Luck (out of 10): 6

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