[Review] Killer Bunnies: Khaki
- From: "tomvasel@xxxxxxxxx" <tomvasel@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:56:17 -0700 (PDT)
Killer Bunnies: and the Quest of the Magic Carrot is a game that
people either seem to love or dislike. Fortunately, I really enjoy the
game and have a group of folk (primarily teenagers) who are constantly
clamoring to play it. Thus, when I got the first nine expansions, I
was happy to play with them but was a little unsure of how to
integrate them. So we added one deck and played, then played again,
then added another deck and repeated. After dozens of plays and owning
all eleven parts of the game, I now think that I can safely talk about
each of the decks, and how they add to the game play. There are a
couple of things common to each deck:
- First of all, if you hate Killer Bunnies, none of the expansions are
likely to change your mind. More randomness is added; more powerful
cards are included; more of the "silly" theme is promoted - stuff that
fans of the game love, but detractors certainly do not.
- Each expansion comes in a small box that is sturdy and easily holds
the cards; but all of which I discarded, as the first seven expansions
all fit comfortably in the box.
- Some expansions are more interesting than others (I would rate them
Orange, Pink, Red, Khaki, Onyx, Steel, Purple, White, and Green - in
that order), but I really did enjoy them all.
- Expansions really should be added in order. You might get away with
adding a future expansion (such as Twilight White) to your blue and
yellow cards, but you'll run into "holes"; and some of the cards
simply won't make sense.
- It's fascinating how the designer had the larger picture in mind,
and how they referenced future cards in each of the decks. With all
eleven expansions, it feels like a complete game rather than some
expansions that are tacked on.
Now for some specific comments on the Wacky Khaki Booster Deck
(Playroom Entertainment, 2006 - Jeffrey Neil Bellinger):
1.) Six new bunnies have been added to the game. Five of them are duel-
colored bunnies that have red as one of the two colors. This gives
them a special ability that normally only the red bunnies have, making
them more useful than the normal duel-colored bunny (although of
course they are susceptible to color-coded weapons). The sixth bunny
is the Lonely Ranger, a blue bunny that moves around the circle,
belonging to a new player each round. An interesting character, but
more interesting than useful, since I can't imagine playing him unless
I really needed a rabbit.
2.) More Kaballa Dollas, more weapons, and more of many original cards
are added (or variations - like the wonderfully named dodecadruple
lucky clover). The new weapons are dated (more deadly as the month
goes by) or 50/50, as players have to guess which of two dice are
higher. At this point in the series, there's really not much to expand
on here, and I suspect that most of the additions are to keep the card
ratios level.
3.) Officers: Expanding on the idea of enlisted bunnies in the Pink
expansion, officer rank cards are now included in the game. As soon as
a player draws one, they must immediately assign it to one of their
bunnies. The bunny with the highest officer rank has the extremely
powerful ability to play a card each turn directly from their hand.
Not only that, but the player who controls the bunny with the highest
enlisted rank, who can normally do the same thing, must get permission
from the player to do so. This causes a few things. First of all, the
high ranking officer bunny is THE target on the table, especially if
there are other ranking officers. Secondly, there is the real
possibility for negotiations to occur, between the player with the
highest ranking officer and the highest enlisted bunny. Some might
consider these bunnies to be too powerful; but since they become
targets a la mode, I wouldn't worry too much.
4.) Some other interesting cards in the expansion include:
- B Flat: Has players balancing their door keys on edge. Silly, but
fitting the theme of the game.
- Better Bunny Booster: Changes any bunny into a "pink" bunny, giving
it the special feature of that bunny.
- Joint Custody: Is placed on a bunny to give it two owners.
- Mad Bunny Disease: The player who this nasty card is played on loses
one carrot per turn until all of his bunnies have been killed. This is
one of the few times that I've seen a player destroy their own
bunnies.
- Get Out of Death Free: Allows a player to bring back a bunny who
just died. This is one card you want to keep in your hand - one of the
best in the game.
5.) Tokens: A few cards (such as the Better Bunny Booster mentioned
above) change the color of a bunny, so several tokens have been
included to indicate bunnies that have changed color. They also have
other uses but will see little play.
The Khaki expansion is going to be noted mostly for its officers.
Other than that, there aren't a lot of new things in this deck. It's
not a bad deck, and I do enjoy the powerful bunnies it introduces to
the game. The humor is still intact, and some of the references are
hilarious; so it will add more humor. It's worth getting for the
Killer Bunny fanatic, although I would suggest several other color
expansions (namely Orange and Pink) first.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
.
- Prev by Date: [Review] Conquest of Paradise
- Next by Date: Re: Have lost rules for British Rails
- Previous by thread: [Review] Conquest of Paradise
- Next by thread: Killer Bunnies Problem?
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
