Games: Unplugged Presents...
By DrRandle 1 Comments
Killer Bunnies and the Journey to Jupiter
(First off, an apology. This didn't publish like I thought it did last night, so here I am writing it again.)
Games: Unplugged is my new segment where I bring you the best and brightest of games that don't require an outlet to play. (Maybe batteries, in the case of The Omega Virus.) This week I highlight the sequel to one of my favorite non-collectible card games, Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot.
For those who are not familiar with the original, allow me to give a quick rundown. The Killer Bunnies series thus far has a simple enough premise: keep your bunnies alive and grab as many carrots as you can in hopes that you grab the winning (or Magic) carrot. Players have a five card hand and two card run that allows for some interesting delayed tactics. It's a madcap game to begin, and only gets crazier with every expansion pack you buy.
Killer Bunnies and the Journey to Jupiter expands on this formula by forcing you to worry about a ship so you can leave earth and venture through space, in order to obtain more carrots. Players must jettison their tiny mammals into the closer reaches of space in order to nab carrot tokens and bring them back to Jupiter to claim the actual carrot cards. Thus, this game adds a large board to be played on, making it a card/board game hybrid. The strategy is a bit deeper in this game, and further expansions will not only add to your deck but your board.
I had the pleasure of playing this game with it's creator, Jeffery Neil Bellinger, at GenCon last week. I had a wonderful time, part because the game is a blast, and part because Jeff is the best guy to play it with. The game ended with a desperate struggle of me vs. him. I had a carrot token and was jetting for Jupiter with him trying to take me down. He kept gaining the upper hand, hitting my ship during the attack phase (which consists of a simple roll off, the size of your die depending on your ship level) while I made a break for it. Eventually I was out of running and had to fight, with only one hit left before I went down. He said he would let up on me if I gave him my carrot token and threw away my best weapon the Hal 900 (which forces your opponent to drive into the sun, and in retrospect I should have used on him). I neglected, saying that if he wanted that carrot token he'd have to dig through my space debris to find it. And find it he did after setting me ablaze in the depths of space.
The game isn't perfect, there are often a lot of rule clarifications and trying to introduce somebody to the whole expansion-loaded package at once can be a bit overwhelming, but eventually anybody with half a brain can catch how the game is played. It's interesting to have a game like this that evolves as youp lay it. And the depth at which Jeff lays out the entire structure is amazing. When you have just the original set, cards will refer to rules and things that aren't available up until the very end of the game. So while you have a complete game, it always evolves up through all of the expansions, and the same will be said of Journey to Jupiter when it comes out soon.
You and your buds can pick up the Killer Bunnies card game, Quest for the Magic Carrot, at any typical hobby shop, and look forward to Journey to Jupiter when it soon releases.