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Introduction
Hello there my name is Zed, with me today is Darrell and Wendy. Together we'll be taking a look at a hopping board game called Bunny Kingdom. Let's start by looking at what's inside the box and setting up - but be careful upon opening the box as those rabbits are very keen to escape, release the rabbits!
Contents and Setting Up
After removing the lid very carefully you will be greeted with a colourful instruction booklet and board. Not to mention the crafty rabbits waiting and raring to go providing they are still sealed in their bags and haven't chewed through them anxiously waiting to get those juicy Golden Carrots. There are also some tokens and a big stack of cards that will be used in conjunction with the little city buildings. Before we get set up, Darrell has just informed me that there has been a stowaway of sorts amongst the rabbits as there is one extra in the bag than what there should have been, the more the merrier I say.
Having now unfolded the board, place one of the city buildings (the ones with the 1 carrot Tower) onto each of the city spaces, then depending on how many people are playing, each player must now choose which colour rabbits they'd like to command. A warning that some rabbits get jealous if they haven't been chosen, so don't be surprised if they start hopping away in a huff. Now, place the left over cities/tokens next to the board and shuffle all of the cards making a deck. (Apart from the player aid cards)
Objective and How To Play
Having now got all of your rabbits under control, it's time to learn what you must do to win Bunny Kingdom and how to start playing, so let's take a look. To start with, the object of Bunny Kingdom is to get as many Golden Carrots as possible, as the player with the most wins the game. To keep track on how many Golden Carrots each player has, there is a giant score board where you will place one of your rabbits on it to keep track. There are four rounds in total and there are many ways you can increase your Golden Carrot total. Players will have to develop Fiefs (a group of Territories under a player's control)/make Cities/farm their Resources and receive Parchment cards which are to be kept secret from other players until the end of the fourth round, to potentially increase your carrot wealth.
I'm out of breath now; I think I'll need a short nap, so I'll hand over to Darrell and Wendy to explain how to play the game, ZZZ.
Thanks Zed, oh, he's already asleep! Anyway, before we start, depending on how many players there are the rules are different; since there are only two of us we'll be focusing on the special rules for the two player game. Each player will take 10 cards into their hand from the deck without revealing what they are to the other player and place 10 cards face down in front of them also from the deck. These cards are called Reserves. The game, as Zed explained earlier, is played over a total course of four rounds; each of the rounds has three phases which are, (Exploration, Construction and Harvest) that are played simultaneously by all players. For the two player game, each time before choosing cards to play, draw 1 card from your own reserve and place it into your hand. Then, instead of choosing 2 cards to play, choose 1 card that you will play and 1 that you will discard face down. Pass the other cards to your opponent face down.
In the play cards step, if you decide to play a parchment card from your hand place it face down in front of you, still making sure not to reveal it to your opponent. If you decide to play a standard territory card however, which has a grid number in the corner of the card corresponding to a square on the board; you will now own that square so place a rabbit on it. There are also building cards and provision cards. Once a card has been used e.g. a territory card, place it in the discard pile.
We now move onto the construction phase, if you had decided to play a building card you can now place your building onto the board, though sometimes there are restrictions/conditions. EG. Once a building has been placed it cannot be moved. Now let's take a look at some of the tokens which aren't able to be used without playing the corresponding card first, EG. Sky Towers that connect two of your territories in different Fiefs and Camps that lets you take control of any empty territory without needing a rabbit or building on the board.
Now, for the last phase the Harvest Phase, in this phase players harvest resources EG. Golden Carrots from their Fiefs, which means a Fief only provides Golden Carrots if it has at least one city and one Resource. To calculate Strength, you add up all the towers on your cities in your Fief EG. 1 Tower = 1. For Wealth, you total up each different resource that it produces within your Fief. EG. 2 Wood = 1. Then move your rabbit up on the score board for each Golden Carrot gained and then a new round begins. Upon ending the fourth and final round parchment cards that have been played are totalled up and any potential Golden Carrots gained is then added to your current total of Golden Carrots. The one with the most Golden Carrots is honoured by the king of Rabbits with the grand title of Big Ears.
Summary
Oh! That's lucky Zed has just woken up in time for our summery.
Hey Guys, I'm back! Did you enjoy Bunny Kingdom?
Yes we found it very entertaining and it got quite close towards the end, the Rabbits were nearly all over the board, a few parchment cards that I played just clinched the victory for me and I got a few more Golden Carrots than what Wendy did, better luck next time.
Ah, that's great to hear - was there anything that you disliked about the game?
It was a little bit confusing setting up and playing for the first time but after a couple of games it got a lot more easier in understanding and totalling up the Golden Carrots during the Harvesting Phase.
So all in all it sounds like you both enjoyed the game once you had a few games to get used to the rules, would you recommend it to other people?
Yes we would, as it's a lot of fun and has a lot of re-playability.
That's great guys! Well everybody, that sums up what Darrell and Wendy think about Bunny Kingdom. As for me, I have to go and gather up all the remaining escaped Rabbits still at large wish me luck, signing off Zed, Darrell and Wendy.
