One Two Many Rabbits Game Review

The Basics:

• For ages 7 and up
• For 1 to 4 players
• Approximately 15 minutes to complete

Geek Skills:

• Active Listening & Communication
• Counting & Math
• Logical & Critical Decision Making
• Risk vs. Reward
• Hand/Resource Management

Learning Curve:

• Child – Easy
• Adult – Easy

Theme & Narrative:

• Get rid of those pesky rabbits as fast as you can using math and critical thinking

Endorsements:

• Child Geek approved!
• Parent Geek mixed!
• Gamer Geek rejected!

Overview

Your farm is a great success! Rich soil, abundant sunshine, and nourishing rains have helped create the most successful carrot patch ever recorded! But with your great success comes a terrific headache. Every rabbit surrounding your farm is hungry and eagerly looks to raid your carrot patches until nothing is left. Time to take care of these rabbits! Gather them into groups or take care of them one at a time. Just do it fast, or you’ll end up losing it all.

One Two Many Rabbits, designed by Karl Archer and Julie Archer and published by Happy Camper, is comprised of 96 cards and three standard six-sided dice. The cards are made of durable cardstock, and the dice are typical plastic. Karl Archer and Elizaveta Pospolit’s illustrations of the rabbits in the game are colorful and humorous, giving the game a very lighthearted feeling throughout the gameplay.

Prepping the Farm

To set up the game, complete the following steps.

First, separate the cards into five different decks based on the color on the back of the card. The cards with colored backs that are not white are the Player decks. Give one to each player now, placing any Player decks not used back in the game box.

Second, shuffle the remaining deck of cards, the Main deck. Place it face-down in the middle of the playing area, within easy reach of all the players.

Third, each player takes their Player deck and arranges the cards sequentially, from lowest to highest.

That’s it for game setup. Determine who will go first and give them the dice.

Hunting Rabbits

One Two Many Rabbits is played in turns with no set number of turns per game. On a player’s turn, they will complete the following steps.

Step One: Determine the Number of Dice to Be Rolled

Each player can roll one, two, or three dice on their turn. A moment should be taken before deciding how many dice to roll, as the player must use each dice rolled in the next step of their turn. Failure to do so will result in a penalty.

Step Two: Roll Dice and Resolve

The player takes the number of dice they have selected and rolls them, ensuring that everyone at the table can see the values.

The player must now resolve the dice’s values by adding them together to discard cards in their hand of the same value. This is done by combining dice values or using each dice’s own value.

For example, if a player were to roll three dice with the resulting values of 2, 4, and 5, they can do any of the following:

• Discard any card in their hand that has a value of 2, 5, or 4 for a possible three-card discard.
• Discard any one card with a value of 6 (2+4), 7 (2+5), or 9 (4+5), leaving the remaining dice value for a possible discarding of one additional card.
• Discard any one card with a value of 11 (2+4+5)

Discarded cards go into a discard pile used by all the players.

For every dice not used, the player must draw one card from the Main deck and add it to their hand.

If the player rolls doubles or triples, each opponent must draw one or two cards from the Main deck and add them to their hand.

This completes the player’s turn. The dice are then given to the next player in turn order.

Know Your Rabbits

There are several types of cards in the game.

Number cards display a number value of one to twelve. These are the cards the players are attempting to get rid of by using the dice.

Wild cards can be any number value, but do not count as a Number card. This is important for two reasons. First, using the Wild card allows the player to use a dice value without penalty. Second, Wild cards do not penalize players when determining if they won the game.

Plus/Minus cards allow the player to change how Number cards can be removed from their hand on their turn. Instead of matching Number card values to one or more dice, the Plus/Minus card allows the player to combine Number cards to resolve one or more dice values. For example, if you rolled a six, you would typically have to play a Number card with a value of six to resolve it correctly. Using a Plus/Minus card, the player can use any combination of two Number cards with a total value of six to resolve.

Piggyback cards allow players, out of turn, to discard Number cards from their hands on their opponent’s turn. There is no penalty for not being able to discard Number cards when using the Piggyback card.

Place Your Rab-Bets card is played as soon as it’s drawn. All players select one card from their hand and place it face-up in front of them. Wild cards can be used, but their number value must be specified. Once all the cards are on the table, two dice are rolled. If the player selects a card that matches the number value of the combined dice roll, they discard their card. If they fail to do so, the card is placed back in their hand.

Winning the Game

The first player to get rid of all their Number cards wins the game. This means a player can win the game if they have a Wild, a Piggyback, or a Plus/Minus card in their hand.

Game Variant

If you want to play the game solo, the rules allow the player to compete against the Farm. The Farm, in this case, acts as a second player competing to win.

To learn more about One Two Many Rabbits, visit the game’s webpage.

Final Word

The Child Geeks enjoyed the game and appreciated the additional level of thought needed to determine how many dice they should roll on their turn. According to one Child Geek, “You need to keep track of the cards in your hand and make sure that you always roll the number of dice that will help you get rid of cards. You have to do some math sometimes, but the math isn’t hard.” Another Child Geek said, “My favorite part was piggybacking on another player and winning the game when it wasn’t even my turn!” When all the bunnies hopped home, safe and sound, the Child Geeks took a vote, and all agreed that One Two Many Rabbits was worth bouncing around for.

The Parent Geeks enjoyed the gameplay with their children but not so much the game itself. One Parent Geek states, “The game plays fast but always seems too short or too long. One game only took 10 minutes, and another took 30 because we kept getting cards and not the right dice rolls. This makes the game chaotic and keeps you guessing, but it felt like Uno when I was this close to winning, only to have a bunch of cards suddenly thrown at me. Frustrating.” Another Parent Geek said, “What I like most about this game is the math. Players have to think about what dice they need to roll and how likely they are to get number values they can use. I found this simple math and some light statistical analysis as an adult to be entertaining. For my kids, though, it was painful for me to watch them roll all the dice because they wanted to, only resulting in them having to take more cards. They didn’t seem to mind, but I kept t thinking some of our games wouldn’t end.” When the last carrot was nibbled, the Parent Geeks took a vote and found that they had mixed feelings about the game.

The Gamer Geeks liked the dice-rolling element and quickly learned that the game was not for them. According to one Gamer Geek, “There is thinking in the game, fairly easy deductive reasoning, but that’s about it. I’m just matching cards and dice. That got real boring real fast.” Another Gamer Geek said, “Reminded me a little of Shut the Box and a lot of Uno. In both games, you can be ahead and then far behind. Luck plays a big role, but thinking things through can result in more empowering moves. The overall game, however, just left me feeling a bit bored and underwhelmed. This would be a great game for kids and families with younger kids, but there isn’t anything here for me.” When the sunset and all the rabbits were back in their holes, the Gamer Geeks took a vote and unanimously determined One Two Many Rabbits was not enough to keep their interest.

This game has potential but tends to stay at the table either too long or not long enough. The major component of the gameplay is rolling the dice, which feels fun at first but quickly becomes repetitive in both its nature and interaction with the player. You do have choices to make, but they are limited, and the most significant opportunities to play well and win are always based on the outcome of random dice rolls.

Which is all forgivable if it weren’t for what has come to be known in my groups as the “Uno factor.” In Uno, you can play your cards brilliantly, but there is no way to avoid getting new cards thrown in your hand. The same goes for One Two Many Rabbits. This, for some, is a fun mechanic as it keeps the game going and tends to ensure that players racing ahead get slowed down. This is also a great source of frustration for those playing the game well and being penalized as a result. You can undoubtedly win the game by being a more intelligent and luckier player, but with more cards randomly added to your hand, success always feels like it’s being slightly moved out of your reach occasionally. It is not a great feeling, especially when you have been playing the game long enough to want to see it come to an end, but there is no end in sight.

However, this game is a lot of fun with the right group. It certainly was with the Child Geeks, who laughed and snorted, snarled, and cheered when new cards were thrown at their competition, unexpected bonus cards dropped, and the ultimate victory was achieved. Quite a rollercoaster of emotions, I’d say. If you are up for the ride, try One Two Many Rabbits to see if it makes you scream with delight or disgust.

This game was given to Father Geek as a review copy. Father Geek was not paid, bribed, wined, dined, or threatened in vain hopes of influencing this review. Such is the statuesque and legendary integrity of Father Geek.