Rascally Rabbits

• Designer: Ta-Te Wu
• Publisher: Sunrise Tornado
• Players: 2-6
• Age: 10+
• Time: 30-45 min
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Rascally Rabbits is a lighthearted yet strategic trick-writing game for 2 to 6 players. Mischievous bunnies are sneaking into gardens to snatch veggies, but only the cleverest plans will succeed! Each round, players receive a unique garden card showing a different arrangement of numbers from 1 to 16, then secretly customize parts of it to meet their goals.

At the start of each trick, the lead player chooses a crop (suit), and others must follow if they can. The highest number in the lead crop wins the trick and becomes the next lead. If a player matches both the crop and number exactly, they collect a bunny—a bonus that can score points later.

The round ends after 13 tricks or when one player has won seven. Players score points for winning tricks and for accurately predicting their total at the start of the round. Even players who win zero tricks can still earn points based on the bunnies they’ve gathered throughout the game.

After three rounds, the player with the most points from bids, tricks, and bunnies is crowned the most rascally rabbit of all!

To get started, each player gets one of the dry-erase garden cards – this has a grid of numbers with suit markers at the ends.  The numbers represent cards, but they can take on the suit of the marker either at the top of the column or the side of the row.

Players also get a shield to hide their card behind.  A plastic clip is used to track the number of tricks won, this is placed on the 0 mark to start with.  The trump cards are shuffled and one is drawn at random to be the trump suit.  Players then mark the column and row with this suit with a Triangle to remind them of trump. 

Next, players now choose one crop on the top line which is not trump and cross it out. This column of numbers will only have the suit of their row.  Next, trace one of the three red vertical lines; this will split the grid into a left and right half.  Numbers to the left of the drawn line can take on the suit of the left header, and numbers to the right of the line can take on the suit of the right header.  

Players now choose any two numbers on their card to cross out.  This will leave 14 numbers on their board to be in play.  Finally, players make a bid on how many tricks they think they will win this round and circle the appropriate bid.

Play now starts, with the current start player leading to the first trick.  To do so, he chooses any uncrossed number of his sheet and determines what suit it is (either from the top of its column or the side of its row).  The suit/number combination is said out loud, and the number is crossed off the sheet.

Now going clockwise, players now announce a card that they are playing. They must follow suit if possible. If they cannot follow the lead, they can then play a Trump number or any other number.  If they are able to copy a previously played card (matching both suit and number), they have played a Rascally Rabbit, and they can circle a rabbit icon on their board.

The trick is won by the highest card in the trump suit, and if no trump card is played, the highest card of the lead suit.  If there are multiple cards of the highest value, the earliest one played wins the trick.  The player who won the trick advances their trick marker clip by one space at the top of their board, and then they lead the next trick.  The round ends when 13 tricks have been played, thus each player will have one unplayed number left at the end of the round.

Players now mark down whether they made their bid for number of tricks won.  Additionally, players will score points based on the number of tricks actually won.  If a player bid zero tricks and succeeded, they will score points based on the number of rabbit icons circled on their card.  The biggest payoff is for having 5 or more rabbits circled, but be warned that if you score at this level, you are no longer able to score rabbits for the rest of the game.

After 3 rounds, the player with the highest score wins.  In between rounds, cards are passed to the left and flipped over.

My thoughts on the game

I was first introduced to this game back in April 2025 at the Gathering of Friends, and I immediately asked the designer for a copy of the game.  Unfortunately, it was in prototype only form then, but I was thrilled to get a chance to play a preview copy this month.  The game hasn’t changed much from when I last saw it (and it didn’t need any fixing from my standpoint!)

This is such a clever game that combines trick taking with a fair amount of planning/plotting in setup.  Once you see your grid of numbers and the trump suit, you then get to make some choices on how you want your hand to be set up.  The decisions are most definitely meaningful, and it is fascinating to me how a card can be set up to make a 5-trick bid as well as a 0-trick bid.

This flexibility is a huge strength for me as it really gives me a sense of control over the game.  You not only have flexibility in setup, but also in the midst of the hand.  As most of the numbers will have two different suit options, you can also choose to play the same grid of numbers in completely different ways!  

The game is set up to reward you for collecting rabbits (for at least a round) and then making a null bid and getting a big payout.  Of course, if everyone has the same plan, it can be quite difficult to go null when two other players are trying to do the same!  If you think players are going to do this, you might end up zagging and score huge points with a high bid.

Rascally Rabbits was one of my favorite games from last year, and I’m super glad to have a copy of it now. While many of the trick taking games that I review end up being donated to my local friendly trick-taking convention library, this one stays in the Gaming Basement in my personal collection.

Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers

Dan B. (1 play): I like it, although I don’t understand it very well yet. I am a little concerned that players may learn standard good ways of playing each garden card with each trump suit, but maybe there will be enough cards that this won’t be an issue.

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it! Dale Y
• I like it. John P, Dan B
• Neutral.
• Not for me…