About Devil Bunny Needs a Ham
Devil Bunny Needs a Ham is a 1998 Cheapass Game by James Ernest. You and your friends are sous-chefs climbing the outside of a very tall building, and Devil Bunny is convinced that knocking you off it will get him a ham. Behind the silly story is a straightforward climbing race with a hostile rabbit: you roll dice, climb in straight diagonal or sideways lines, and try not to be the highest climber when a 6 comes up.
Crab Fragment Labs, James Ernest’s company, gives the files away with an optional price. The free package also contains the sequel, Devil Bunny Hates the Earth (2001), a mancala-style game about taffy machines and squirrels, and three Devil Bunny comics. The publisher lists 2 to 5 players and 20 to 30 minutes. It is a light, mean family game that works with children who can count dice moves.
How to play in one minute
- Everyone’s climbers start on the Ground. With 3 to 5 players each player has two climbers and you roll two dice; with 2 or 3 players use three climbers and three dice.
- Roll all the dice. Each 6 makes Devil Bunny jump at once onto the highest climber on the building, who falls straight down.
- Use the other dice to move: diagonally or sideways in straight lines, never straight up, never through other pieces or onto the black squares.
- A falling climber who lands on someone is caught and placed below them. Falling to the Ground from above the Line of Death removes the climber from the game.
- Climbers who reach the roof take the letters of “Safety!” in order, worth 23 points for the first and less after that. Total your points when every climber is safe, pointless or dead.
What’s in the PDF
- Devil Bunny Needs a Ham: the original board on one tall 6 x 18 inch page, a two-piece version on 2 Letter pages, a one-page rules sheet and the envelope art.
- Devil Bunny Hates the Earth: board, rules and envelope art.
- Three comics (36 pages in all, optional) and a read-me with printing notes; all black and white.
- You add dice, a few counters per player and a pawn for Devil Bunny.
In the PDF
- Devil Bunny Needs a Ham board (one 6 x 18 in page, or a two-piece Letter version)
- Rules sheet
- Devil Bunny Hates the Earth board and rules (the sequel, in the same package)
- Original envelope art and three Devil Bunny comics
