6 Games for Easter Baskets

Hear comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail. Hippity hop, hippity hop. Easter’s on its way!

Yep, Easter’s just around the corner. So I thought I’d put together an Easter basket of games to help the spry Easter bunny prepare for his rounds.

1. Karottenklau (Carrot Pinching)

It’s got a cute bunny and carrot tokens and it’s cooperative so you have to work together to plant, grow and harvest four carrots before the rabbit eats four carrots.

On your turn, roll the special 6-sided die and take that action:

• Carrot. You can either plant a carrot on the light green carrot patch or harvest a carrot from the dark green carrot patch.
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  Karottenklau (Carrot Pinching) game in progress

  Watering Can. Move a carrot from the light green carrot patch to the dark green patch. You made the carrot grow and now it’s ready for harvest. If there aren’t any carrots in the light green patch to water, you can roll again.

• Gardener Mole. You decide what you want to do: plant a carrot, water a carrot or harvest a carrot. It’s your choice.
• Rabbit(s). Uh oh! The rabbit is on the move and he’s hungry! Move the rabbit clockwise one or two squares depending on what you rolled. If there are any carrots on the space(s) he lands on, crunch, crunch he eats them. Put them in the lid of the game box, they’re out of the game.
  The game ends immediately when either: a) your team harvests 4 carrots or b) the rabbit eats 4 carrots. Hopefully the first!

Karottenklau which means Carrot Pinching supports 1 to 6 players ages 4 and up and plays in about 5 minutes so it’s great for wee ones with short attention spans. English rules come in the box which is small enough to fit in an Easter Basket. Sweet but sugar-free.

2. Animal Upon Animal: Small and Yet Great

Animal Upon Animal: Small and Yet Great is a mini version of the popular stacking dexterity game Animal Upon Animal. It’s perfect for travel and on-the-go fun and fits easily in an Easter basket. The poor crocodile still provides the base, this time for some new animals: kangaroos, frogs, ducks, polar bears, hedgehogs and butterflies.

Your goal: be the first to stck all of your animals on the crocodile’s back. On your turn, roll the die:

• 1 or 2. Place that many animals on the crocodile.
• Hand. Hand off one of your animals to your opponent. They have to place it.
• ?. Your opponent gets to choose which animal you have to place.
• Crocodile. Extend the base. Place one of your animals on the table in line with the crocodile so it’s touching either his nose or tail. If there are already animals in line with the crocodile, add to the line.

If while trying to add an animal to the stack you cause one or two to fall, add them to the animals you have to place. If more than two fall, choose two to keep and put the rest in the box, those animals are out of the game. Players take turns rolling the die and placing animals until one player runs out. She’s the winner! Time for chicken dinner. Animal Upon Animal: Small and Yet Great supports 2 players ages 5 and up. Another sugar-free sweet for an Easter Basket.

3. Spot It!

Choose from original Spot It!, Spot It Jr.! Animals, Spot It! On the Road, Spot It! Basic English, Spot It! Basic Spanish, Spot It! Disney Pixar Words and Spot It! Frozen Alphabet. There’s always one, and only one match between any two cards in every Spot It! game. These cute little tins nestle nicely in an Easter basket. Each Spot It! game includes rules for 4 or more games you can play with the cards. Supports 2 to 6 players ages 4 to 7 and up and plays in about 15 minutes.

4. Tell Tale

Choose from Tell Tale: Toy Story Book or Tell Tale: Disney Princess Story Book. Interactive storytelling at its best. Tell Tale features double-sided picture cards. Start the story with “Once Upon a Time…” Then choose a picture card and continue the story. Have the child hand you the pictures and you tell a story to go with the pictures, or take turns playing a card and adding to the story. Great for team play, too. Supports 1 to 6 players ages 5 and up. Plays in 15 to 20 minutes.

5. BraveRats

BraveRats is a simple and short 2-player simultaneous action selection card game. The pictures and character abilities ooze theme. Both players have a hand of eight cards, numbered 0 to 7, with each card having a special power. Each round, both players choose a card, then reveal them simultaneously. While the highest card wins the round, the cards’ special powers can mitigate this and lead to unexpected results. Players play until one player has won four rounds. A quick, fun game for 2 players ages 8 and up. Numerous variants in the rule book provide additional options for play. Plays in 5 minutes.

6. Attila

Attila, is a light and fast-paced game in which two players attempt to out-maneuver each other on the battlefield. One player controls Attila and his horde, the other Roman soldiers. Your goal is to trap your opponent so he can’t move.

To set up, form a playing area with the four game board tiles, then place your pieces on empty spaces.
To play, take turns moving one of your pieces in a knight’s move (as in chess). You can move over occupied squares and empty spaces as long as you land on a free space. Then place a scorched earth tile on any empty space. The game ends when a player can’t legally move any of his men: that player loses.

Attila supports 2 players ages 7 and up and plays in about 15 minutes.

So there you have it: 6 sweet, sugar-free treats for your Easter baskets.