How to play Poor Bunny
Poor Bunny is a one-screen arcade game. Your bunny lives in a small forest clearing, closed in by two tree trunks, with a few grassy platforms to hop between. That clearing is the whole stage. Carrots pop up one at a time on the ground and on the platforms, and your job is to grab them while the forest tries to hit you.
One hit ends the run. The timer in the top corner shows how long you have lasted, and the carrot counter shows your score. For the first ten seconds or so you only have to watch for arrows. After that a new trap joins every few seconds, and the traps that arrive stay, so every run starts calm and ends in chaos.
Controls
| Mode | Move | Jump |
|---|---|---|
| 1P | ← → or A D | ↑, W or Space |
| 2P and VS, player 1 | A D | W |
| 2P and VS, player 2 | ← → | ↑ |
Press Esc to pause, where you can also turn the music and sound off. Press R to restart a run on the spot, and Space on the results screen to go again. On a phone or tablet the game shows its own buttons instead: left and right at the bottom left, jump at the bottom right and pause at the top.
What can hit you
- Arrows drop from the top of the screen all game long. Most fall at random spots, but some aim at the place where you are standing.
- Skull cannons appear on the left or right wall and keep firing cannonballs across the clearing.
- Spiked balls fall from above and bounce around the stage.
- Saw blades rise out of the ground and roll along it.
A warning sign flashes just before each new trap shows up, so you get a moment to see where it will come from.
Carrots and golden carrots
A normal carrot adds one to your score, and another one pops up somewhere else on the stage. Every so often a golden carrot shows up as well. It is worth three, but it only stays for a few seconds, so go for it only when the path is clear.
Pick a mode: 1P, 2P and VS
The title screen has three big buttons. Two of them are for two players on the same keyboard, so grab a friend, a brother or sister, or a parent.
- 1P is the classic run: you against the traps, scored by carrots and time.
- 2P is co-op. Both bunnies collect for one shared total. A bunny that gets hit floats away in a bubble and comes back after a few seconds. If the other bunny is hit while its partner is still in the bubble, the run is over.
- VS turns your friend into a rival. Each of you has your own carrot count, a hit knocks you out for good, and when both bunnies are down the one with more carrots wins. Lasting longer does not matter in versus: only carrots count.
After a hit in 1P or 2P the game offers a revive in exchange for watching a video. Videos do not play on this site, so press the X to go to your results and start the next run.
Unlock new bunnies
Every carrot you collect also goes into a bank that carries over from run to run. Each time the bank reaches 100, the NEW! button on the results screen buys a random bunny, and you can equip it for player 1 or player 2 right away. A brand new save already starts with 100 carrots, so your first unlock is free.
You begin with five bunnies: White, Navy, Brown, Black and Beige. The bunny menu has room for more than 100, with picks like the Camo, Fire, Rainbow, Alien, Vampire and Sabretooth bunnies. Skins only change how your bunny looks, so pick whichever one you like best. Player 1 and player 2 each choose their own from the bunny button at the top left of the title screen.
Tips to last longer
- Keep moving. Some arrows aim at the spot where you are standing. If you keep drifting left and right, those arrows land behind you.
- Read the warning sign. When it flashes, look where it points before you go for the next carrot.
- Learn the cannon rhythm. Cannons stay once they appear and keep firing in the same line. Jump over the balls or move to a platform above that line.
- Use the platforms late in a run. Saw blades roll along the floor, so the ledges are often the safer place to stand once the saws are out.
- Don't chase every carrot. A carrot under a falling arrow is not worth the run. Wait a moment, and grab the next one.
- In 2P, split the screen. One of you takes the left side and the other the right. You cover more carrots and stay out of each other's way, and you play extra safe while your partner is in a bubble.
High scores and best runs
The results screen shows two panels: your best run and the run you just finished, each with carrots and time. A run only replaces your best when it has more carrots, and solo and co-op keep separate records. Your best runs, your carrot bank and your bunnies are saved in your browser, so they are still there the next time you play on the same device.
There is no official world record or global leaderboard in the game. Some players post videos of runs with more than 200 carrots, but those are their own claims and nobody checks them.
Play Poor Bunny unblocked at school
Poor Bunny runs right in your browser, so there is nothing to download or install. That means it works on most school laptops and Chromebooks, as long as the page loads. Whether a school network allows game sites is the school's call, so play during breaks and follow your school's rules.
Poor Bunny at a glance
| Made by | Adventure Islands (Jussi Simpanen) |
|---|---|
| First released | March 2023 |
| Built with | Stencyl, with music by PlayOnLoop |
| Modes | 1P, 2P co-op and VS, for one or two players on one keyboard |
| Stage | One forest clearing |
| Bunnies | 5 to start, more than 100 to unlock |
| Where to play | In the browser here, plus official apps for iPhone and Android |
| Price | Free |
Poor Bunny comes from Adventure Islands, a small indie studio that launched it on phones in March 2023. The game's credits screen, behind the ! button on the title screen, names everyone who worked on it.
