Review: The Bunny Graveyard warps you into a world of horror and retro nostalgia

I originally learned about The Bunny Graveyard from watching horror streamers play through the demo about a year ago, which ended relatively early on in the overall story. The graphics and style caught my attention right away, but the story and lore is what got me hooked.

When I saw that the first chapter had came out, I wanted to play it. The Bunny Graveyard just oozed with classic, retro-inspired charm, with a mascot horror-esque flair. What I didn’t know was how deep the rabbit hole went in their inspirations and lore.

The Bunny Graveyard Story

I don’t want to spoil too much of the story in this game. It’s fantastic and just theory bait for people like me, especially with it being episodic. But, the story very clearly has layers.

The Bunny Graveyard starts with some exposition, having you sit down at an older looking computer to play a game, which uses 8-bit graphics. You can click around on the desktop beforehand, which gives some minor hints at what’s in store for the future. In the mini game, you control a floating, gloved hand to chase down what appears to be a colorful manta ray. Then the screen cracks open and you’re sucked in.

You land in a beautiful wooded area, but you’re no longer yourself. You’re a 16-bit iteration of that same gloved hand and the game title appears, not as The Bunny Graveyard, but The Bunny Garden.

You follow another gloved hand, which you’ll find out are part of a group of mute hands called the Handy Pals, to a character that looks like an anthropomorphic bunny. Her name is Skye and she’s really friendly, inviting you to come help her and the Handy Pals with their garden.

But, not all is what it seems. If I’ve learned anything about mascot horror, it’s to never trust any rabbits, especially those that associate with the color purple. If you know, you know.

After handling some minigames, it’s clear that something just isn’t right. You are known by other characters to be “different” from the other Handy Pals and you shouldn’t be there. You sneak out to find a well that you can enter in the garden that takes you to an underground area. 

The area, as dank and sewery as it is, is run by a pretty friendly character hiding his identity that is definitely, totally (maybe) not a rabbit named Boxers. He’s really chill and invites you to come fight in the underground boxing organization he has set up with other Handy Pals. 

That’s where things really start to dive into the inspirations. If you’re familiar with the classic NES title, Punch-Out!!, this should give you all the feels. Boxing in this game takes quite a bit to get through, yet it’s such a small portion of the game overall. 

I won’t detail too much more about the story, but Skye = bad. You’ll have to play the game to get more about the actual story beats though.

Gameplay

The majority of gameplay consists of movement that feels out of a classic pixelized adventure games like The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, but without any of the RPG elements.

First thing you do in the game is clearly inspired by the 8-bit Atari era of gaming, just as a tiny mini game. But, early minigames, thereafter, in the garden consist of rock-paper-scissors with the Handy Pals, hide-and-seek, or throwing basketballs into a hoop. 

Then, you get to the Punch-Out!! Portion of the game. Even though you just have to win against your opponents, I realized you could repeat them. This led to me getting all three of the achievements for beating them without being downed. That portion of the game is just so nostalgic and fun to play.

I won’t give away how you get there, but another minigame is a riff on the classic game Feeding Frenzy, which itself was loosely inspired by games like Ecco the Dolphin. There is also a large swath of gameplay that feels ripped right out of the original Metal Gear for the NES with some necessary stealth mechanics. And there’s just so much more not even mentioned.

The Bunny Graveyard wears its inspirations on its sleeve and, as someone that appreciates the history of video games, I see you.

Art and Music

I’m just so impressed at how well The Bunny Graveyard handles its beautiful pixel art style to sell me on a very specific era of gaming. While the original 8- and 16-bit eras are clearly major inspirations, The Bunny Graveyard hits the nail on the head for the Game Boy Advance.

If you had told me that this game was originally on the GBA, I wouldn’t have questioned you. The art style and music feel lifted directly out of Nintendo’s classic handheld.

Seriously, no notes. If you like early 2000s pixel art, you’re in for a treat. If you like Game Boy Advance-era music and chiptunes, you’re going to be begging for an official soundtrack.

Coziness and Cons

I’m not going to lie. There are a couple of parts of the game, such as the stealth or fighting sections, that can be a little more difficult in later parts of it. But, it doesn’t lower our cozy score into oblivion. You just need to be aware that the difficulty eventually amps up for those not paying 100% attention to their surroundings.

As for The Bunny Graveyard, as a whole, the minigames just give a pure nostalgic serotonin kick to those that grew up with classic retro games. 

All in all, it is a horror game, and a mascot horror game at that. So, you’ll see anthropomorphic animals and potentially get some jump scares. So, be forewarned about that. One scare actually got me, even though I was sort of expecting it.

Luckily, The Bunny Graveyard doesn’t focus on the jumpscares in the horror game and puts a ton of effort into the story and substance.

Final Verdict

If you’re looking for a game that can offer some lore and theorycrafting, The Bunny Graveyard is worth the money. It’s very clear that there is some multilayered lore that we’re seeing hints of from hidden notes and collectibles.

And it’s only $6.99 for this first chapter, which takes less than 3 hours to complete. I highly recommend this game and I can’t wait to see what The Bunny Graveyard: Chapter 2 eventually has. I hope it’s more and different retro-inspired minigames.