Bärenpark

2017

Step into the world of Bärenpark, the board game where each player strategically builds their own bear park. Score points for animal houses, outdoor areas, and completed construction. The perfect game for strategy and animal lovers alike!

45
minutes

2 - 4
player(s)

Medium Light

About the game

Welcome to a captivating world of park creation in the delightful board game, Bärenpark! This is a game where you, as a player, get to design and construct your own bear park. Yes, you heard it right – a park full of adorable, fluffy bears!

The theme revolves around building the most attractive park for visitors. The setting is an empty plot of land that you, as a park owner, will transform into a bustling bear haven. The game combines the thrill of park construction with the charm of bears, creating a unique and enchanting experience.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Bärenpark is a fun and strategic board game that involves players constructing their own bear parks. The game includes several components, each with unique functions and interactions. Here is a detailed description of each:

1. Game Boards:

4 Starting Park Tiles: These are the initial game pieces that each player begins with. Players will expand their parks by placing tiles on these starting park tiles.
16 Park Areas: These are the tiles that players will acquire and place onto their starting park tiles. Each park area has a unique shape and different sorts of attractions for the bears.

2. Tiles:

12 Green Areas: These are the standard tiles that players can place in their parks. They feature various amenities for bears and visitors.
12 Yellow Areas: These tiles are more difficult to place due to their complex shapes, but they reward players with more points.
16 Bear Statues: These tiles are given as rewards for filling up park areas. They provide bonus points at the end of the game.

3. Bear Houses:

28 Bear Houses: These tiles represent the homes of the bears. Players will place these tiles in their parks to attract more visitors and earn points.

4. Achievements:

16 Achievement Tiles: These tiles are given to players who complete certain goals during the game. They provide additional ways to score points.

5. Other Components:

30 Park Visitors: These tokens represent the visitors who come to see the bears. Players will earn points for attracting these visitors to their parks.
1 Supply Board: This board is used to keep track of the tiles that are available for players to acquire during the game.
1 Rulebook: This booklet provides the complete rules and instructions for how to play Bärenpark.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Bärenpark is a fun and engaging board game that lets players build their own bear parks. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set it up.

Step 1: Prepare the Game Components

Player Boards: Each player gets a park area board. The board marked with a “1” goes to the starting player. The rest of the boards are distributed in ascending order.
Bear Statues: Sort the bear statues by size and place them in a pile next to the game area.
Green Areas and Enclosures: Place all green areas and enclosures in separate piles within reach of all players.
Animal Houses: Sort the animal houses by type and place them in separate piles. The amount of each type of house available depends on the number of players.
Park Tiles: Shuffle all the park tiles and place them in 4 stacks. Draw 3 tiles from each stack and place them face up next to it.

Step 2: Setup the Achievements

Shuffle the achievement tiles and draw one for each player plus one. Arrange the tiles in ascending order and place them next to the game area.

Step 3: Distribute Starting Resources

Each player gets a toilet block (the smallest green area) to start with.
The starting player gets the park board marked with “1”. The remaining players get the subsequent numbers. This determines the player order for the first round.

Step 4: Prepare the Park Area

Each player places their park board in front of them. The toilet block can be placed on any pit on their board.

Step 5: Setting Up the Delivery Trucks

Based on the number of players, set up the delivery trucks with park tiles. These will be resources that players can draw from during their turns.

Once all these steps are successfully completed, you’re ready to start playing Bärenpark! Remember, the goal of the game is to be the first to complete your park. Happy gaming!

Game flow Round and round we go

Bärenpark is a tile-laying game where players compete to build the best bear park. The game is divided into rounds, with each player taking a turn per round. There are no specific phases within a round; instead, players can perform any of the available actions on their turn. The game continues until one player completes their park.

Actions players perform on their turn:

Place a tile: On their turn, a player may place one of the tiles they have in their personal supply onto their park board. Players start the game with a single tile and can gain more throughout the game.
Take a new tile: After placing a tile, the player may take a new tile from the supply. The type of tile they can take depends on the icon revealed on their park board by the tile they just placed. For instance, a player who reveals a toilet icon may take a toilet tile.
Complete an enclosure: If a player completes an enclosure (a specific area on their board marked by a fence), they may place a bear statue in it. This gives them bonus points at the end of the game.
Start a new park area: Each player starts the game with a single park area. Once they have placed tiles on all available spaces in this area (excluding the pit), they may start a new park area by taking a new park board.

End of the Game:

The game ends when one player has filled all the spaces in their park, triggering the final round. Each player, including the one who triggered the end, gets one more turn. After this, players add up their points from their placed tiles and bear statues. The player with the most points wins the game.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

In ‘Bärenpark’, each player has the chance to take a turn wherein they can perform a series of actions. The game continues in a clockwise direction until all players have had their turns. Here’s what happens during a player’s turn:

Firstly, the player must place a tile on their park board. This is mandatory and the player must follow the following rules:

The tile must be placed on an empty space.
The tile cannot overlap another tile.
The tile must be placed adjacent to another tile that has already been placed (except for the first tile which is placed on the starting space).

When a tile is placed over an area featuring an icon, the player is then allowed to take a corresponding tile from the supply board. The possible icons are:

Green Wheelbarrow: If the player places a tile covering a green wheelbarrow icon, they may take a green park area tile from the supply board.
White Wheelbarrow: If a white wheelbarrow icon is covered, the player may take either a white park area tile or an enclosure tile.
Construction Workers: Covering a construction worker icon allows the player to take another park board from the supply board and add it to their own park.

At the end of their turn, the player must check if they have any empty spaces in their park that are not covered by a construction worker icon. If such a space exists, the player must place a bear statue from the supply board onto that space. Bear statues are scored at the end of the game and can provide valuable points.

Strategically, players must balance their choices between expanding their park, gaining more tiles, and optimizing their placement of tiles for maximum points. A well-placed tile can lead to gaining additional tiles and, in turn, more opportunities to score points. Therefore, planning and foresight are crucial elements of ‘Bärenpark’ gameplay.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

The game of ‘Bärenpark’ comes to an end when one player has finished their park. This happens when a player has filled all of the spaces in their park with tiles, including the four park areas and all the green spaces. There is no requirement to fill every single space on the board, but a player cannot finish their park if there are any empty green spaces left.

Victory Conditions:

The victory of the game is determined by the total number of points a player has accumulated throughout the game. The points are calculated as follows:

Bear Statues: These are worth a certain amount of points, depending on when they were taken. The first bear statues taken are worth more points than the ones taken later in the game.
Animal Houses: Each animal house in a player’s park is worth a certain amount of points.
Enclosures: Each enclosure in a player’s park is worth a certain amount of points.
Green Areas: Each green area in a player’s park is worth a certain amount of points.
Completed Park: The player who completes their park first receives a bonus of 16 points. Other players who complete their parks in later rounds receive fewer points.

Actions Players Must Take Before Final Scoring:

Before the final scoring, players must ensure they have placed all the tiles they can in their park. Any remaining tiles in a player’s supply that cannot be placed are returned to the box. Players should also make sure that all their green spaces are filled, as an incomplete park will not count towards the final scoring.

Once all players have finished their turns and the parks are complete, the final scoring can begin. The player with the highest total points is declared the winner of the game. In the event of a tie, the player who completed their park first is the winner.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

In Bärenpark, players earn points by placing park tiles, completing park areas, and achieving objectives. The scoring system is as follows:

1. Scoring for Park Tiles:

Each park tile has a specific point value indicated on it. When a player places a park tile onto their board, they immediately score the corresponding points.

2. Scoring for Completed Park Areas:

When a player fully covers one of the four park areas on their board (with no empty spaces remaining), they can place a bear statue in the last open space. Bear statues are worth a decreasing amount of points as the game progresses. The first player to complete an area takes the highest-valued bear statue remaining, with subsequent players taking lower-valued statues.

3. Scoring for Achievements:

There are three achievement tiles available each game, which are objectives that players can aim to complete. The first player to achieve each objective claims the corresponding tile, which is worth a certain amount of points at the end of the game. Subsequent players can still complete these objectives, but they will earn fewer points for doing so.

End of Game Scoring:

At the end of the game, players add up the points from their park tiles, bear statues, and achievement tiles. The player with the highest total score wins the game.

Tie-Breaking Rules:

In case of a tie, the player who has the most bear statues wins. If there is still a tie, the player who placed the most ‘toilet’ tiles wins. If a tie persists, the victory is shared.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Bärenpark is a tile-placement board game that is easy to understand but it does have some specific rules, exceptions, and clarifications. Here are some important ones:

1. The “Immediate Construction” rule:

If a player places a tile on a space with an excavator icon, they immediately take a new regular tile from the supply and add it to their supply area. Even if the newly placed tile covers multiple excavator spaces, the player only takes one regular tile. It’s also important to remember that this rule does not apply to the initial setup of the game.

2. The “Park Area Completion” rule:

When a player completely fills a park area (either 4×4 or 6×6), they may take the highest available bear statue of their choice and place it on any free space in that park area. The bear statue does not count as a tile for purposes of excavator spaces or construction crews.

3. The “Green Area Tiles” exception:

A player may not have more than one of each type of green area tile in their supply area at a time. If a player places a tile on a construction crew space and the corresponding green area tile is already in their supply area, they cannot take another one of the same type.

4. The “Achievement Cards” clarification:

Achievement cards are revealed at the start of the game and provide bonus points for players who meet certain conditions. Players should note that the conditions on these cards are only evaluated at the end of the game, and not during the game.

5. The “Play Order” rule:

The game continues in a clockwise order. However, the order of play changes when a player completes their entire bear park. That player is skipped in the order of play for the rest of the game, but they still score points normally at the end of the game.

6. The “End of Game” clarification:

The game ends immediately when one player completes their entire bear park. All other players get one final turn, except for the player who triggered the end of the game.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Advanced Strategies:

Plan Ahead: The key to excelling in Bärenpark is to plan your moves ahead of time. Look at the tiles available and work out where they could fit in your park. You should also plan to reserve valuable tiles for future turns.
Prioritize Large Tiles: Large tiles will give you more points, and they can also cover more icons, which can help you pick up more tiles on your turn. However, remember to leave space for smaller tiles as they can help you fill in gaps later on.
Optimize Bear Statue Placement: Bear statues are extremely valuable as they give a lot of points. Try to fill up spaces on your board as quickly as possible to place these statues for maximum points.

Beginner Tips:

Understand the Scoring System: The scoring in Bärenpark is simple but is crucial to understand. Each tile has a point value, and the goal is to get as many points as possible by the end of the game.
Use All Your Tiles: Each tile in your reserve is worth negative points at the end of the game, so it’s in your best interest to place all your tiles.
Start With the Middle: It’s generally a good idea to start building your park from the middle. This gives you more flexibility in placing your tiles.

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

Ignoring Small Tiles: While it’s important to aim for large tiles, don’t ignore the smaller ones. They can help you fill in gaps and ensure you don’t leave any empty spaces, which will cost you points at the end of the game.
Overcommitting to One Area: It’s easy to get focused on one area of your park and neglect the others. But remember, the game ends when any player completes all four of their park areas, so it’s important to work on all areas evenly.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay:

Focus on Special Achievements: Special achievements can give you a significant point boost. If you see an opportunity to achieve one, it’s often worth pursuing.
Use Green Areas Wisely: Green areas do not give you points, but they do allow you to place any tile on them. Use them wisely to fill in gaps or to place high-value tiles.