Bear Down!

About this board game

Bear Down! is a 20-minute game for 2–4 players, released in 2019, in which bears compete to catch more salmon than their fellow players.

Each player begins with a bear on Bear Rock, while salmon are already waiting in the river’s gullies. At the start of every turn, the starting player rolls all the dice. The result determines whether the water moves through the river or salmon leap farther up the waterfall.

Once the dice have been resolved, players move their bears in turn, beginning with the starting player. If a bear lands on a field containing salmon, that player collects the salmon beneath the bear and continues the attempt to bring the catch safely home.

• Move bears through the river and waterfall area.
• Collect salmon from fields where they are found.
• Return to Bear Rock to secure salmon safely.
• Watch the water and avoid the slippery edge.

The waterfall offers plenty of salmon, but it is also the most dangerous place to fish. If a bear is too close to the waterfall’s edge when the water moves in the gutter, the bear slides down and loses every collected salmon that has not yet been brought back to Bear Rock. The bear then starts again from the rock.

In Bear Down!, timing and risk matter as players decide how far to venture for more salmon and when to return with a secure catch. The game ends when enough water has flowed down the river or when all the salmon have been collected down the waterfall. The player with the most salmon wins.