Pick-a-Polar Bear

About this board game

Pick-a-Polar Bear is a real-time card game for 1–5 players that plays in about 15 minutes. Based on the gameplay of Pick-a-Dog, it challenges everyone to spot matching cards and build the largest collection before the deck runs out.

To begin, place 30 cards in a grid and give each player a face-down card. When someone calls “Go!”, players reveal their cards and race to take cards from the grid. Each card must be identical to the top card in your stack or differ from it in exactly one attribute.

The five attributes are:

• Large or small
• With or without a raised arm
• Orange autumn or blue winter background
• With or without goggles
• With or without canned fish

Every card you take changes the card you must match next, so the available choices keep shifting. When you believe no further card can be collected, call “Stop!” The round is then checked: a mistake means you keep none of that round’s cards, while a correct stop earns an extra card. If you stop while another legal grab was available, you lose everything collected during the round.

After each round, refill the grid and deal new face-down starting cards. When the deck is exhausted, the player with the most collected cards wins. Pick-a-Polar Bear also includes two variants: a restriction for the previous round’s leading player, plus bonus round cards that reward quick, accurate counting with 2 points—or penalize a wrong answer by 2 points.

It can also combine with Pick-a-Seal for games of up to eight players.