You know what they day – you don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your friends! Okay, that’s not entirely true, but it won’t hurt! You’ll need to navigate various types of terrain, utilize equipment, and run as fast as you possibly can in order to get to safety – far away from that bear. And don’t be afraid to trip up your friends along the way … if that’s what it takes. Let’s run!

What Is It?

Modular Board – The double-side, puzzle-piece boards can be swapped in a few ways so players can vary the board layout each play.

Grid Movement – Players will move along spaces on the board to try and outrun the bear. At the beginning of each turn, players will need to resolve the terrain they start on which will move them forward or backward, restrict their movement, or allow them to play an equipment card.

Take-That – Some action or reaction cards may allow players to steal cards, cancel cards, or move each other into inconvenient spots on the board.

Player Elimination – If a player is caught by the bear, they are out of the game. Multiple players can win if they all make it to the car, a single player can win if they are the last player standing, or no one can win if they are all overtaken by the bear.

Who Is It For?

  • 2 to 6 Players – It plays fine at any count, but there’s a little more interaction with 3+, so it’s a little better with 3 minimum
  • Ages 8 & Up – Good for a wide range of ages; simple rules
  • Fans of race style games with a little bit of take-that
  • Players who don’t mind the possibility of player elimination

Variants

Park Pass – Adds variable player powers to the game. It’s a nice addition to add a little variety, and easy to add. I’d definitely always play with them, especially if you’re playing with people who have experience with variable powers in games.

Cooperative – Must get everyone to the car. If anyone is caught by the bear, everyone loses. It’s an okay variant if you really want to work together, but I think the cards lend themselves to a more competitive game in general, so I didn’t love this one as much.

Everyone Get Equipment – Players each start with a random equipment card. It’s a nice change to get things going. But I felt it does make the camp terrain spots a little more boring since most players (in my experience) tend to not swap out their equipment card once they have one (since you can only have 1).

Last One Standing – Players don’t use the parking lot tile in set-up. When someone reaches the end of a tile, players take the tile closest to the camp, flip it, and add it to the end of the board. Players keep playing until only 1 player is not caught by the bear. For me, this causes the game to overstay it’s welcome, especially if players are particularly good at outmaneuvering the bear. I prefer the basic set-up/gameplay.

Difficulty – Players can change the difficulty slightly by setting the camp and parking lot tiles to have certain numbers of paw prints on them (the more prints, the more difficult). A nice change, especially once you’re familiar with the game, to keep players on their toes.

PROS

  • Aesthetics – Nice art!
  • Fun theme!
  • Components – I like the big, intimidating bear standee! The cards, standees, and boards, overall, are nice quality
  • Rules – Streamlined, well-written
  • Turns and general gameplay are quick
  • Good replay value, especially with so many variant options
  • Reference cards always get a thumbs up from me!
  • Easy set-up/clean-up
  • I liked that there were basic actions you could do to move (crawl 2 spaces, or discard 4 cards to sprint 5 spaces) so you never felt like you couldn’t do anything, even if you didn’t have great action cards in hand

CONS

  • Components – A few of the boards did not fit together just right so they were a little uneven, but it didn’t effect gameplay much, luckily
  • Luck – Cards can let you move other players, or prevent players from messing with you, they can let you steal cards, or prevent that… et cetera. So there’s a fair amount of luck of the draw and a player can definitely have a few bad draws which could let the bear catch up with them
  • I’m not a big fan of games that rotate the turn order. I understand the need for it, so the same player isn’t always going first, but it can get forgotten if you’re in the groove of playing your turns quickly
  • I’m never big on player elimination, but luckily since the game is quick, players shouldn’t be out long (unless you’re playing last one standing)

Final Thoughts

I’ve played racing games before, but I thought this one had a unique feel to it. I liked the theme, and I definitely felt the pressure of trying to escape from the bear – especially when it got up close to your runner!

Sometimes the game felt meaner than other times, which I guess mostly comes down to the shuffle. If you happen to get a lot of the reaction cards that let you steal, or cancel player’s moves (i.e. if they are going to move your runner) then it can be a little more frustrating.

Overall, I think it’s a cute, light game that will appeal to a wide range of players, kids and adults alike. If you like racing games with a little take-that, and think you can outrun a bear, check this one out!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 6/10

Designer – Samuel Barmettler
Artist – Andrea Alemanno
Publisher – Around the Stump Games LLC
MSRP – $39
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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