Bear parks: it’s the next big thing! In order to be successful, you must skillfully fit together enclosures, animal houses and green areas, while using every available inch of your land. Animal houses and enclosures are worth points, and are more valuable if you build them quickly. Building permits let you claim more land to build onto. When one player fills their park, the game is over and the player with the most points wins.

Hello and welcome to our latest look at Mayfair’s best and brightest! Today its’ an awesome puzzler the entire family will love: Bärenpark! By Phil Walker-Harding, the designer of Imhotep and Sushi Go, with art by Klemens Franz, Bärenpark challenges players to construct the most pleasing park by building indoor and outdoor enclosures for four types of bears, along with eateries, restrooms, playgrounds. and even noble bear statues that will delight your guests.

In Bärenpark, you’ll construct enclosures to house Gobi Bears, Polar Bears, Pandas, and Koalas. And while Koalas aren’t bears, they’re so cute we couldn’t bear to tell them that, so they’re in the game! You’ll also need to build all the amenities your guests will require, such as restrooms and food eateries, along with playgrounds for your younger visitors, and rivers and bear statues to enhance the aesthetic beauty of your park. In short, you want the greatest bear park ever designed!

At the start of the game, each player gets a starting lot — an empty patch of land with an entrance and a lot of promise, but not much else. Each player also receives one “green area” — a restroom, playground, or eatery to get their park started. From these humble beginnings, it’s up to the players to craft the best bear park. They’ll do this by slowly filling their empty lots with tiles, bringing the puzzle elements into the game. Let’s look at how it all comes together, shall we?

Each turn you must play one tile from your supply. If you cover a special symbol on the board, you can  immediately draw a new tile to take its place. For example, if you cover a Green Wheelbarrow you’ll select a green area (toilet, playground, food street, or river) of your choice from those available. There are spaces on the board that allow you to draw free tiles of every type in the game, so make sure to play your tiles as efficiently as possible so you never run out. If you, you’ll have to skip a turn to draw a new one.

The first Animal House or Enclosure of a given type that is placed is worth the most points. Your customers want to see wondrous creatures they’ve never encountered and will reward the park that gives them something new! The first bear exhibit (enclosure or animal house) is worth up to seven points, while each subsequent exhibit of that type is worth fewer points. The faster you build exhibits, the more choices and points you can earn. There is also one special space on each board that you are not allowed to cover until it’s the only remaining space on your board. On this space, you may play a bear statue, and they’re worth up to 16 points for the first one played!

There’s also the opportunity to add additional lots to your growing bear park. Your park will eventually reach a maximum size of four lots so you must work quickly! Once one player completes all four of their park areas, each player gets one more turn and the game is over. Players then tally up the points in their parks and the highest scoring park is the winner!

For experienced park builders, Bärenpark also offers achievements. These are special scoring conditions for building three enclosures of the same type (polar bears for example), having a long river, a large contiguous green area, and so forth.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this look at Bärenpark. Stay tuned, gentle reader, we’ll be back next month with a look at another amazing Mayfair game!