Outrun the Bear Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup & Overview
• Play Steps
  • Rounds
  • Your Turn
  • The Bear's Turn
• What the Cards Do
• Terrain
• Movement
• Common Questions
• Variants
• Quick Guide

Components

• Trail Tiles x 6: Build the game board with these reversible tiles. You'll use 3 tiles plus the campsite and parking lot tiles to set up the game, with one left over to add to future game variation.
• Hungry Bear x 1: The hungry Bear chases you as you race through the park. To start, put the Bear on the left side of the camp tile and move the Bear along the bear path on the outer edges of the park.
• Runner Standees x 8: Standees track your movement on the board. During the setup of the game, after you've all selected your runners, place them in the campsite space on the first tile.
• Bear's Turn Token x 1: This token tracks the Bear's turn to move. New rounds start with the player to the left of the player with the token. That player is the last player in any given round.
• Runner Deck Cards x 74: At the start of the game all of these cards are shuffled together to form the runner deck.
• Park Passes x 8: In-the-box expansion, optional for play (see Variants). You can also use these to keep track of which player has which runner.

Setup & Overview

Build the park: Remove the campsite and parking lot tiles. Shuffle the rest of the tiles randomly, without looking; draw three; set those tiles on the table with either side face up. Without flipping the three tiles, arrange them in a row and set the camp site and parking lot tiles on opposite ends of that row. See also "First Play" Variant.

Place the Bear on the far left side of the campsite tile, and give the bear token to a player. (Pick someone who hasn't played before, or the last player that made it to the parking lot, or the last player to have seen a real life bear.) This player will be the last player during the first round.

Choose your runner: In reverse player order, choose a runner, take its Park Pass and place its standee in the campsite starting space.

Deal cards: Shuffle the Runner Deck and deal 2 cards to each player. Make sure no one sees your cards!

How to win: Either a) make it to the safety of the car, or b) let the Bear fill up on all your friends and be the last one standing.

Play Steps

Rounds

Start each round with the player to the left of whoever has the Bear's turn token. Each player takes one turn, and the round ends with the Bear's turn.

Your Turn

1. Terrain step: Resolve the effect of the terrain you're currently in. If you move onto another space during this step, that terrain has no effect this turn. Keep the reference card handy to remember what effect each terrain has.
2. Action step: You must choose one of the following.
   • Crawl: Move 2 spaces.
   • Sprint: Discard 4 cards from your hand to move 5 spaces.
   • Play an action card from your hand.
   • Equip an equipment card from your hand.
3. Draw step: Draw 2 cards.
4. Ending your turn: Play passes to player to the left, except when you hold the Bear's turn token. If so, it is now the Bear's turn.

The Bear's Turn

1. Draw one card from the bottom of the discard pile for each paw print behind the lead runner. Count ALL OF the paw prints, including the ones behind the Bear. If there aren't enough cards in the discard pile, draw the rest from the top of the runner deck.
2. Add up the values in the top left corner of the drawn cards and advance the Bear along the bear path (on the outer edges of the trail tiles) by that many spaces, or until it overtakes a runner - whichever comes first.
3. Return all of the cards from the discard pile to the bottom of the runner deck. Pass the Bear's Turn Token to the right, and start a new round. Note: The last player of a round will typically be the first player the following round.

The Bear got you: If the Bear overtakes your runner, you've lost the game. Remove your runner, equipment, and the cards in your hand from the game.

Ending the game: Play ends when there are no runners left running from the Bear (because they all either made it to the car, or were eaten by the Bear) OR when all but one runner has been eaten by the Bear.

What the Cards Do

Each card shows the Bear's movement value (top left corner), its name, type, effect and a quip.

• Action: When you play an ACTION card, follow the instructions on the card and then place it face up in the discard pile.
• Reaction: Watch out during other players' turns for your chance to play a REACTION card from your hand. Instructions on the card tell you when to play it by discarding it face up in the discard pile. Don't miss your chance to play a REACTION card. It must be played per the instructions on the card, and before another action or turn step is taken.
• Equipment: These cards are played face up, in front of you. They have ongoing effects, so don't forget about them. You may only have 1 equipment card in play at a time. If you play a second, the first is sent face up to the discard pile.

Hand size: At any point in the game you may have a maximum of 7 cards in your hand. If a game effect would cause you to draw a card when you already have 7 cards in your hand, send that card face up to the discard pile instead.

Terrain

There are seven types of terrain in Outrun the Bear, including the campsite starting space and the parking lot ending space. At the start of your turn, check what terrain type you are in and resolve its effect. Only one terrain effect is used each turn.

• Campsite & Rest Area: You may equip an equipment card OR discard a card to draw a card.
• Walking Path: These spaces have no effect.
• River: Move forward one space.
• Slippery Slope: Move back until you reach a non-slippery-slope terrain.
• Bramble: You may not take a sprint action.
• Parking Lot: You've OUTRUN THE BEAR! You've made your escape, so start cheering for your friends... or maybe the bear?

Movement

When a game effect allows you to move a space, you may move into any unoccupied adjacent space. Here's what that means.

Passing: When you are moving, skip over any space that another runner is in. That means you don't count that space as part of your movement, and you can't end your movement in a space that they're in. If a card references a runner being "passed" it means the space was skipped in this way.

Forward and back: If a game effect makes you move forward, you move away from the Bear. If it makes you move back, you move closer to the Bear. You can't ever move to a space behind the Bear. If a game effect would move you behind the Bear, stop in the space just ahead of the Bear.

Common Questions

Can the Bear get more than one runner at a time? Yes, if the bear overtakes more than one player with a single movement they all are removed from the game. If the Bear overtook all of the runners in this way, the Bear wins this game.

Does a runner move after playing "Startle" if the target used "Alert"? Yes, they will move 2 spaces.

Should I run from a bear in real life? Please see the National Park Service for bear safety tips.

Variants

Like to mix things up? Here's a few different ways to play Outrun the Bear.

• Park Pass: Each player may use the ability on their runner's Park Pass.
• Co-Op: The goal is to get all runners to the car in the parking lot safely. If the Bear gets ANY runner, the game is lost. During setup, you may use as many tiles as you want. When a "Delicious Ham" is played, remove it from the game.
• Everybody Gets Equipment!: At the start of the game, pull all the Equipment cards out of the runner deck. Shuffle the Equipment cards and deal one to each player, then shuffle the remaining Equipment cards back into the runner deck. Every runner starts the game with the equipment dealt to them pre-equipped.
• Last One Standing: When setting up the game, don't place the parking lot tile. Lay out all four trail tiles. When a runner reaches the end of the last trail tile, remove the tile closest to the campsite, flip it over, and add it to the end of the board. Then reconnect the campsite tile.
• First Play: When setting up the game, set the Campsite and Parking lot sides so that there are a total of two paw prints on them.
• Normal Play: When setting up the game, set the Campsite and Parking lot sides so that there are a total of three paw prints on them.
• Hard Play: When setting up the game, set the Campsite and Parking lot sides so that there are a total of four paw prints on them.

Quick Guide

Round: Each player takes one turn, starting with the player to the left of whoever has the Bear's Turn Marker.

Player turn

1. Resolve the terrain you started your turn in.
2. Take one of the following actions: Crawl; Sprint; Action card; Equipment card.
3. Draw 2 cards. Play passes to your left, unless you have the Bear's turn token.

Bear's turn

1. Draw a card from the bottom of the discard pile for every paw print behind the lead runner.
2. Move the Bear the total number of spaces indicated by the drawn cards, or until the Bear overtakes a runner.
3. Return all of the cards from the discard pile to the bottom of the runner deck. Pass the bear's turn marker to the right. Now start a new round!