Katmai: The Bears of Brooks River Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • River Tile Spotlight
  • Bear Card Spotlight
• How to Play
  • Phase 1 - Prepare
  • Initiative Token Spotlight
  • Phase 2 - Play Cards
    • Play Cards Example
  • Phase 3 - Place Beeples
    • Bear Cub Token Spotlight
    • Place Beeples Example
  • Phase 3 - Catch Salmon
    • Objective Card Spotlight
    • Catch Salmon Example 1
    • Catch Salmon Example 2
• End of Game
• Scoring
  • Scoring Example
• Bear Abilities
  • Dent & Marge
  • Diver & Headbob
  • Divot & Weevil
  • Flo & Milkshake
  • Lefty & Otis
  • Sara & Amelia
• Quick Reference
  • 1 Prepare
  • 2 Play Cards
  • 3 Place Beeples / Catch Salmon
  • 4 Clean-Up
  • Card Icons
  • Ability Icons
  • River Tile Icons

Components

• 12 Sandy bear cards
• 12 Cinnamon bear cards
• 2 bear cub tokens (1 per player)
• 24 bear meeples (beeples) (12 per player)
• 48 salmon tokens (24 per player)
• 1 initiative token
• 15 double-sided objective cards
• 7 double-sided river tiles

Setup

1. Arrange the river tiles in a single row between both players. The tiles should all follow the same direction of flow as indicated on each tile.
2. Each player takes one of the two bear decks, either Cinnamon or Sandy, and places it in front of them.
3. Each player takes the 12 beeples, 24 salmon tokens and the bear cub token matching their deck.
4. Choose a challenge type: circle or diamond.
   • Circle: for a slightly lighter game. Select a letter between A and H, find all 4 objective cards that share that label, and arrange them face up in the area upstream of the river tiles.
   • Diamond: for a slightly more challenging game. Randomly select 3 one-diamond, 2 two-diamond and 1 three-diamond objective cards and arrange them face up in the area upstream of the river tiles.
5. Flip the initiative token like a coin. The other player calls "Paw" or "Naw". Catch the token and reveal which image is face up - the paw or nothing (naw). If the image matches what the player called out, they take the initiative token. Otherwise the player who flipped the token takes it.

Now you're ready to play!

River Tile Spotlight

Each river tile is divided into four spaces, each with a particular type of fishing feature, indicated by the following icons: deep pool, shallows, waterfall, eddy (small whirlpool), rocks. Each tile also shows the direction the river flows (upstream / downstream).

Note: River tile spaces count as adjacent across tiles.

Bear Card Spotlight

Each card shows a real-life Alaska brown bear that has been observed fishing along Brooks River. A card shows:

• Dominance: a bear's base dominance.
• Sow icon: indicates this is a sow (adult female bear).
• Name: this bear's name.
• Ability: details the card's ability.
• Ability icon: indicates this card's ability.

How to Play

The game is played over a series of rounds. Each round has four phases:

1. Prepare
2. Play cards
3. Place beeples and catch salmon
4. Clean up

The game ends if, at the end of a round, either player has two or fewer beeples in supply OR one player has played at least 4 more beeples than their opponent.

Phase 1 - Prepare

1. Each player shuffles their deck of 12 bear cards, places them face-down in front of them, and removes 2 from the top, setting them aside without looking at them. They won't be used this round.
2. Each player draws 2 cards from the top of their deck to form their hand.

Initiative Token Spotlight

The player with the initiative token is the starting player. The starting player must place their card first (see Phase 2 - Play Cards).

Before choosing their card, the starting player can choose to give the initiative token to the other player, forcing the other player to become the starting player.

When a player is given the initiative token, they cannot give it to the other player until their next turn, i.e. after they have drawn a new card.

The initiative token also affects who can place a bear cub token first during Phase 3 as well as the order in which bear abilities resolve.

Note: Forcing the other player to play first can often give you an advantage. Choosing when to do this can end up being an important strategy to keep in mind.

Phase 2 - Play Cards

1. Starting with the player with the initiative token, each player chooses one of the cards in their hand and plays it face down against one of the river tiles on their side of the river.

   Note: A maximum of 3 cards from each player can be played against the same river tile during a round.

2. Players simultaneously flip over and reveal their played cards. Revealed cards will remain face-up until the end of the round.

3. If a card has an ability and is marked with a trigger icon, that ability is resolved immediately, beginning with the player with the initiative token (see Bear Abilities).

4. Each player then draws a new card from the top of their respective decks.

This phase continues until players have placed all 10 cards and resolved all their abilities.

Play Cards Example

1. Cinnamon has previously played Holly against a tile. They have the initiative token, so they choose a card from their hand (Milkshake) and play it face down against an adjacent river tile. Sandy decides to play Norman face down opposite Milkshake because they too want a fishing spot on that tile.
2. Players simultaneously flip their cards, revealing their bears. Cinnamon has the initiative token, so their card's ability triggers first.
3. Using Milkshake's power, Cinnamon moves Holly across from the right on top of Milkshake to boost their dominance at this tile to 5, currently higher than Norman's 4. Sandy's Norman doesn't have an ability.

Both Cinnamon and Sandy draw another card from the top of their decks and keep playing.

Phase 3 - Place Beeples

1. Starting with the river tile that is furthest upstream, players add up the dominance value of all their cards played against that river tile, factoring in any abilities affecting dominance values.
2. The player whose cards have the highest total dominance against a river tile may place one of their beeples on that tile in any unoccupied space, as long as they have beeples remaining.
3. Check to see if the beeple meets any of the objectives at the head of the river (see Catch Salmon).
4. Moving downstream, repeat this for each river tile until you reach the end of the river.

Bear Cub Token Spotlight

Bear cub tokens are used as dominance tiebreakers.

When players work out their total dominance during the Place Beeples phase, a player who has a card with a sow icon against the river tile may place their bear cub token on that card to break the tie. This token cannot be used again until the next round.

The player with the initiative token may place their bear cub token first, if at all. A player cannot place a bear cub token on a card if any of the other player's bears on the opposite side of the river tile already has a bear cub token on it.

When a tie exists but no token is used to break the tie, neither player places a beeple on the tile.

Place Beeples Example

1. Sandy has placed two cards (Flo and Brett), each with a dominance value of 2, against the river tile, for a total dominance of 4.
2. While Cinnamon's cards (Diver and Weevil) have dominance values of 3 and 1, they both have abilities that change them. Diver is against a river tile with an unoccupied deep pool, so his ability changes his dominance value to 5.
3. Weevil's dominance value changes to 4 because both players have the same number of cards played against this tile. This means Cinnamon has a total dominance of 9 against Sandy's total dominance of 4.
4. Since Cinnamon has the highest total dominance, they get to place 1 beeple in any unoccupied space on the tile. They choose to add their beeple to the empty space with the eddy, as this will help them with one of the objectives in play.

(Diver's dominance is 5 when placed against a tile with any unoccupied deep pool. Weevil's dominance is 4 if both players have the same number of cards against this tile.)

Phase 3 - Catch Salmon

1. Each time you place a beeple, check the objective cards upstream to see if the placement means you satisfy any of the objective cards' requirements.

2. If a player satisfies the requirements shown on an objective card, they place salmon tokens of their color on the objective card, equal to the number indicated by that objective.

   Objectives with the bonus icon have features that score bonus salmon. If a player satisfies the objective AND one of the beeples used occupies the bonus feature, that player places one additional salmon token on the relevant objective card.

   Only 1 bonus salmon can be earned each time an objective card is satisfied.

3. A beeple may be used to satisfy more than one objective, but can never score for the same objective more than once.

Note: Objective cards marked with the end-of-game icon are scored at the end of the game.

Already scored objectives can never be reversed or un-scored.

Objective Card Spotlight

Each objective card has a goal as well as a number of salmon tokens it is worth. A card shows its name (e.g. Everybear), its salmon value, its visual requirement (e.g. "Occupy the most tiles with 2 or more of your beeples."), a space that must have your beeple, a space that cannot have any of your beeples, the objective group (e.g. B C), and the bonus feature (+1 salmon token).

Beeple placements on objective cards don't need to match the visuals exactly.

Catch Salmon Example 1

1. Cinnamon places the circled beeple this round. They now occupy two rock spaces, satisfying the "On the Rocks" objective (Occupy any 2 rocks spaces; worth 1 salmon). Cinnamon therefore places 1 salmon token on it.
2. Cinnamon now also has beeples surrounding Sandy's beeple, satisfying the "Box In" objective card (Occupy 3 spaces that are all adjacent to a single opponent beeple; worth 2 salmon). Cinnamon therefore places 2 salmon tokens on it.

Catch Salmon Example 2

1. Sandy places the circled beeple this round.
2. This means the placed beeple and the three running alongside it upstream satisfy the Parade objective card. Sandy places 3 salmon tokens on the objective card. One of those beeples is also occupying a space that has a rocks feature, satisfying the bonus feature and earning Sandy another 1 salmon token.
3. Sandy's placement also matches the "Steady Eddy" objective card, however, there is a beeple of theirs where there cannot be, preventing that objective from being satisfied.
4. Sandy's placed beeple and another beeple downstream satisfy the "Poolside" objective card. Sandy places 1 salmon token on that objective card. Neither of the beeples is occupying a deep pool space, so the bonus is not satisfied.

Phase 4 - Clean-Up

After scoring the last beeples in a round:

• Take back all bear cards and the bear cub token.
• Leave all beeples in place.
• Return the two set-aside bear cards to your deck.

End of Game

At the end of clean-up, check if the game has finished.

• At the end of a round, if you have at least 4 more beeples placed than your opponent, you win immediately.
• At the end of a round, if you have 0, 1 or 2 beeples left in your supply after the Catch Salmon Phase, the game ends immediately, and you move on to scoring.

Scoring

1. Check to see if the objective card marked with the end-of-game icon is scored and assign salmon tokens accordingly.
2. Each player then adds up how many total salmon they have on all objective cards. The player with the highest number of salmon wins.
3. If there is a tie, the player with the most beeples placed along the river tiles wins. If there is still a tie, both players win!

Scoring Example

At the end of a claw-biting game:

Cinnamon has 1 token on "Steady Eddy", 3 tokens on "Pawsitive Vibes", and 3 tokens on "Parade", giving them a total of 7.

Sandy has 1 token on "Steady Eddy", 2 tokens on "Pawsitive Vibes" and 3 tokens on "Parade", giving them a total of 6.

Cinnamon wins with 7 salmon!

Bear Abilities

Many of the bears of Brooks River have unique abilities that are reflected in the game. Abilities marked with a trigger icon trigger immediately (following initiative order) while those in red indicate dominance values that change depending on other factors.

Bear	Base dominance	Ability
Dent	1	Your opponent's least dominant bear against this tile has a dominance of 0.
Marge	1	Your opponent's least dominant bear against this tile has a dominance of 0.
Diver	3	Diver's dominance is 5 when placed against a tile with any unoccupied deep pool.
Headbob	3	Headbob's dominance is 5 when placed against a tile with any unoccupied waterfall.
Divot	1	Divot's dominance is 4 if both players have the same number of cards against this tile.
Weevil	1	Weevil's dominance is 4 if both players have the same number of cards against this tile.
Flo	2	You may move any one of your played cards onto Flo.

Dent & Marge

This card's ability affects only the least dominant of the cards that your opponent has played against the same river tile as it. That card's dominance is instead 0. If your opponent has two or more cards that are tied for least dominant, only one card is affected by this ability. You choose which card is affected. As more cards are played at the river tile, the newly played cards could become the least dominant. In this way, Dent and Marge's ability could affect different cards throughout the round. This ability always triggers after all other abilities.

Diver & Headbob

This card's dominance is 5 when played against a tile with an unoccupied deep pool / waterfall. If that feature is not on the tile, or is occupied by a beeple of either player, this card's dominance is 3 when against that tile.

Divot & Weevil

This card's dominance is 4 if played against a tile where both players have played the same number of cards. If the number of cards played by each player against its tile is different, this card's dominance is 1.

Flo & Milkshake

You may move one of your played cards onto this card. If you have the initiative token and your opponent also played a card with an ability, your opponent's ability would trigger only after you move one of your played cards (or decide not to move a card). The river tile's 3-card limit still applies, so if this is the third card played against the river tile, you cannot move a card onto it.

Lefty & Otis

This card's dominance is the same as the dominance of the card on top of it. If there is no card on top of it, this card has no dominance value. Because this card does not have its own dominance value, its dominance cannot be directly targeted by another bear's ability. However, if the dominance of the card on top of it is altered, its dominance is also altered. Neither Lefty nor Otis can win dominance on their own.

Sara & Amelia

You may move your opponent's topmost card opposite this card from this tile to a tile of your choice. If you have the initiative token and you move an opponent's card that has also been played this turn, the card's ability triggers only after you have moved it. This ability doesn't trigger again until a new round begins.

Quick Reference

1 Prepare

• Draw 2 cards from the top of your deck and set them aside without looking at them. They won't be used this round.
• Draw 2 cards from the top of your deck to your hand.

2 Play Cards

• Starting with the player with initiative, choose one of the cards in your hand and place it face down against one of the river tiles.
• Simultaneously flip over and reveal your played cards.
• Resolve any card abilities with the trigger icon immediately, beginning with the player with initiative.
• Draw a new card from your respective decks.
• Continue with this phase until players have placed all their cards and resolved all their abilities.

3 Place Beeples / Catch Salmon

• For each river tile, determine which player is dominant. That player can place a single beeple in an unoccupied space. To break ties, players may place their cub tokens on cards with a sow icon.
• Each time you place a beeple, check the objective cards to see if the placement means you meet any of the objective cards' requirements.
• If you meet the requirements shown on an objective card, place salmon tokens of your color on the objective card, equal to the number indicated by that objective card. Some objectives have features that score bonus salmon.

4 Clean-Up

• Take back all bear cards.
• Take back both bear cub tokens.
• Shuffle your 2 set-aside cards back into your decks and remove 2 new cards from the deck.
• Leave all beeples on the river tiles.
• Don't change the initiative holder.

Card Icons

• A card's dominance value.
• Indicates that this bear can have a cub token placed on it.

Ability Icons

• You may immediately move one of your played cards onto this card.
• You may immediately move your opponent's topmost card against this tile to a tile of your choice.
• Higher dominance is linked to a tile with a specific, unoccupied fishing spot.
• This bear has a dominance of 4 if both players have the same number of cards played against this river tile.
• Your opponent's least dominant bear has a dominance of 0 while opposite this one. If cards are tied for dominance, you choose one.
• This bear's dominance is the same as the dominance of the card on top of it.

River Tile Icons

Deep pool, shallows, waterfall, eddy, rocks.