Isle of Bears >> public alpha invite!
Posted: 14 September 2026, 17:49
Hello!!
Isle of Bears is a 2-player abstract strategy game with card-driven movement, stacking, and area control. The goal is simple: make your bears the top bears on every isle that still has bears on it.
At the start of the game, black bears and polar bears are mixed across four isles. On your turn, you play a card to move, swap, push, gather, or rearrange groups of bears.
One of the key ideas in Isle of Bears is that bears on the same space move together as a group. The bear on top controls that stack, so positioning and stacking are very important.
Crowding also creates danger. When too many bears gather on one space, bears may be pushed into the sea. Isles with no bears left are removed from the game, so the board gradually becomes smaller and more intense.
The game is designed to be easy to learn, but each card can change the situation in very different ways. Players need to think about when to climb higher, when to move a whole stack, and when to force the opponent into a crowded position.
The game is now available in Alpha and is looking for reviewer approval.
Reviewer page:
https://boardgamearena.com/reviewer?game=isleofbears
Game page:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=isleofbears
BGG page:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/477 ... e-of-bears
Review group page:
https://boardgamearena.com/group?id=21386689
If you are a BGA reviewer, I would really appreciate it if you could take a look and help with the approval process.
If you're not a BGA reivwer but want to playtest my game, please leave a message, and I'll add you to the alpha player group~
Thank you, and I hope you enjoy pushing some bears into the sea
Yi-Ching Chen
Isle of Bears is a 2-player abstract strategy game with card-driven movement, stacking, and area control. The goal is simple: make your bears the top bears on every isle that still has bears on it.
At the start of the game, black bears and polar bears are mixed across four isles. On your turn, you play a card to move, swap, push, gather, or rearrange groups of bears.
One of the key ideas in Isle of Bears is that bears on the same space move together as a group. The bear on top controls that stack, so positioning and stacking are very important.
Crowding also creates danger. When too many bears gather on one space, bears may be pushed into the sea. Isles with no bears left are removed from the game, so the board gradually becomes smaller and more intense.
The game is designed to be easy to learn, but each card can change the situation in very different ways. Players need to think about when to climb higher, when to move a whole stack, and when to force the opponent into a crowded position.
The game is now available in Alpha and is looking for reviewer approval.
Reviewer page:
https://boardgamearena.com/reviewer?game=isleofbears
Game page:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=isleofbears
BGG page:
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/477 ... e-of-bears
Review group page:
https://boardgamearena.com/group?id=21386689
If you are a BGA reviewer, I would really appreciate it if you could take a look and help with the approval process.
If you're not a BGA reivwer but want to playtest my game, please leave a message, and I'll add you to the alpha player group~
Thank you, and I hope you enjoy pushing some bears into the sea
Yi-Ching Chen