Katmai: The Bears of Brooks River (Saturday Review)

As the long, dark winter looms, bears gather along the river, drawn by the promise of a feast. They fight for the best fishing spots, where leaping salmon offer a chance at survival. The strongest dominate the prime locations, while others perfect their own hunting techniques. Each catch is a battle, each meal a lifeline. Only those who have feasted well will endure in the wild heart of Katmai: The Bears of Brooks River by Peter Ridgeway from Osprey Games with illustrations from Tom Lopez.

Katmai Coming to Life

Yes, you heard it right. You’re playing as a group of bears approaching Brooks River from either side, trying to claim the best spots to catch the most salmon and as players, you literally sit opposite each other, with the river running down the middle between you. The scene is set. As each of you shuffle your decks of bear cards, you look each other up and down, maybe with a glint of determination in your eyes. After you have both removed two cards from your decks and then each drawn two into your hands, the posturing can begin. It’s time to send out the bears to stake their claims.

Sorry if I made it all sound a bit dramatic, but playing Katmai you can really imagine what goes on along the river every year. The game really brings it all to life.

It starts with the two decks of cards, or packs. They are called Cinnamon and Sandy, one being a more tan colour with the other looking much darker. Functionally, they’re both the same, but the illustrations of the bears in each deck are different. In fact, every bear card has a different illustration. The rulebook lists them all at the end, because they are based on actual bears that were spotted in Katmai National Park.

Speaking of the rulebook, I suggest you read it to the end, as it not only describes all of the bears found in the game, but also talks about the Katmai National Park and Preserve and the salmon. Most importantly though, it explains what the Katmai Conservancy is and the hugely important work it does, with a link to the organisation’s website. So it’s well worth a read.

Katmai goes a step further in bringing the annual salmon hunt to life though.

It’s a Grizzly Affair

Your goal is to claim control over specific sections of the river by playing bear cards whose dominance values add up to a higher number than your opponent’s on the other side. Whoever controls a section of a river can place a little bear meeple there, which are absolutely adorable by the way, and thereby hopefully complete objectives that give you the precious salmon that ultimately win you the game. That in itself is interesting and tells a little story, but it’s how you marshall your bears and how their dominance values work that really bring everything to life.

A lot of bears have an effect. They may allow you to chase away a bear on the opposite bank or call over one of your already-placed bears to reinforce that section of the river. Some bears don’t even have any intrinsic dominance value, but it depends on what other bears are with them. It’s this that creates the story. As you play your cards and move bears around, you can really imagine the scene.

For example, the Cinnamon pack may think that they safely claimed a certain section of the river, but when Sara from your Sandy pack arrives, she drives one of the opposing bears away, leaving the pack in a much more precarious position. Or maybe Lefty from your pack tentatively found a quieter spot along the river, but as a very shy bear who was born with a short left ear, he won’t be able to defend it by himself. His dominance value is zero until another bear joins him, at which point his dominance is the same as the other bear’s.

You can really imagine the real-life manoeuvring and jostling that goes on in Katmai every year.

The Everchanging River

Of course, if you prefer, you can play Katmai as an abstract game that is about knowing what cards are left in your deck, selecting the best of the two cards in your hand and deciding where to place it to complete the objectives. Knowing which cards are left isn’t too difficult, given the decks consist of only 12 cards, even if you aren’t much of a card counter yourself.

Despite there only being 12 cards, the shuffle of the deck creates a different challenge every round and the river, consisting itself of 7 double-sided tiles that you mix up for every game, adds to the variability. So no two games are likely going to be same, especially if you play with the same person, because the more you play, both of you will adapt your strategies, forcing you to adapt yours.

Katmai certainly scratches my pattern-matching itch, because of the objectives that reward you for placing your meeple bear tokens in certain ways to score salmon. It also appeals to my strategic and tactical mind, because every turn I have to choose one of the two cards in my hand and find the best place for it. The game also very much appeals to my story-telling brain, allowing me to imagine how the bears arrive at the river and change things with their presence. Finally, the beautiful artwork and lovely components make the game an absolute joy to play.

The game really ticks a lot of boxes and it’s not only quick to set up and easy to teach, but also quick to play, making it the perfect two-player experience. So why don’t you try and catch yourself a meaty salmon and visit Katmai: The Bears of Brooks River yourself?

Useful Links

• Katmai: The Bears of Brooks River: https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/katmai-9781472867353/
• Rulebook: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/290154/katmai-rulebook
• Osprey Games: https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/osprey-games/
• BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/419908/katmai-the-bears-of-brooks-river
• Katmai Conservancy: https://katmaiconservancy.org/

Videos

Transparency Facts

I feel that this review reflects my own, independent and honest opinion, but the facts below allow you to decide whether you think that I was influenced in any way. Please also read my Ethics Statement for more information.

• I bought and paid for the game myself.
• At the time of writing, I have not received financial support from the publisher or anyone working on their behalf.

Audio Version

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

Sound Effects: bbc.co.uk – © copyright 2025 BBC

Nature Spirit ( LoFi , Chill ) by HoliznaPATREON is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Playlist

These are the songs I listened to while I was writing this review: