Wojtek the Bear

Miś Wojtek — "Wojtek the Bear" in English — is a family board game with a rich historical background, telling the story of Poland's "soldier bear" Wojtek (pronounced like "VOY-tek") who shared the complicated fate of Poles deported from Poland deep into Russia during World War II.

In September 1939, Poland was attacked by its neighbors: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Poland was conquered and divided between the invaders. Many Poles were expelled and sent to forced labor camps or sent to remote areas of the Soviet Union. Then, in a surprise move in 1941, the German army invaded the USSR. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, agreed to create an army from the Polish soldiers who had been held in Soviet camps. Following the deterioration of Polish-Soviet relations in March 1942, these Polish soldiers and civilians left the USSR under the command of General Anders to support British allies in the fight against Germany.

On their way from the Soviet Union to Iran, Polish soldiers bought a small, malnourished bear from a hungry Persian boy. They named the bear "Wojtek" and enlisted him in the army, complete with military papers and the rank of private.

Wojtek remained with the soldiers throughout their difficult journey from Iran, through Palestine, Egypt, and Italy to Scotland. He shared their ups and downs, their joys and sorrows, giving them many opportunities to smile and helping them when in need. He guarded the equipment, and during the battle of Monte Cassino, he even carried heavy ammunition boxes.

The players join Wojtek the bear and the Polish II Corps on their journey from the USSR to Edinburgh, Scotland. Along the way, they collect souvenirs related to the fate of General Anders's soldiers and their famous bear. The aim of the game is to collect the best set of memorabilia!

At the beginning of the game, players receive five travel cards and a bear pawn. Players take turns in clockwise order. On a turn, the active player plays a travel card with a truck and moves their pawn to the next (closest) empty space in the color of the card played. Then the player takes one bear card from the board, from the box with the same color as the color of the space to which their pawn moved. Finally, the player refills their travel card hand up to five cards, and ends their turn.

To move their pawn, the players may also play wild cards with a walking bear (which allows them to move to a space of any color as long as they don't pass another pawn) or play three travel cards in the same color in order to name any color and move to the next (closest) empty space in the chosen color.

At the moment when the first pawn reaches Edinburgh or any player has a complete set of bear cards (six different cards of the same type), the last round of the game begins.

After ending the last round, players score their bear cards. Players sort their cards into sets. Each set must have the same type of cards, with no repeated cards. The largest possible set is a complete set of six different cards in one color. The player with the largest set wins.

A note on language dependency: The game is almost fully bilingual: Some components (city cards, game board) are double-sided, with English on one side and Polish on the other side. Other game elements are language independent. Both English and Polish rulebooks are provided in the box.