Bearnard

Bearnard (2024) is a running and jumping game where you play a bear who can use cards to exploit the environment and defeat enemies. By using the right cards in combination, you can deal extra damage to your opponents or use the game's physics system to smash obstacles into them. It may look like a straightforward platform game, but the turn-based challenge of maximising each card's impact on the world's physics makes for a novel adventure.

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You play Bearnard the lazy bear, who awakes to find his father, the protector of the forest, missing and a looming presence threatening the forest. You must overcome your laziness and embark on a grand adventure through the woods to find your father and vanquish evil, with your trusty friend Blue the owl at your side. Your adventure sees you face off against gnomes, skeletons, and other nasty foes over three different locations.

Play involves running and jumping through the world and using your bow to shoot. When you meet enemies, you enter a turn-based battle system and must use your weapon to defeat them. In addition to direct shots, you can also hit objects and destroy parts of the terrain to cause objects to collide and hurt your opponents.

As you progress, you find cards you can use to help you, such as special arrow types which can be used sequentially to create powerful combinations, as well as shields, teleportation spells, and more. Deducing how best to use your cards and the environment to win is key, and gradually perfecting each action is part of the fun.

The result is a game that subverts its platforming with card-combo tactical combat. Finding a novel way to defeat an enemy, be it by throwing a barrel into them or ricocheting an arrow off a wall, is a great reward for outside-the-box thinking.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Bearnard 5 weeks ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 4 weeks ago.