NOTE: I was given this game for review but all opinions are my own.
I’m always on the lookout for new card games. I was delighted to discover Hibernation.
Hibernation is a deck-building card game based on bears coming out of hibernation.
After sleeping all winter, bears are hungry! Eating is one of their major goals. (Eating is one of my major goals, too, but that’s beside the point . . . )
All summer long, bears eat, eat, eat so that they are ready to sleep, sleep, sleep in the winter.
So the goal of this game is for players to collect food cards. And what do bears eat? Why salmon, berries, insects, and honey!
But before a bear can eat, he must forage for his food. Players can ‘purchase’ one of these forage cards with her energy points. That card can then be ‘redeemed’ for a food card.
Here are some of the foraging cards.
When a player has enough food card points that add up to 10, she can collect a hibernation token.
But!
Sometimes all of the food has been gobbled up by other bears (players). So you can steal food — just like bears do.
Sometimes you might end up with damaged food. Yikes! (You can still ‘eat’ that food but you have to deduct 5 points from your energy total.)
Or, a player can purchase other foraging cards.
You can power nap (I like naps!) which adds to your energy total. You can pay some energy points to collect an extra honey food card. (Yum!)
You can multitask (draw 2 cards from your deck) or do a frenzy (select 2 additional options). Cool.
So, you use energy to get forage cards. You use forage cards to get food cards. You use food cards to get hibernation tokens. When a player gets 5 hibernation tokens, she wins!
That’s the game in a nutshell.
In addition to reading the directions to this game, watching this video is also helpful.
Even though this game is easy to learn, there is some strategy to it.
- Should you steal food from an opponent or add to your energy points by taking a power nap?
- What’s the best thing to do if you’re running low on energy points?
- Should you pay the extra energy points to get more honey or save your points for something else?
- Which is the best order to play my additional options when I do a frenzy?
We had never played a deck-building game before. (I guess I’m just an old geezer who doesn’t get around much . . . ) This was a fun introduction to that type of game.
This is a great family card game for tweens, teens, and adults. It’s quick to learn and fast-paced. (You don’t have to wait, and wait, and wait for your turn which is good!)
I give this game 2 thumbs up!
Hibernation is by Pied Raven Games. You can purchase the game for $10.
