In this InsideGMT article, I’ll give some historical comments on a few (but not all) of the strategy cards. I want to unpack the events and people at play behind these cards so you can better appreciate what they represent. But this is a high-level overview of the historical background, and detail here is sacrificed in the pursuit of brevity.

Note that this the second part of a two-part series of InsideGMT articles about the cards in Bear Trap—in the first part, I discussed how the different cards work and what the deck compositions look like in the game.

If you have trouble reading the card text on the card graphics presented here, take a look at the second page of the Bear Trap player aid, which can be found on the GMT webpage for the game, as the card text for all strategy cards can be found there. (And note that the cards depicted here are playtest components and still subject to possible change—including text, art, and graphic design.)

For those unfamiliar with how these strategy cards work in the game, here’s a quick overview: Each side has eight pairs of strategy cards (16 cards total). During setup each player will choose one strategy card and add it to their deck—thereby informing their initial strategic direction. Then, each time a player reshuffles their deck, they add two additional strategy cards to their deck. This allows them to develop their overarching strategy in reaction to the changing game state. It’s also worth noting that, during setup, each player will remove a random pair of strategy cards from the game. This means that a player cannot ever rely wholly on one pair of strategy cards to be a staple of their approach to the game, as it won’t necessarily be available to them in one playthrough or the next.