The origins of Grizzly go way back to about 1980, when a friend of mine took out a game called "Teufelsdreieck" (that's German for "Devil's Triangle") from a public library. The players had dice-propelled ships which following a circuit of harbours transported goods for points. An unspectacular proposition, had it not been for the game's flashy protagonist: "The Cloud"! This highly original gadget was pivoted on a stand with a hole in the middle, allowing for rotation and precise positioning on the board co-ordinates. Underneath, the cloud was equipped with several magnets. If I now tell you that the ships had little metal inlays at the top, can you guess what happened whenever a ship was completely "overshadowed" by the cloud? Yep, a sinister "clack!" bore witness to the loss of yet another victim to the ominous Bermuda phenomenon.

I should add that the killer cloud's movements and rotation were determined by chance and not controllable by the players. It was indeed a pretty convincing representation of the violent, hostile forces of nature!
Since we had to return "Teufelsdreieck" to the library, the game's long-term appeal remained untested. I rather suspect that once the cloud's novelty value had worn thin, the players' possibilities of strategical and tactical decision-making would have turned out to be somewhat too limited for my taste. The cloud's excessive unpredictability and mobility, resulting in a high degree of chance in the naval mayhem, made "Teufelsdreieck" light gaming fare.
However, intrigued by the original concept, I immediately began work on my own version. Copying cloud and ships was quickly discarded. I wanted a more structured setting, and when I remembered having had this little fellow

ever since my childhood, it became suddenly clear that it had to be a landscape infested with killer bears! Far-fetched? Well, have you ever asked yourself what would happen if it weren't for the moat or the bars between you and a wild predator in the zoo? And if your idea of grizzlies is one of berry-munching giant cuddly toys, you may want to check out what happened to poor John Petranyi, on his ill-fated stroll through the Rocky Mountains.

It didn't take me long to come up with the basic game engine and a first workable prototype. While there have been a number of tweaks and additions over the years (most notably the option to hunt the bears, introduced in 1993), the game has changed remarkably little over the years.