Greg Costikyan reviewed "White Bear & Red Moon" in "Ares Magazine" #1, rating it an 8 out of 9. Costikyan commented that ""White Bear & Red Moon" is less a game than a description of an entire culture. In a short rulebook, it provides an insight into the religions, governments, and ideologies of whole peoples; descriptions of weird and imaginative alien races; the rationales for several competing kinds of magic; and the biographies of the greatest heroes of the age. Further, despite its occasional awkwardnesses, "White Bear & Red Moon" is an enjoyable and fast-playing game."