Table game art is often the most expensive part of development. An example of this is the success of Stronghold Games’ recent campaign for more Terraforming Marswho, despite making over $2.2 million on Kickstarter for a Target, Walmart franchise, And Amazon has chosen to use content generated by artificial intelligence instead of humans. Stonemaier Games, the publisher of Wingspancontinues to take the higher road.
Take the company’s breakthrough, for example Scythe. The seed of the idea came not from a rambunctious playtesting session in a back room, but from an article about the art of Polish artist Jakub Różalski. Its striking pastoral scenes mixed with dieselpunk mechs caused a stir when they were first shown on Kotaku. Scythe would become one of the most successful board games of the past decade.
Of Apiary, Stonemaier has once again fully committed to high-quality, human-generated art. The high-concept, non-confrontational gameplay is excellent. But it hides the light of its artist, the incredible Kwanchai Moriya, under a bushel basket. Or better said: a beehive.
Apiary is a cooperative, tile-based strategy game where players compete for the crown as the most productive member of a colony of sentient space-faring bees. Like Scythe, it’s asymmetrical, meaning everyone at the table has a slightly different set of powers and goals. It takes its thematic cues from the real world melittology. It is a science that has fascinated people since the dawn of civilization, and is becoming increasingly important in the age of rapid and unchanging climate change. Players move from planet to planet, collect resources and expand their colony. There’s even a little gimmick where you can teach the other bees a dance, creating your own mechanically unique way to generate victory points for the endgame.
While playing with a local gaming group recently, I actually learned something about how bees and beehives work, which is an odd thing to say about a board game. And that’s a testament to its creator, aspiring game designer Connie Vogelmann (who recently contributed to our special year-end board game roundup), whose passion for the subject shows in spades. But the way the art is implemented, both on the game board and on the playing pieces, largely obscures the incredible work Moriya has done.
How can highly advanced bees move in zero gravity? What do their spaceships look like? What kind of extra-vehicle space equipment do they use as they walk through a strange new world for the first time? How and where exactly do they pay tribute to St. Louis’ Gateway Arch (an Easter egg featured in many Stonemaier games) when they get there? Moriya has done the work and created dozens of illustrations of these mighty bees in their daily lives. But the small chips that hold that art obscure most of that work with text and graphics. Even the expansive art on the game board itself, with a large, coherent scene of bees working on their colony in space, becomes largely invisible when you place all the game pieces on top of it.
As far as gameplay goes, it’s a delight. The asymmetrical nature of Apiary and the sheer amount of components, some of which remain in the box every time you put it on the table, means you’re unlikely to have the same experience every time you play. Meanwhile, the plastic bee-shaped pawns – which rotate during the game to reflect their strength against the other bees in the colony – are a charming mechanical tweak. But the graphic design is a bit of a mess. And that’s a shame, at least as far as I can tell. Moriya really rose to the challenge this time.
Stonemaier, much like Free League on the role-playing side of the tabletop industry, has clearly spared no expense in this production. The game contains not one, not two, but three sturdy instruction booklets printed on linen paper And a double-sided manual created specifically to teach the game to new players. The plastic pack-in is custom made with small pockets to sort all the tiles. There’s even a notch so the game board doesn’t shift, but all the parts stay neatly organized when the top of the box goes back on. Finish it off with those new bee-shaped miniatures and it’s an excellent value at $75 with plenty of replayability, including a single-player mode.
Clearly, the decision to use tiles rather than cards as the vehicle for Moriya’s art plays a role in the scale of his illustrations as they are presented. After all, if they weren’t all small hexagonal tiles, the game board wouldn’t look like a beehive. I understand. But as a result, the game board also looks a bit like a giant space-based spreadsheet that was once loaded with tiles.
I would have liked to see a more unconventional design, perhaps one with multiple game boards. It would also have been interesting to see all of the player’s bees land on the board in one tightly packed area, just as they do in the various beehives found around me. You could even point an iPhone at that part of the board, which will provide a nice time-lapse video of the busy bees in your game.
Right now, though, I’m choosing nits. The game is excellent, easy to learn and rewards multiple playthroughs. It’s one of those rare games that allows for both deep concentration and friendly conversations. Plus, I’ve become excited to learn more about it Wyrmspan — the spiritual successor of Wingspan arriving later this year. The designer? None other than newcomer experienced game designer Connie Vogelmann.
Apiary is currently available directly from Stonemaier Gameson Amazon, and at your friendly local game store. It was reviewed using a retail copy from Stonemaier Games. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.