Honey bees are one of the most important pollinators we have on Earth, keeping them safe is currently one of our biggest challenges but it’s something we shouldn’t take too lightly. Pollinating over hundred crops, a world without bees would be a lot less green and less healthy for humans. The importance of the bee is something we learn our children at home or in schools. Instead of raising them to be afraid of the nasty sting, we learn them to take care of the little miracle workers, we teach them to cherish them and let them explore the world freely. In Bee Simulator, you’ll be able to truly understand why bees play such a crucial role in our ecosystem.
An educational game
Right from the start of my hands-on experience at Gamescom 2019, it got clear that Bee Simulator isn’t your typical game. You’re not here to fly around as fast as possible or to knock down other bees, trying to score most points possible. No, Bee Simulator is all about having fun without worrying if you’ll make it out alive. The controls are kept simple and straightforward and the premise of being unable to die will relieve a lot of gamers while playing. Bee Simulator is aimed at those who want to learn more about the magnificent world of the bees, especially targeted at the younger ages, I see a lot of potential in this game.
Being a teacher in my daily life, I immediately noticed the strong potential a game like this has. While flying around, pollinating several flowers, you’ll learn how to recognize differences between these flowers and you’ll eventually learn what’s the power of each and every flower. There’s a huge amount of flowers in the game and just during my short session with the game, it’s amazing to see how true to life the biodiversity was tackled. With every new flower you touch, you’ll learn something new, the game keeps track of everything you interact with, learning you everything you need to know about different flowers and animals you’ll come across with while playing. This vast amount of information is translated into a lot of languages right from release later this year. Everyone will be able to learn a lot about the world of bees by simply playing this unique game.
A relaxing game
Besides the educational aspect of Bee Simulator, this still is a fun game to play since there’s literally nothing you should worry about. The developer made it so that you simply can’t die if you face some of the bee’s natural enemies, and your goal is always clearly indicated with a colorful pillar of light. It’s easy to navigate in the world of Bee Simulator and the experience has something mesmerizing about it. Flying around feels very intuitive thanks to the simple controls, you’ll take off in no time. Flying from flower to flower, returning to the stellar hive filled with golden honey… There’s something about Bee Simulator that just captivates all your attention while playing.
The team also shared the ‘end-game’ which you’ll unlock after clearing the main adventure. Once you played through the campaign, you can roam freely in the gorgeous world, situated in Central Park, New York City. Accompanied by the music of Mikolai Stroinsk, who worked on The Witcher franchise earlier, you know you’re in for a relaxing journey across the skies. It’s a nice bonus to the educational campaign and I’m pretty sure a lot of gamers will love losing themselves into the thrilling life of a bee.
Co-op fun for everyone
The last segment of the game I got to see today was the co-op experience. Playable with up to four players, Bee Simulator invites other players to join in on the fun. Playing together is fun but you’re never competing against each other. Sure, you can challenge the other players with rather small tasks but in the end, you’ll never reach your goals without teamwork. There’s an important lesson to learn here as well. The hive can’t survive without the bee but the bee can’t survive without the hive either, both need each other to progress and if you don’t work together, you’ll never reach your goals. The co-op experience is a fun one and I’m especially curious for the Nintendo Switch version of this as the system allows for an instant multiplayer session easily.
Early conclusion:
I’m convinced in Bee Simulator as a product since it really offers something different. It found the right balance between educational and fun. Yes, you’ll learn a lot while playing but it never gets boring, the gameplay itself is rather solid and the campaign might offer something completely new for a lot of gamers. In a couple of months we’ll find out if the final product remained this good but for now, I really have high hopes for this unique simulator!
