Wingspan publisher Stonemaier’s new board game, Apiary, is full of bees

Stonemaier Games has announced the next boardgame in their series, entitled Apiary, and it’s about sentient spacefaring bees. After an unexpected leak on the internet, a high-concept name was announced in company newsletters Wednesday. You might think the idea is a little too far-fetched, but Jamey Stgmaier’s visionary founder will not let you down. His wacky ideas are known to have a lasting impact on the industry.

St. Louis-based Stonemaier has built its business on a string of unusual hits, beginning with 2016’s Scythe, Stegmaier created the design himself. The asymmetrical strategy game takes place in an alternate history version of 1920s Europe created by a singular Polish artist named Jakub Różalski. This game includes scenes from rural life that are juxtaposed with giant diesel-powered robots. Różalski’s work has since been turned into a real-time strategy video game, a short film by Neil Blomkamp, and a handful of successful expansions to Scythe itself. The success of this game helped revive a niche in the hobby gaming industry that was dominated by hardcore gamers, giving new life to old titles. Twilight ImperiumThe seeding of the market with new games Oath: Chroncles Of Empire And Exile.

When? Scythe turned heads mostly among diehard hobbyists, Stonemaier’s next hit game, WingspanIt has gained a lot of popularity. Designed by Elizabeth Hargrave, the ornithology-based game won the 2019 Kennerspiel des Jahres, one of board gaming’s most prestigious awards. WingspanHargrave has been covered by both. The New York Times, The New Yorker, National Public Radio — even the National Audubon Society. Stonemaier has said publicly it’s sold more than one million copies — an astonishing number for an independently-produced board game.

So in light of its other successes, Stonemaier’s game about gigantic, thinking bees colonizing other planets in our galaxy doesn’t seem all that odd. Created by rookie designer Connie Vogelmann with art by Kwanchai Moriya, the game has been in development for over two years with Stonemaier’s help. It will take 60-90 mins for 1-5 people to experience the universe. It’s a far cry from the multi-hour epic that is a good game of ScytheThe gameplay is a little more frantic than the previous games. Wingspan.

Here’s the official description from the announcement:

In a distant future, the Earth will no longer be inhabited by humans. Their disappearance or demise is still unknown. However, their absence has left an empty void that can be filled by other sentient species. In untold numbers of generations, a species of humble honeybee evolved in order to fill the void. The honeybees grew both in size and intellect to become an advanced society.

You can also find out more about the following: Apiary […]EEach player is in charge of one unique faction. You start the game as a faction with a worker bee, some resources and a hive. A worker-placement, hivebuilding challenge awaits you: explore planets, gather resources, develop technologies, and create carvings to demonstrate your faction’s strengths (measured in victory points) over one year’s Flow. The Dearth is fast approaching, but your workers have only a limited number of actions left before they are forced to hibernate.

Noteworthy is that ApiaryThe game will combine two very popular mechanics that are common in modern board games. First, player placement requires that players use a small number of pawns in order to complete multiple tasks. This may lead to direct conflict between players. Engine building is the second option, where players use a collection of carefully selected cards and tokens to create the best system possible for collecting victory points at the end of the match. ApiaryThis game features the same kind of random beginning as that found in ScythePlayers can create their own unique playthroughs by selecting randomly generated beehives and beef factions.

Get Early Access to the Latest Editions ApiaryOnline orders will begin around that time, and shipments to North American destinations throughout October. European orders are processed a bit later. You can download the FAQ, as well as the rules. Stegmaier responded to questions from fans on YouTube on Wednesday.