I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords

September 11, 2023 12:08 PM

Apiary is a worker-placement game in which players choose one of twenty unique factions of hyper-intelligent bees to gather resources, develop technologies and explore new planets.

This will be the upcoming release from Stonemaier Games, publisher of popular classics such as Wingspan, Tapestry, Scythe and Viticulture. As is the case with many Stonemaier Games, an automata mode is included.

Personally, it looks a lot to me like a blend of Terraforming Mars, Scythe and Viticulture, which sounds like a good time to me.

posted by vverse23 (10 comments total)

Bonus content: AMA with the game designer
posted by vverse23 at 12:11 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

:clicks through:

Ah, a board game. Good to know.

Looks fun.
posted by Quasirandom at 12:57 PM on September 11, 2023 [4 favorites]

Art by Kwanchai & space bees are both great come-ons! Gonna have to wait for reviews, no Donnybrook, and then for it to come back into stock.
posted by Going To Maine at 1:26 PM on September 11, 2023

Can't wait for the Yuggoth expansion
posted by I-Write-Essays at 3:16 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Not actually released yet it seems.

Stonemaier has a pretty good track record, so will be soon I suspect.
posted by Windopaene at 4:46 PM on September 11, 2023

They like to keep things under wraps until the last moment with new products.
From the Game page on the Stonemaier website:

Estimated Schedule

September 6: announcement and beginning of design diaries
October 2: first day for reviewers and content creators to share their thoughts on the game
October 4: product launch on the Stonemaier webstore (followed by shipping over the next few days/weeks) and at Essen Spiel
late November: worldwide retail release
posted by fFish at 5:43 PM on September 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Apiary made it to #1 on The Hotness on BoardGameGeek earlier today. She is currently the only female designer with a game in the top 20.
posted by Etrigan at 7:29 PM on September 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was worried this was going to be another of Jamey Stegmaier's designs; I find his games to be rather bland, relying on theme to carry one through mechanics that make games feel samey from session to session. (There's a reason Wingspan was the company's biggest hit.) But it's not his, so I'm curious, at least.
posted by mightygodking at 11:05 PM on September 11, 2023

Awwwww snap! Wingspan is the family favorite, so seeing Stonemaier etc makes me hopeful. There are many ways to win a game of Wingspan, which keeps it fresh. I chalked that up to having women designers/tacticians. I am not qualified to back the thesis up… but it makes me happy to see that again too.
posted by drowsy at 5:17 AM on September 12, 2023 [1 favorite]

Designer Connie Vogelmann reveals core question at the heart of the Apiary: “What if your workers aged and died?”
posted by Etrigan at 7:55 AM on September 22, 2023