This is a prototype version of the game and does not represent the final quality or look of the game.
I first looked at this game when it was called Ecolapse. You can read the preview for that here. I said it was "mind-blowing," and I stand by that. It is a brilliant game. But, for whatever reason, the game did not get picked up in that form. So, designer Steve Eggleston has reformatted the game, come up with a whole new theme, and polished a few rules. The result is Beetown Beatdown.
The game plays largely the same. But gone are the troops, and in are the Bees. In what was previously a five-round game where you had to race to turn eight troops into Refuge sites three times to win; now, you turn ten Bees into Hives over three rounds. Also, previously the game system worked mainly using a tech tree that increased the power of your actions as you played. But now you simply upgrade your actions to make them more powerful. It is a cleaner and more efficient system. I do like tech trees, so it is a shame that part went. But the result is the same, and the process of developing your engine remains incredibly satisfying.
But back to the start. Beetown Beatdown, much like Ecolapse, is a race game. Who can gather resources, expand their Bees, and build their three Hives first? You only have three rounds (now broken down into Seasons) to do this. But I found that quite often more than one player would have three or more Hives by the end of the second season. As such, games were often decided by the player with the most Hives, rather than the first to three, which made for very exciting and close games. ns this race game more into a resource management game. It is a game of efficiencies. A classic euro style experience. But unlike many euros, delivered in minutes, not hours. Especially with two players. Three players will encourage more fighting and often led to the game moving into the third season. But I still found games concluding within an hour.
So, how do you play? Players take turns to perform one action. They can either use one of their four Worker Bees to carry out any of the four actions, or one of their four Drones to carry out any action that at least one of the Worker Bees has already done. Drones can perform any action, but only if they are copying something a Worker has done before. The first action for each type of Bee is free, but the second action will cost one resource, the third two, and the fourth will cost three. This is indicated by symbols revealed when you move the workers down from their starting position to the action spaces, so you won't ever forget. The Workers use Pollen, and the Drones use Nectar. Managing and gathering your resources effectively will be crucial in order to use all four possible Bees. But that will be rare in rounds one and two. The way your total number of actions is determined by your ability to manage your resources rather than the rules is something I love in games. Taking those extra turns when the other players are having to pass feels great.
Resources are gathered by collating all resources on the map that are on a hex with one of your Hives, or the hexes surrounding them. But only the hexes that either are unowned or that you own. You own a hex if you have a Bee or Hive on it. During the action phase, players can add more Bees to the board and move them around to explore new unexplored hexes, gathering more resources as they do, growing their control of the board, and increasing the resource-gathering potential for later seasons. This is an area control battle that can turn to war! This part of the game, spending resources to add Bees to the board, expand your territory, and gather more resources feels a little like Blood Rage to me. Not thematically, of course. But in the spending something to add dudes to the map - to get more resources - to have more turns. That cycle is a very satisfying thing to noodle out in your head.
If you ever move a Bee onto a space owned by another player, (either with a Bee or Hive) you must then immediately commence battle. Bees are angry little things, don't you know. This is done through very interesting new battle cards that offer all sorts of clever options. It is here that I think the game has improved the most. Previously, players had somewhat limited choices based on ten pre-set cards, consistent among all players. They were great cards, but the options were a little more limited. Now, players are dealt five random cards from a huge deck of brilliant, unique, and varied battle cards. Options to link them are everywhere. And the chance to pull off some audacious moves in battle are very high. It is a brilliant development of the game.
And just check out the fantastic character and names too!
Tell me you don't want all these characters as bobby head models!
The other option in the game on your turn is to Extract or Build. Extract means that you will permanently end a particular hex's resource-generating possibility for a one-time hit. It's a dangerous move to make too early, especially if it is near one of your hives—remember, your hives generate resources on all neighboring hexes each round. So, you need to be careful with how often you do this and where you do it. But it can be a powerful way to get the resources you need to take the one extra turn you so desperately desire.
Build is the final action, and what everything else you are doing is leading up to. There are two ways to build Hives. Either you convert ten Bees on one hex—located anywhere on the board apart from next to any existing Hive—and replace them with a juicy new Hive. You will also need to pay one Pollen for each existing Hive you have, plus one. So, later Hives do cost a fair bit. But as you only do this a few times in each game, it shouldn't be hard. And when you build one, it feels great. A real sense of achievement. The other way to build Hives is by removing eight Honey upgrades from your player board. Not the best thing to do too early, as your engine will greatly reduce in efficiencies, but a killer option for a later or final turn in the game!
And on that, let's talk about the upgrading process. At any point in the game, you can convert two Nectar into Honey. Honey can then be placed onto any of the four upgrade slots on the bottom of your board to increase the efficiency of that action for the cost of one Nectar per Honey placed You can either move extra spaces, add extra Bees when you recruit, take more resources when you extract, or reduce the cost of building a Hive. Or, as mentioned above, use them to build a Hive. It's a genius way to make use of a resource you previously used to increase your engine during the game, to then have one final use of it before the game ends. You don't see this often in games, and I wonder why. It is a brilliant feeling to pull off one final killer move.
The Honey can also be used to play extra cards during combat. You can play one card for free, and then as many as you like from your hand of five, spending one Honey for each extra card played. It is a very powerful resource, and worth investing in.
If you haven't already guessed, I still love this game and think this new version is even better than the last. I preferred the previous theme, but still like this one. I just find it looks a little childish for my own tastes - a look that doesn't suit the game for me. But the actual game, rules, mechanics, and flow are all brilliant. The final version of this game would be a 9, close to 9.5 for me. It offers so much in such a short, quick gameplay experience. The game feels heavy, crunchy, and full of great decisions. You need to maximize everything you do and ensure you are increasing your number of turns, resource generation, and Hive production capabilities each round. And doing this feels so good. But it is all wrapped up within a game that is incredibly accessible, simple to teach, and quick and easy to play. It really is a brilliant game. I hope this version finds success and final production copies are made in mass numbers. This game deserves to find lots of loving homes.
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