Impressions of the game Honey Buzz
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Today we want to tell you about one new item in our collection that recently arrived. And this is Honey Buzz by Elf Creek Games.
If we talk about the publisher, then, in fact, this is still a little-known office, but judging by the games, this is a publisher with ambitions. Honey Buzz is first of all a very good game. Gorgeous illustrations on the maps and field, everything is bright and colorful. The rules are made on paper that looks like plastic.
The first time I felt such rules in "Kryly". In general, it is very clear that the publisher did not skimp on the components - and this gives the game a lot, because any beautifully designed game attracts the attention of players much more than an Excel table, although I would argue with myself about the "beauty of a square" here . Of course, it was not without shoals.
The bee markers in the field are covered with some kind of hairy substance that falls off (they look very sharp and unpleasant in reality due to the fact that, apparently, they were smeared with glue before that to stick this fluff and the color of the bees does not correspond to other bee markers of the same color); the pollen markers, made in the form of shoulder bags, were badly damaged during transportation, and for some reason the pollen in them is painted in different colors (probably they thought it would be more beautiful), although it does not carry any aesthetic or practical load. We did not like these moments, because we know that it can be implemented much better. Well, that's all the bad things we found in it. By the way, it is worth noting that the manufacturer immediately created a survey and decided to replace all damaged components to the owners of the boxes. In every other sense, the game is simply stunning, especially honey.
I would like to tell a little about the gameplay itself. The game is closer to the family segment, although playing with "inexperienced" children under the age of 10 will most likely not work, as generally stated on the box, but the rest will clearly find a lot of fun in it. And now you will understand why. The game implements the mechanics of building an engine not on maps, but on honeycombs.
In the game, you are tasked with producing different honey by activating different values on the honeycombs. But here it was necessary to think about how to collect the "correct" empty place to place the desired honeycomb that will produce honey, and which honeycombs should be placed next to each other for simultaneous activation, as well as choosing honeycombs from the market to activate the necessary icons, which by their actions are activated in turn. All this gives a lot of variety in terms of building your own strategy and makes your gray matter move.
There are different ways to win, but as in all Euro games, you have to overcome points or money, which is the same in this game.
The gameplay is simple and clear. You take a bee, put stacks of tiles with honeycombs in front of it, from which you want to take one. You take a tile - you put it in your hive; if you closed a circle of cells, you activate all the icons in the circle and after that perform all the actions of the icons in any order.
Here, of course, there is variety (of course, it does not make the brain boil, as in some games, but still): if you want, send a bee to reproduce (you start with one bee); though, collect pollen; well, you can go to the market and sell what you have made (it is worth noting that every time you sell honey, the market price will fall inexorably, so someone has time - and slippers), or fulfill an order (the same gypsy story). Accordingly, the one who scored the most and more wins. The game plays pleasantly not only due to the design of the game components, but also due to the implemented mechanics: everything is difficult and good, checked and plays quickly. You don't have time to get tired of the game, there is practically no downtime, and the interaction between players is enough for a game of this level: you can fight on the field for honeycombs, in the hive for tiles, on the market for the price and contracts, as well as for the championship in queen bee tournaments.
I highly recommend it to everyone who likes nice families where there is room to think!
USEFUL LINKS
Honey Buzz on the BGG portal
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284742/honey-buzz
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