The Apiary rulebook and appendix are available for download. You can also learn the game from the instructional videos below or from the free Dized interactive tutorial.
If you have rule questions, please post them in the comments on this page, create a thread on BoardGameGeek, or ask them in the Apiary Facebook group.
You can randomize your starting pairing using this optional web app, and you can record your final score on the free Stonemaier Scores app (on iOS and Android).
Official variant: This variant is geared towards reducing rare cases in which someone quickly accumulates large numbers of seed cards and plays them all on the same turn to gain an advantage that feels insurmountable to other players. If you have experienced that in Apiary, you may choose to implement one or both of the following:
- Play at most 2 seed cards on your turn (for their ability).
- Don’t use the 2-seed card explore token (remove it from the game).
How many victory points (VP) does each player start with?
The board is correct–1 VP for the first player, 2 VP for the second, and so on. (The rules incorrectly say 0 VP, then 1 VP, etc.) This is also true for solo play. 1 VP for Automa, 2 VP for you.
Active Workers
An active worker is just any worker you currently have (opposed to a worker you haven’t yet gained from the Grow action). It’s defined on page 5 under “empty hive rule”: “workers on the board or on your docking mat”.
This is important to know in the somewhat rare situations when you have no workers at all (i.e., if you had one worker remaining–a strength-4 worker–and it got bumped off the board into hibernation, you could feasibly start your turn with no workers available to place or retrieve. If that happens, you gain one strength-1 worker for free and proceed with your turn.
Faction Tiles
Some faction tiles have adjacency benefits (e.g., 3 VP for each adjacent farm tile). The adjacency is to that specific hex of the faction tile, not the entire 3-hex starting tile.
Why would you place a bumped worker in your landing area instead of your active pool?
You can’t control when an opponent bumps one of your workers off the board. Usually you’re happy for this to happen, as the worker gains strength, and this saves you a retrieve turn. However, you don’t gain income from farms when workers are bumped–only when you take a retrieve turn (and only 1 farm per retrieved worker). The landing area reserves bumped workers for those times when you’re counting on them for income during a retrieve turn.
Consider this example: You have three farms with incoming you’re interested in taking. You have three workers on the board, none of which are strength 4. One of them gets bumped. Now you have a decision. You COULD immediately increase the worker and forego the farm income. You can now continue placing workers. However, what if you needed that incoming for your next planned action? You could still retrieve your workers and collect incoming—but you could only use two of your three farms. That’s what the Landing Area is for. –Curtis Homan, FB group
IMPORTANT: Whenever you retrieve, ALL retrieved workers (those on the board and in the landing area) must increase in strength.
Ria faction
The Ria faction gives you and an opponent 1 Queen’s Favor whenever they move or bump your worker.
Iber faction
The upgraded text for the Iber faction needs a little clarification in terms of how it interacts with strength-4 workers. Here is updated text for the appendix: “You may recall 1 worker at the start of each of your turns (age it once; if it was a strength-4 worker, it hibernates). If the worker returns to your active pool, you may pay 1 resource of your choice to collect income from one of your [farms].”
If you gain resources outside of your turn (i.e., when you hibernate and gained a resource from Hibernation Comb) and your hive is full of resources, what do you do with the new resource?
You only discard resources due to capacity limits at the end of your turn (giving you a chance to spend resources gained when it isn’t your turn). So a resource gained this way that you can’t hold is simply placed near your hive until your turn, when you can hopefully spend it on something or clear room for it.
I’ve seen people score 150+ points. Is that normal?
It most definitely is not! A great score in Apiary is around 100 points; if you’re scoring significantly higher than that, it’s likely that you may be doing something that is leading to the players taking many more turns than is expected from Apiary’s system of worker aging/hibernation (a normal number of turns per player is around 18). Here are some things to consider:
- Your workers increase in strength whenever they are bumped or retrieved. If a strength-4 worker is bumped, it immediately hibernates. There is only one ongoing ability in the entire game that can slow this aging process (Arti); beyond that there is no way to continually avoid it (in fact, there are more abilities that accelerate it, as strength-4 workers are the most powerful).
- When you Research to gain seed cards, you only keep 1 card.
- The rarely “empty hive rule” only used when you have absolutely no workers anywhere at the beginning of your turn (no workers on the board or on your docking mat).
- The game can end in one of two ways: When a player places their final (7th) hibernation token OR when the hibernation comb is completely full.
What is the correct order of operations when a worker is bumped?
First the worker is bumped, then the current player performs the action (pay cost, gain benefit). For bumped workers of strengths 1-3, the timing doesn’t really matter. It can matter for a strength-4 worker, though, as it must immediately hibernate.
If the strength-4 worker is placed on a hibernation space that refreshes a row of tiles, wait until after the current player’s action is complete (as refreshing the tiles may make it impossible for them to buy a tile).
Even more rare edge cases are covered by the “order of operations” note on page 7 of the rulebook. That note is specifically about the current player’s worker, ensuring that player gets to perform the full action even if the worker they place needs to hibernate as a result of the action. Examples of this are any strength-increase farm activated mid-action by a special tile or ability (Cross Pollination, Genetic Engineer, Pollen Patty, Serum, etc).
Are passive benefits optional?
Passive benefits in Apiary are optional. For example, if someone uses a dance you created, you could choose to decline the Queen’s Favor.
The clear rod doesn’t stay attached to my QueenShip. What should I do?
This is an issue that came to our attention during Essen Spiel; previously we had not experienced in testing the pre-production and mass-production copies of the game. It is not ideal, but fortunately there are multiple workarounds:
- Push the rod less gently into the QueenShip (our manufacture indicates that this should solve the problem in most copies).
- Glue the rod into the QueenShip; there’s never a need to separate the two.
- Add a strip of scotch tape around the end of the rod to add just a little thickness.
- Move the QueenShip by the rod instead of the miniature.
- Ignore the rod and just use the QueenShip.
How is everything organized in the insert?
Here is a photo guide to show each layer of components.
Will the insert fit sleeved cards?
Yes, though the vertical space is limited in the card slot, so thick cards sleeves may present a problem. Fortunately, there’s just 1 deck of cards shuffled every game (it’s much more of a tile-centric game), and players only occasionally interact with it.
What are the areas of tension in Apiary?
Apiary uses a bumping worker-placement system, meaning that you cannot block other players, but you can save yourself a retrieve turn by being bumped or bumping your workers. The bumped worker increases its strength, which is good…but it also pushes your worker closer to hibernation. Also, some actions look at the total sum of all workers there, so timing your placement based on other high-strength workers presence is key. Almost every subsystem in Apiary also involves player interaction: Exploring has you move the shared QueenShip to gain limited explore tokens, reveal limited planets, and then improve the planet you explore; Advance has you gain a limited, unique tile; Converting with a 4-strength worker allows you to create a dance that benefits you and other players, and Carve has you gain a precious, powerful end-game scoring tile (Carve tiles are not replenished).
What’s the icon with the red X on some spaces on the hibernation comb?
That icon means that you must refresh all face-up tiles of that type on the Advance action.
How does the game scale to different player counts (1-5)?
Apiary includes a double-sided board (1-3 players and 4-5) players, with the side for lower player counts featuring:
(1) Fewer planets to explore (and thus fewer available explore tokens)
(2) Fewer hibernation comb spots (2P has 8, 3P has 12, and 4-5P has 15)
(3) Fewer worker placement spots (so bumping is very relevant across all player counts!); and
(4) Fewer end-game carvings
For solo play, there is a special solo mode to simulate the experience of playing against an easy-to-operate “intelligent” opponent.
Why should I preorder from Stonemaier Games instead of waiting a few months for the retail release?
We offer delivery much earlier than the retail release date (shipped from a fulfillment center in the US, Canada, Europe, or Australia) and a guarantee that you’ll actually get a first-run copy in a timely manner. We also support anyone who wants to order the game from their retailer of choice (retailers will offer the game for pick up or shipping on the retail release day).
253 Comments on “Rules & FAQ”
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I have a question about Seed Card #37.
It states: “Draw Farms (from the stack) equal to the number of players. Keep 1 tile and pass the remaining tiles clockwise. The next player selects a tile and passes the remaining tiles clockwise (etc.). All players may add the Farm tile to their farm for free.”
We had an instance where one of the players who received a farm tile couldn’t add it to their hive for free because their hive was completely full. So what happens to that farm tile then? Is it discarded since the player can’t use it? Or does the player get to keep the tile until being able to lay it later when they have more space in their hive? We didn’t know if that would be right because then it would seem like you are putting it into a reserve until later, and the seed card sort of sounds like it’s effects are meant to take place at that moment and not at a later time after it has been laid. Any clarification would be great so we can get back to playing the awesome game! Thanks.
Thanks for your question! If you can’t build it at that moment, the official rule is that you discard it (though it would also be a reasonable house rule for the player to reserve it).
Thanks for the answer. I’m sort of new to board games, so just to clarify, when you say it’s a reasonable “house rule,” does this mean that it is an acceptable variant of the game according to the rules to play this way? Or are you using “house rule” as a term that refers to a group who is intending to stray from official rules and play their own way? Understanding this would help, that’s all, thanks again for all the help.
I’m using “house rule” as a term that refers to a group who is intending to stray from official rules and play their own way.
I have a question in regards to Seed Cards #36 or #39, which state:
#36
“Refresh the display of Recruit tiles on the board, then you may purchase 1 recruit tile for -1 pollen.”
#39
“Refresh the display of Development tiles on the board, then you may purchase 1 Development tile for -1 wax.”
It states in the rules that “immediately before and/or immediately after you place or retrieve workers, you may play any number of seed cards from your hand.”
Say that, before I place my worker Bee I decide to play seed card #36. Does this simply mean that I can purchase the tile, or does it mean that I can purchase the tile and immediately build it as well? (Again, this is before placing any Bees). The reason I am asking this is because there are some tiles in the game that explicitly say or clarify by saying “build for free” or “build immediately.” But all the seed cards #36 or #39 say are “purchase for -1 pollen or wax.”
We also know that there are the rules about having tiles in your “reserve.” We understand that even though you have tiles in your reserve you still have to place a worker Bee in the Advance slot to be able to build one of the tiles in your reserve (if you so choose). In other words, you can’t just build a tile because you have it in reserve, you still have to place a worker bee to be able to build it.
This brings me back to my original question about Seed Cards 36 and 39. There is not clarification on the cards about if you can build them immediately or not, or if they go into a “reserve” of sorts and then you have to still place a worker Bee in Advance to build them; like tiles in your reserve… Again it just says “you may purchase…”.
I hope I have given enough context to understand the question.
I also want to know if I have to pay the resources immediately for the tile, or do I only pay the final resource cost when I’m ready to build the tile on my mat. I ask this because some mats give additional discounts for building recruits on certain spaces.
Thanks again.
When you purchase a tile, you must immediately build it. You can account for any placement discounts when paying the cost. Thanks for playing!
Can you place a strength 1,2,3 bee on Carve using a seed card that states “this bee acts as it is strength 4” or “this bee acts as it has +1/+2 strength”?
I had a game with a friend where I wasn’t sure on this since the bee isn’t a strength 4, just “acting” as one.
Great question, and yes, if you have a worker that is, acts like, or temporarily has 4 strength, you can place it on Carve.
Hi,
Which factions ability is you can retrieve your level 4 worker bee at the start of your turn, without it hibernating.
I can’t seem to find it again, in the box or the rules, but the thing is we played a 4-player game where one of our guys had this tile. We read and reread that faction tile because we thought it was seriously op, and unless all four of us were hallucinating, it’s no longer there. And it wasn’t IBER because it only had the strength 4 bee ability. I was just wondering as the creator might know the answer, maybe it was a tile or card.
Thanks for your question! That sounds like Iber (not exactly Iber, but close).
There aren’t any static or ongoing abilities that allow you to retrieve a level-4 worker without hibernating – intentionally, as that would probably be too powerful by allowing a player to constantly take level-4 actions, every turn, indefinitely.
There are, however, several one-time effects that allow players to retrieve level-4 workers without hibernating, including some cards and some Development tiles.
My best guess is people remembering imperfectly or an instance where a player was utilizing several abilities on their turn, and other players thinking it was a repeatable faction ability when it was actually a seed card they had played.
I believe it’s a seed card. I recall having that one in the last game I played.
Looking at the appendix, I think it’s card 24 you’re referencing. Take any placed worker and return it to your active area.
Are resources limited? We ran out of water in a 5 player game.
They are indeed limited. Thanks for playing!
Hi, we’ve been playing Apiary a few times, and noticed some things that were not very clear in the rules about gaining frames (p.10) and the exact meaning of “tile”, “hex” and “hive mat”.
We think that a “hex” is a “decorated” (i.e. not the black-with-stars background) location on the hive mat or a frame, where you could place a tile (so a ‘building location’). And that ‘hive mat’ does not include the added frames.
A “tile” is one of the hexagon shaped pieces (farm / dev / recruit / carve / faction tiles) you put on the frame or the hive mat, on a ‘building location’.
A new frame must be adjacent to a hex on your hive mat or one of the frames already present, and not overlapping with any hex (or a tile, but a tile is always on a hex so this would seem redundant).
So that would imply that you can put a frame on your hive mat even though it’s not adjacent to one of your current tiles.
Furthermore, it would suggest that it is ok if the frame is NOT completely on the hive mat. We couldn’t find any mention of whether it has to fit on the physical mat or not.
It might be a good plan to explicitly define these terms (hive mat, hex, tile, frame etc) in the rules (in a next printing).
—
Also, the wording regarding end time scoring and hive mats and frames is a bit ambiguous. On the hive mat it says “gain 8 if filled”. But what exactly needs to be filled? We assume it means the hexes (building locations) on the mat because the player aids have “filling hive mat AND/OR frames (8 each). So it could happen that you fill a frame (8 points) but didn’t fill the hexes on your hive mat.
So far we like the game. Thanks!
Thanks Wilco! You are correct about those definitions.
If the hexes on your hive mat all have tiles on them, it is filled, and you get 8 VP as a result at end of game. You are correct that you could fill the 4 hexes on a frame to earn 8 VP even if you don’t fill your hive mat.
I had the feeling that the starter factions in the game are at a disadvantage compared to the other factions when you mix them. Or should you not mix them either?
They are designed to be mixed together with the other factions, though each player should be dealt 2 factions (they choose 1) during setup.
When retrieving, your workers always increase in strength or hibernates if they are strength 4 (unless stated otherwise), but are you also always collecting income for these retrieved workers, even if you retrieve them using an ability?
If you retrieve workers, each worker can gain the income from a different farm. You don’t gain income if the worker hibernates or if it’s bumped from an action.
On the Poppleton mat, if I use a seed card to remove a tile from the board, and I remove the tile from the space that allows a free development to be placed “to the right”, could I place that tile on an expansion space (as long as it’s “to the right”)?
Thanks for your question! It’s referring only to the hex directly to the right on the hive mat.
ok, so it would only work if I was able to remove both tiles. Thank you.
I have ligu with 2 development cards adjacent. I can play royal jelly next to the 2 adjacent development cards. Ligu doubles the effects and points of those 2 development cards. Would this in turn double the effects I am able to reactivate with royal jelly?
I don’t have the exact text of those tiles and cards in front of me, and I’d like to answer accurately. What is the exact text on Ligu and Royal Jelly?
Hey Jamey, the Ligu faction card says “double the effect and points of any development cards placed adjacent to Ligu. The Royal Jelly development card says “reactivate up to 2 adjacent development cards”. My question is if I reactivate 2 development cards that are adjacent to Ligu by playing Royal Jelly adjacent to both, would I be able to reactivate both development cards twice?
Thanks! You would just activate them once, as you’re not placing the tiles.
Thanks for clarifying! That’s how we decided to play it. Apiary is a great game! I can’t wait for Wyrmspan!
Hello, had same question. So Ligu doubles actions only of newly placed tiles? When you place Royal Jelly next to Ligu shouldnt it activate Royal Jelly twice then? So you activate other two adjacent twice aswell (not from Ligu, but Royal Jelly), right?
Thank you very much.
Michal: Ligu doubles the benefits of newly placed development tiles only at the moment they’re placed.
Hi Jamey!!
Another ruling for you…
The Ligu faction upgrade power reads “…at the end of the game, double the victory points on all developments adjacent to the Ligu tile…”
We had two different interpretations of this at the table…
1. During endgame scoring, double the victory points for each adjacent development as part of step 2 (Your built farms, recruits, and developments.). Example: Player has four adjacent developments totaling four points . Those tiles count as eight points.
2. During endgame scoring, as part of stage 6 (Faction Ability), add points equal to double the adjacent developments.
The discrepancy here is that, going with #2, those developments are counted both during the 2nd step of the endgame and then double again during the 6th step which effectively means they counted for triple.
Which is correct?
Thanks in advance!
With Ligu, you’re scoring the printed VP value on the left edge of the tile one extra time. Thanks!
I haven’t see this asked in other comments, and I don’t see it in the rules (but maybe it’s there?)
Just had this happen twice today and not sure exactly how to handle it. Two player game, and the Hibernation Comb’s were filled by the other player. On my next turn, (last turn), all of my active bees were in play, and were all ‘4’. The only thing I could do was retrieve.
Since there are no more hibernation comb slots open, obviously I cannot do any of that, but my bees have to hibernate.
We played it – the 3 bees went into hibernation, and I claimed 6-points for the “Insurer” recruit that I had in my hive, running on the hypothesis that, they are still hibernating, even though there were no comb spaces left.
Was this correct?
That’s right! You also gain 1 queens favor per hibernating bee that doesn’t have a pod.
On Seed Card #27 it says “Pay 1 of any basic resource to place a second worker during your turn.” Does this apply even if you took the retrieve action during your turn? We were slightly confused. Since the player didn’t place a first worker, how could he possibly place a second?
Great question! This wouldn’t apply during a retrieve turn.
How does Ligu work with royal jelly? Does it reactivate 2 adjacent twice that are then also doubled?
I’m happy to help! What’s the exact text on Ligu and Royal Jelly?
Rules question…
This is regarding seed card #5 “Permanently increase or decrease the strength of 1 of your workers by 1”.
Can this card be played to increase the strength of a worker that is already played on the board? For example, can a player use this card to spin up a lvl 3 bee that was played last turn to lvl 4 and then use a retrieve turn causing a hibernation.
Thanks!
Absolutely! That’s a clever play. :)
Thanks! I can’t believe you responded in two minutes, LOL. That’s incredible!
Hi when doing the explore action do you have to move the queenship the full number of bee spaces. In other words if bees add to three. can we move less?
You can move less; you just can’t end up on the same planet where you started.
Hello i have a question about the visah faction. Is the upgrade bonus just a one time deal when the faction tile is upgraded or can apply for the reste of the game?
It’s an immediate, one-time ability when upgraded.
does the Chemist ability, “Producing honey and wax cost one less pollen when you perform the action (this ability applies both to the base conversions and any applicable dances)”, apply to a dance that produces wax and some other resource (e.g. wax+1vp)?
That’s correct (because they’re still part of the “Covert” action noted on the tile). :)
Thanks for a great game!
We played our first game today, and it is a new favourite game.
When retrieving more workers then I have farm tiles, have I understood it correct that for some I don’t get any income, or what happens?
Thanks for playing Apiary! You are correct that you can only gain income for 1 farm per worker retrieved.
Hey guys! Great game! Love it.
That being said in my first game I made 148 points with the blue bee tile that reduces wax cost for developments by 1 wax on the advance action.
We had very similar cards in our game and after many tries we’ve realized how broken those can be if applied correctly, we either made them harder to get or more expensive.
Did I just play it wrong or did I break the game?
A suggestion for some of the more broken passive effects would be to restrict them to certain bee strengths. For example in this case If strength 4+ then -1 wax on Development.
Thanks!
It was the Engineer !
On Seed Card #27 it says “Pay 1 of any basic resource to place a second worker during your turn.” If I have two of these seed cards may I play them both on the same turn, thus playing two additional workers?
I don’t know why this posted as a reply to an unrelated question. Oops.
You could!
Thanks!
You played correctly! That tile is a little overpowered.
Played our first game last night and had a question about Royal Jelly – it says Reactivate up to 2 adjacent Development tiles.
Does adjacent in this case mean adjacent to the Royal Jelly tile or just any 2 development tiles that are adjacent to each other?
Thanks for playing! Adjacent to Royal Jelly is correct.
For Seed Card #8, if you Retrieve a level 4 worker does it remain a level 4 or is it forced to hibernate or does it return to your pool as a 4?
Thanks for playing! It returns to your pool as a 4.
For the Ria faction, can the definition of “bumped” be clarified? The rulebook and the appendix differ in the usage as the former implies bumping is *only* when a worker is bumped off the board (increasing strength or hibernating), but the appendix combined with the clarification above, for the Ria example, implies that bumping is whenever your bee ship is moved either into the bottom or right action space OR when it’s removed from the board. Which is it?
John: You’re right; I think perhaps it’s clearer to say “moves or bumps”, as both apply for Ria.
This is pretty confusing, the faq above should be updated if it is moves or bumps, because the rule book clearly says bumping is when the player gets the bee back. This faq also contradicts the Ria appendix entry.
You’re correct that moving and bumping are different, but Ria should say “moves or bumps”. It’s referring to any time your worker is placed on a space occupied by another worker, which either results in that worker moving or being bumped (depending on the action).
The faq on this page says to replace the word “move” with “bump” for Ria. The rulebook on page 6 uses the term “shift” when moving from space 1 to 2 on explore and advance. So I assume the faq above on this page is wrong and should be changed?
I’ve updated the FAQ to be correct.
The Chemist recruit “Producing honey and wax cost one less pollen when you perform the action (this ability applies both to the base conversions and any applicable dances)”
Does the chemist’s ability apply to seed card #29: Convert once:
fiber + pollen = wax
pollen + pollen + water = honey
Which would allow the player to convert 1 fiber to wax, or 1 pollen & 1 water to honey.
Thanks!
Interesting question. Since the seed card specifically mentions the word “convert,” I would say that the Chemist does apply to it.
Hibernation comb… How does it work with two players?
Does one player take 7 victory points for winning middle comb? Or does other player get the 2 points?
For the middle comb, the player with the most tokens there gets 7 vp, and the player with second-most tokens (at least one) gets 2 vp.
My honey got this for me for Christmas, and we’re disagreeing on Seed Card 3. He played it after an Explore-4 action, so believes he should get to do the strength-4 benefit on both the first Explore action AND the Seed Card 3, which grants another Explore after moving the QueenShip one space.
Thanks for designing STELLAR games, y’all. We are able to celebrate nearly every holiday with a new one!
Thanks for playing Apiary! You can play seed cards before or after your action. So your honey explored (complete that explore action), then he plays the card (pay 1 basic resource), moves the QueenShip 1 space, then does explores again on the new destination. It’s a big turn, but from what I’m reading, your honey is correct! :)
When you have drawn all the seed cards, do you re-shuffle the discard pile into a new draw pile? Thanks!
Yes, please reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.
“EMPTY HIVE RULE” question:
How do you “add one strength -1 worker to your active pool”?
Where does the worker come from?
Am I taking one from off the board near the grow action?
If you have no workers to place or retrieve (which is the only situation when the empty hive rule applies), then all 4 workers in your player color are off the board near the Grow action. Gain one of those workers and take a turn with it.
Excellent. Thanks.
So in the rules the -1 isn’t “minus one”, it’s just a hyphen then?
Or at least that’s how it reads I’m the first printing.
It’s a hyphen. “Strength-X worker” is how we refer to strength throughout the rules (see, for example, Order of Operations on page 7). Thanks for playing!
If I use the seed card that retrieves one worker with no strength change or income gained on a 4 strength worker, does that allow the player to keep the 4 worker to place them again?
It does indeed! :)
When can you build a tile from your reserve?
You can build a tile from your reserve by placing a worker on the Advance action and choosing the reserved tile instead of a tile on the board.
If you have the Nutritionist in your hive, can you simply place a worker on Grow and just take the free frame or do you need to first pay for and complete at least one of the main options? Our thinking is that without either spending 1 strength and pollen for a worker or 2 resources for a frame, you can’t technically place the worker there in the first place and therefore cannot trigger the Nutritionist’s ability. Same concept would also apply for example to the Nurse.
To place a worker on an action, you must pay the action cost and gain the action benefit.
Thanks, Jamey!
When a worker is pushed to the second space of the Advance action, does that worker gain a level? The +1 symbol seems to suggest as much, but the rules don’t say so anywhere I can see.
Thanks for your question. When +1 is covered, it doesn’t mean (or do) anything. It’s only when nothing is covering +1 that it matter: It adds +1 to the sum of the worker being used for that action.
Thank you!
Hello! Love the game but I am a little confused on the income. Is income simply activating your farm tiles when you complete your Retrieve Action?
That’s pretty much it. When you take a retrieve turn, for each worker you retrieve, gain income from a farm (using each farm at most once). For example, if you have 4 farms but you only retrieve 3 workers, you can gain income from 3 of the 4 farms.
Thank you so much!!
Do you only have the potential to teach two dances per game or can you teach a third, “forgetting” one of the two already taught?
A player can only teach 1 dance per game, as you only have 1 spare cube in your player color to mark that you were the creator of the dance.
So in a four player game, can player four teach a fourth dance even though there are only three dance spaces?
No, there are only 3 dance spaces, so only 3 dances can be taught. The idea is that if it’s important for you to create a dance, you need to prioritize it so you don’t lose that opportunity.
Hi, when creating a dance, do I pick the tocken to fill the dance randomly or I chose it. Thank you.
You choose the token(s) when you create a dance.
Hello! In Apiary, when you are tied for the “most” on a carve, does that count if you are tied?
Thank you
This is for Proliferation? I checked the appendix, and it confirms that being tied for the most does count.
Thanks for the reply on Christmas! My friend texted me a picture (about his game with his family) and asked about Proliferation and I didn’t have my rulebook handy and told him I would follow up with him whenever I found out for future games :) Thanks as always Jamey, Merry Christma!
Happy to help! :)
Does the Serum development cause level 4 bees to hibernate? We think yes, because it is a Retrieve and level 4 bees immediately hibernate when retrieved. (Page 7 under Worker Retrieval.) But on page 7 under Hibernation, it says “If a strength-4 worker would increase its strength…” and the Serum development dictates that the retrieved bees do not age. So we’re not positive.
Great question! It’s the increase in strength of a 4-strength worker that would cause it to hibernate (see first sentence of Worker Hibernation on page 7), so with Serum they would not hibernate.
Thanks Jamey! We love the game. Merry Christmas!
If another player allows all players to gain a resource, but my game board is full do I get to keep the resource until my turn (where after my turn the normal rules apply) OR am I not allowed to gain that resource?
You get to keep it; only discard excess at the end of your turn. Thanks for playing!
Thank you and Merry Christmas!!
Ignore my last question about grow action and empty hive rule, i was being dense. I see now active workers are not just workers in the active worker area, so empty hive rule could alternatively be stated as ” if all your workers are in the general supply”, sorry.
Am i missing something? Not sure why you would ever use the grow action to get another worker, because if your hive is empty of active workers you just get one anyway under the empty hive rule right? So even at the start you only have 3 bees but effectively you have all 4 because as soon as you have placed your first 3, your hive is empty, so next round you get another one (the fourth) for free. Again, I feel like I must have interpreted something wrong cause I really don’t see the point of using the grow action and spending a resource to get the worker I could get for free?
Thanks for your question! It is not correct that you gain free workers if your hive is empty. Rather, if you have no workers available to place (in your active pool) OR retrieve (on your landing pad or on the board), that’s the only time that the empty hive rule applies.
BTW Forgot to say great game! I mostly solo game so really appreciate the work your company does with it’s automa factory
When I saw the 2 seed card explore token for the first time, I immediately assumed it was too strong and “must” mean draw 2 keep 1. That’s not the case, but might be a good alternative way to play it.
With other actions that “retriggers” these tokens, that is insanely good.
We actually recommend that people just remove and not use that token at all.
When you retrieve a lvl 4 worker with a card that says no aging occurs, can you reuse the lvl 4 worker or does it hibernate?
If it doesn’t age, you retrieve it to your docking mat.
For card 37, the appendix says:
Draw farms from the stack equal to the number of players. Keep 1 and pass the remaining tiles clockwise. The next player selects a tile and passes the remaining tiles clockwise (etc.). All players may add the farm to their hive for free.
If one of the players has no spaces open on their hive, do they still gain a farm tile? I assume yes. What do they do with it since they can’t play it? Does it get discarded?
Each player does indeed select a tile, but if you can’t place it, you just discard it.
If I begin with Cecro (Start of game: Build 2 face-up recruits for free) and the Log, can I put my two recruits on Gain 1 worker tiles and get all four workers to start the game?
Do start of game faction powers happen at the beginning of the player’s turn and use up two of the recruit tiles for the player’s turn or happen before the first player takes a turn and get replaced before the first player takes a turn?
Yes you can, and they happen during setup (before turns begin).
Thank you! Your lightning quick answers are very much appreciated!
Hey Can you collect income with no worker in landing area
When you retrieve workers, you take all of your workers from the board and landing area. Collect income then. Typically when workers are bumped, you’ll place them in your active pool, not the landing area (see more details in the FAQ).
I’ve played only once so I might need to play more to understand but why would any player choose to put workers on landing area when bumped? Both workers on Active area and landing generate income when they are retrieved so plus one strength option is almost always better? The only reason I can think of as to why they’ll put workers on landing area is not to increase workers strength so they won’t hibernate faster but generating new worker is low cost and the value of high strength workers are much higher than low ones so I’m confused…
Ohhh I found the answer. . . Active area workers don’t generate income when they are retrieved sorry!
It sounds like you found the answer, but if you have any other questions, please let us know. :)
Hi! Love your game, but there is a discussion about the carve rules in the appendix, half of the carved tiles say to gain or lose points at the end of the game, however, others, such as advancement, delegation, irrigation… Do not say at end of game. Are we to assume that we gain those benefits immediately? Or is the car bonus only at the end of the game for everything?
Farms, recruits, and developments fall into the category of “other ongoing or instant abilities”–you score them right away during the game. All carving tiles are scored at the end of the game.
If you score the points immidately, do you also lose those points if you are taking an action that is removing the tiles?
Nope, you keep the points. :)
Why are explore tokens collected on the docking mat? Is there an endgame effect for having explore tokens?
There is no inherent effect for explore tokens. However, there are some tiles and cards that interact with explore tiles you have collected, such as providing points for each token you have at the end of the game.
Is the supply of resources limited? If we run out of something, can we use a substitute?
If you run out of a resource, you can use a substitute. I think it’s highly unlikely due to capacity limits, though–did this happen in a game?
I haven’t experienced the supply of a resource running out yet, but the question came up in a game of Apiary last night. I was adding water to most of the planets when I explored, and eventually, a player pointed out that the more water placed on planets, then the less water is available in the supply, so in theory, if every planet had a water token on it, and if everyone was harvesting a lot of water, then it seems possible for the water tokens to run out. We didn’t actually count the water tokens, so it was just an eyeballed observation. Also, something else happened in our last game (I forget what) that led someone to raising this question that time too. And thanks for the answer!
Perhaps a silly question (though not for this neurodivergent person with a passion for symmetry): Why 29 Development tiles when there are 30 Recruit and Carving tiles and 40 Farm tiles?
We didn’t have a 30th tile :)
Rules question on the upgraded Iber faction and the Agriculturalist. Can a player upgrade and retrieve a worker, pay a resource, and collect income from two farms on every turn?
What is the exact text on that faction and tile?
Iber faction:
START OF TURN:
You may retrieve 1 worker (do not collect [income symbol] )
Iber faction upgraded:
START OF TURN:
You may retrieve 1 worker; if you do, you may pay [any basic resource symbol] to collect [income symbol].
Agriculturalist: When you retrieve, collect one additional [income symbol].
Thanks! You are correct.
Thanks!
Wonderful game. Very popular on our tables.
What is considered a “remaining” worker as opposed to an active worker.
Also it could just be me, but can I get an explanation as to why the carve bonus that matches the “get the same amount of points as your position on the queens favor track” see so over powered?
That icon is actually referring to your hibernation tokens. Your remaining hibernation tokens are those that you have not placed in the hibernation comb.
Advancing on the Queen’s Favor track has no engine-building benefit (and you’re often losing quite a few resources along the way), hence how that Carve tile isn’t overpowered.
Are you talking about the “retinue” carve tile? ‘Gain 1(point) per spot you have advanced on the (Queen’s Favor) track’
I actually see now you were answering two different questions.
How do you play a tile from your reserve?
To play a tile from reserve, you must place a worker on the Advance action and pay the tile’s cost (instead of a face-up tile on the board).
Oops we assumed once it is in your reserve it could be played at any time.
The rules state that you discard excess resources at the end of YOUR turn.
If for example I gain a wax in another players turn but don’t have a storage spot for it, can I just hold onto it, then use it to buy a development tile in my turn and thereby not having to discard it as excess.
John, you are correct–I’ve been misplaying this in the rare cases it comes up (it can happen when someone plays a seed card, resulting in you gaining a resource on their turn). I checked with Connie, and the rules are correct in that you get to wait until the end of YOUR turn, as that gives you a chance to actually spend resources gained when it isn’t your turn.
Thanks for asking, John, and thanks for checking with Connie this time, Jamey. This is the opposite of what you told me in response to my similar question, and I like this answer much better!! LOL
Seed cards are meant to be recycled right? Just shuffle discard if you need to draw? I assumed so but it doesn’t say that in the rulebook and I wanted to double check.
That’s right!
I have a question regarding the bonuses you get when you place a tile in your hive. Can you choose not to take the benefit?
Scenario 1: You have the Mausoleum carve tile which requires you to have 0 or 1 active workers at game end and the last spot in your hive gives you a strength 1 worker which would you give you two workers but you want the bonus for filling up your hive.
Scenario 2: You have the seed planted that rewards you if your Queen’s favor is on space 7 or lower and the placement benefit is Queen’s favor.
Great question! I discussed it with Connie (the designer), and in the spirit of the game, we don’t want players to feel bad about a benefit. In that way, benefits that only impact one person are optional. So, in your examples, you could ignore the tile-placement benefit if you’d like. Similarly, if you moved the QueenShip and didn’t want to gain the resources, that’s fine, but you can’t skip the step of exploration where you pollinate the planet (as that’s something that impacts other players).
On the blue bee tiles it says to gain explorer tokens, does that mean what is left on the explorer area or from the stacks you put back in the box you take?
I had to look that up too–it’s in the appendix. You gain tokens from those remaining on the board, not those that weren’t placed during setup.
Loving the game! Question though: Did a Retrieve action, but all workers were Level 4, forcing all my workers to hibernate, leaving me without workers. What can I do now?
Mike: That’s where the “empty hive rule” applies (see your reference card or page 5 of the rulebook). If you have no workers on the board or on your docking mat at the beginning of your turn, gain a strength-1 worker for free and proceed to take your turn.
Thanks for the help, Jamey! This game is going to be on the table for a good bit, its real good stuff
If a stack of tiles runs out while playing (specifically developments and recruits), do you reshuffle the tiles that were discarded from row-refreshing effects to make a new stack?
Mack: That’s correct!
We played this twice this weekend during the Extra Life charity event at our FLGS. Everyone loved it. Is there any chance in getting a PDF of the Hive Mats to be able to print some? We would love to play the game where everyone uses the same mat to try it out. Everyone fought over the Poppleton hive. Nobody wanted the Log hive. Was there a reason that these were not double-sided? Are there plans to release any more or maybe some neoprene versions? This game is awesome. Thanks for sharing another great creation with us.
Thanks Sam! I’m glad you had fun. While we don’t release print-and-play versions of our games, for personal use you could scan and copy a hive mat. They’re not double-sided because we only had 5 that worked well within the design goal (that they would each feel different but would still give you plenty of agency over your own strategy). We don’t currently have plans, but if the game is a success, they are a component we’ll look at to add more of.
What happens if all your worker bees are in hibernation? Is there a way to get them back or not?
Your worker bee miniatures never enter hibernation. Rather, the game includes hibernation tokens for each player–if a worker hibernates, the miniature returns to the supply, and a hibernation token representing that worker is placed in the hibernation comb. If you ever place your final (7th) of hibernation tokens, it triggers the end of the game.
Sorry I meant to say the grow section not hibernation. While we where playing I had two workers in the grow and 2 on the board that were a strength 4. On my turn I did a retrieval which led to the bees going into the grow area which left me with no bees on the board or my action spaces. So how would I get those bees back or can I not get them back?
Kyle: I’m not sure I understand. There’s only 1 worker placement space on the Grow action. I think you’re saying that you currently control no workers on the board or your docking mat, right? If you control no workers at the beginning of your turn, the empty hive rule applies: Gain 1 worker for free and proceed to take your turn.
Jamey, when you have to hibernate a strength-4 worker due to having been bumped, are you allowed to take hibernation bonus resources (when placing your hibernation token) if you don’t have room to store them in your hive?
Shawn: Definitely, you can always gain resources; it’s just that you’ll need to discard them at the end of the current turn if you can’t store them.
Thanks, Jamey. I maybe wasn’t clear that this is happening during an opponent’s turn; they bumped my strength-4 worker. So are you saying I can take the hibernation bonus resource but then I have to discard down to what I can store at the end of THAT turn (i.e., my opponent’s turn)? Or by the end of my next turn that follows the turn of my opponent where I was bumped? (It’s a two-player game we’re playing)
Thanks! You would have to discard down to your capacity at the end of the current turn (don’t wait until your next turn).
Thanks, Jamey!! Love this game, by the way!! 🐝❤️
Do level 4 workers retire when I use serum?
Can you please share the full text of serum?
Serum: retrieve all your workers from the board and/or from your landing area. Do not increase their strength. For each worker retrieved, you may collect income from one farm (each must be different).
We had a similar question for pollen party (retrieve up to 2 of your workers from the board and/or from your landing area. Do not increase their strength. You may collect income from 1 farm for each worker retrieved.
-our question is, do you also collect income for level 4 worker?
Urte: Since the workers don’t increase in strength with Serum, none of them hibernate, and they can each collect income.
Can a seed card be played during a turn or only before or after? For example, if I build a development tile on a frame space that gives me a seed card, can I play it immediately before I resolve the action on the development tile or do I have to wait until after the development tile is resolved to use it?
Seed cards can only be played at the beginning of your turn or at the end of your turn, not in the middle of an action.
That’s what I thought, but didn’t see any wording that it wasn’t allowed so I wanted to make sure. Thanks for another super fast clarification!
Hi Jamey – I have played twice now with 2 of my game groups and we are loving it. I just have 2 queries that have come up that I would love clarification on please.
1 – the bonus on the starting factions (eg Cypri – gain 4 points for every carving that is adjacent to the Cypri tile) does this bonus apply to the 3 hexes that make up the Cypri tile or just the one that has Cypri printed on it ? It came up in both games and we ruled it was for all 3 but on our last game a player got a 30 point bonus for his farms using this method and that seemed a bit OP
2 – I am confused about the use of hibernation bonus. I get the timing that it happens as soon as the worker is bumped and before the bumping player completes their turn which could remove tiles they wanted to buy. But I am seeing 2 different answers to the question whether a resource gained from hibernation can be used that turn. On Sept 6 when replying to Philip M you agreed with him that you cannot use a hibernation benefit from your own bumped bee to then pay for a tile but on Oct 18 when replying to Dan S you agreed with him that you could use a hibernation benefit to buy a tile that turn. So I am confused. Maybe I am reading it wrong ?
Anyhow, great game, teaching it to another group tonight :)
Thanks for sharing Apiary with your game groups, Christine!
1. The faction tile is only the hex with the faction name and ability on it. We probably should have called it the “faction hex” to avoid confusion.
2. Sorry for the confusion here. Because the hibernation happens first, if you bump your own worker, you can indeed use the resource you gain to pay for the action of the newly placed worker.
Question about the “Reserve” – how is a tile played from there? I see that the Visah are the only faction to start start with tiles there (I assume there are other ways to get tiles there, but have not played much, yet).
So when a tile is in the “Reserve”, how does it get played? I see nothing in the rules for that. Is there something I am missing or not yet seen?
Brett: There’s a note about the Reserve in the appendix, but I’m happy to explain it here. Basically, tiles in your reserve act as if they’re on the Advance action (but only for you). So you can place them whenever you would normally place a tile (typically via the Advance action, but sometimes via special abilities).
Thanks Jamey – I knew I was just missing it, somewhere! :)
Hello!
two quick questions:
1) (page 12) can a single player teach more than one dance over the course of the game? I assume so, but there’s only one extra cube per player
2) (page 7) If I take a retrieve turn, but have fewer farms than workers to collect, do the excess workers still increase in strength?
thanks! can’t wait for my first game!
Thanks for your questions!
1. Each player can only teach 1 dance per game.
2. Yes, when you retrieve, all retrieved workers increase in strength (no connection to farms).
thanks!
We just played a game and ran out of seed cards to draw. The rule book doesnt seem to clarify whether or not the deck gets reshuffled. Do you reshuffle to make a new deck? or can you just not draw anymore cards.
Love the game regardless :)
Thanks for your question! You reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.
If you use a card power before your action to take advance tiles from the board, do you immediately replace the tiles or do you wait until the end of your turn to replace the tiles?
Thanks, Cass! You wait until the end of your turn to replace the tiles (though you do slide the face-up tiles right away after gaining the tile).
Hi, in a 2-player game, if one player were to completely fill out the hibernation comb in the middle, is the other player eligible for the 2nd place majority award?
If player A is the only player with hibernation tokens in an area of the hibernation comb, player B would most definitely not be eligible for second place. Only first place would be awarded.
Hey just wanted to confirm if you teach a dance, does the person who taught the dance get the dance teacher bonus if they perform their own dance?
The rules state you get the queen’s favor reward only if an “opponent” uses the dance
You’re referring to the Queen’s Favor that opponents get each time they use a dance you created? That’s only when opponents use it. See step 1 on page 12: “Every time an opponent uses a dance, its teacher gains 1 Queen’s Favor.”
Hi, in our game last night we encountered the Pharmacist recruit. This lets you retrieve a worker and collect 1 farm income whenever you perform the Research action. This proved very powerful, especially in conjunction with a few other tiles.
My question is: can you retrieve the same worker that has just performed the Research action? If so, you can play, bump and retrieve your own worker every turn.
Thanks for your question! Yes, you could repeatedly take the Research action with the same worker if you have the Pharmacist (though that worker will hibernate when you retrieve them at strength 4).
For the Lama faction that lets you build a farm or recruit “from the stack” for free: Do you get to look through the stack and choose, or do you take the top tile?
You take the top tile.
Hi there. In the player component setup, it says to “Randomly determine the first player, who places a player token on the 0 space of the score track.” However, the board indicates that the 1st player is the 1 space. Is that a misprint or am I misunderstanding?
Here’s what we say in the first FAQ entry on the above page:
How many victory points (VP) does each player start with?
The board is correct–1 VP for the first player, 2 VP for the second, and so on. (The rules incorrectly say 0 VP, then 1 VP, etc.) This is also true for solo play. 1 VP for Automa, 2 VP for you.
Thanks Jamey! I didn’t see that you could expand the “Rules Question” above.
Can a player have a negative score or queen’s favour? E.g. from a dance? Or is the player blocked from using that dance until the point resource is sufficient to pay the cost. A practical example: draw and play seed card 4 before advancing on these tracks.
Related: Automa rules give the player 4 queen’s favour for learning a dance: is this applied before performing the dance, making the ‘resource’ available?
Nope! You can’t spend resources you don’t have, including Queen’s Favor and points.
I’m guessing–correct me if I’m wrong–that the Automa rules are for teaching a dance, not learning it. Teaching happens when you set the rules for the dance, before the conversion is actually used. If you’re talking about a player using a dance that Automa has created, they gain the Queen’s Favor after they’ve paid to use the dance.
Regarding the Automa, YOU gain 4 Queen’s Favor once and immediately following teaching a dance. As far as the timing, this means that you follow the steps for the strength-4 worker benefit on pg. 12 of the multiplayer rulebook; After step 4, ‘The Dance is Immediately Available’, you then gain 4 Queen’s Favor.
Hopefully that clears things up for you. Have fun!
To avoid any confusion here, Automa doesn’t teach dances. Only the player has the ability to teach a dance.
Question about the nomenclature regarding the term faction tile vs starting tile. The hive mats (based on photo on page 11 of rulebook) show one hex labeled Faction Tile and two hexes labeled Starting Tile. Section G of Player Components on page 4 as well as the appendix description of Cluster (“Each hex in your faction tile …”) implies all 3 hexes are part of the faction tile. It’s clear in the FAQ that adjacency bonuses for factions apply only to the one hex, but I have two questions regarding other conditions.
Does same logic hold true for other adjacency bonuses? For example the Survival tile (“Gain 8 if the survival tile is adjacent to your faction tile”).
When placing a tile through the advance action, the new tile has to be “adjacent to any existing tile (including your faction tile)”. Can it be adjacent to only a faction tile hex that stores resources?
I agree that it’s confusing. Universally, though, when any ability refers to your faction tile, it’s referring to the faction hex specifically. For tile placement in general, you just need to place next to another tile, including any hex on the starting tile.
That helps clarify, Thank you Jamey. Maybe it should use two different terms like, Faction Hex, and Starting Tri-Tile.
A question about the development “Insulation”. It states you can move up to 3 of your hibernation tokens, but do they have to be 3 separate tokens, or can the same one be moved multiple times ?
They must be different tokens.
A question about worker bumping. If the active player bumps a strength 4 worker that worker must immediately hibernate. If the worker belongs to another player does this action take place before the active player’s turn is completed? We had this happen in a four player game. The active player bumped a strength 4 worker on the advance action and was going to pick a particular farm tile. The bumped player wanted to place a hibernation token on the spot that refreshed the farm tiles stopping him from doing so.
Yes, the hibernation happens before the player performs the action.
Maybe it’s because I don’t have the game in front of me yet, but I’m having trouble reconciling this reply with yours from the first comment on this thread. Wouldn’t the Order of Operations section on page 7 of the rule book mean that the action is done before the hibernation?
Thanks for your question, Dan, and I totally understand the confusion. The answer is on page 6, where it says that a worker must immediately hibernate “as it’s bumped.”
The note on page 7 is a little misleading, as it’s referring to an edge case of something happening in the middle of an action (after the step when you’ve placed the worker) that results in a worker exceeding strength 4. I remember this coming up a few times, hence why we added this note, but it’s pretty rare–I’ll reach out to Connie to see if she has a good example.
Thanks for the quick reply! So under normal gameplay circumstances, if you bump your own 4 worker, you could use the hibernation benefit (say gain a water) in your action (like buy a farm tile). It’s only when some chain reaction starts happening due to your engine that this fringe case might arise.
Exactly!
Just so I understand this is not the same as the FAQ says above. Above it says that bumped bonus then action unless it’s to clear a row and player intended on buying a tile. I think we’ll probably play that action always takes precedence for the time being until we hit a roadblock.
Right, the bumped worker does anything related to the bump first, then the current player performs the actions.
Do you just play through the Automa cards once or reshuffle and continue until the Hibernation spaces are taken for 2 players?
The game ends, as in the multiplayer game, when the hibernation spaces are full. Pg.4 of the Automa rulebook explains that if there’s only one Automa card remaining, you reshuffle. Have fun.
If you put a 4-strenght bee on Convert to teach a dance, but all spaces for dances are occupied. What happens then? Does it bump off one of the already taught dances?
You can’t teach a dance if all dances for your player count have already been created, so you just proceed with a normal Convert action in that situation.
This is not about Apiary, but I’ve watched a number of your videos and I’m very curious about the antique map of Wales I always see in the background. Any significant connection behind that?
Good eye! I traveled to Wales around 15 years ago with a few friends, just driving to various towns and cities. It was a wonderful trip, and I picked up the map near the end of it.
Can the Automa be added to a 2P game as a 3rd player?
I appreciate you asking! Automa is not designed for that purpose in Apiary, nor is it necessary to have a full 2-player experience, as one side of the board is designed to scale for 1-2 players. However, like most of our Automas, it also shouldn’t hinder the experience, so you’re welcome to try it if you play a 2 player game and want more workers on the board.
After careful reading, I think I know the answers to my questions, but I want to check my assumptions here.
1) I understand that when you get resources, you can ‘rearrange resources within your hive’ and, at the end of your turn, any leftover must be returned to the supply in exchange for Queen’s Favor. It sounds like players allowed to remove any resources from storage to make room for new resources during this rearranging–once you’ve stored a resource, you can’t remove it until you’re going to spend it. Is that true?
2) I assume you can place tiles on frames before your hive mat is full. Is that true?
3) For the Convert action, I assume you CANNOT convert wax or honey into its constituent basic resources. Is that true?
Thanks Debbie! I’ll answer below.
1. You can rearrange resources as you wish. The one thing you can’t do is choose to sacrifice resources for which you actually have capacity.
2. Yes, you can place tiles on frames even if your hive mat isn’t full.
3. None of the basic conversions at the Convert action involve paying wax or honey.
Excellent; I’m glad to be wrong about #1!
I may have missed something in the rules or perhaps a tile or card affects this, but I can’t see why you’d send a worker to the landing area instead of the active pool. It doesn’t save it from increasing its level (if there’s even an advantage to that), since it’s useless until retrieved and then it increases at that point. I suspect there’s some hidden subtlety I’ll learn only when I can savour the full game in action, unless I’ve misunderstood something.
It certainly isn’t used very often, but there are times when someone bumps a worker that you were hoping to retrieve (you only gain income when you retrieve), hence why you might send it to the landing area.
Very subtle indeed. I see there are intriguing nuances to discover!
Hello In the Worker Placement rules, bullet 4, the text doesn’t seem to match the adjacent image. It shows a “three bar arrow” in parens, but i dont see anything like that on the image. It looks like you place the worker in the top spot, pushing any present bee down to the lower spot. If the lower spot is also occupied, that bee is bumped. I think the first sentence is what’s throwing me off
Lastly, what does the +1 in the lower action space indicate?
I have a few other comments regarding the rules…would this be the best place to post them?
You’re in the right place for rules questions (though it’s helpful if you reference page numbers too). This looks like a page 6 question, yes? The arrow is in the image (left side–it has 2 bars instead of 3). If the +1 icon is visible, it means you add +1 to the strength of your worker (so, if you place a strength-3 worker and it’s the only worker there, the +1 is exposed, so the total strength you can use for the action is 4. The +1 is explained on page 9 under “Advance”).
Hello Jamey…thanks for the clarification. I totally missed the first sentence in step 1 of Advance that indicates you add 1 if the bottom spot is empty/.
My other comment was going to be to request a copy of the icons at the top of the Appendix since they are used so heavily that document, but then i realized we are not talking about a KS or a prototype copy and the rules are likely in your warehouse or nearly so. Reading late at night has its disadvantages…
Now…i am looking forward to getting this game (on the pre-order notification list) and getting it to the table. Also hoping this will be available for us to put on Geekway Mini PnW in January.
Lastly, my condolences for Biddy.
Jeff H
Thanks Jeff! Each player has a player aid that includes all icons on it (and you’re right that Apiary is already produced–it’s on ships heading towards fulfilment centers now). :) I’ll be happy to contribute a few copies to Geekway Mini.
When a worker that hibernates is put into “the general supply”, does it then become available to Grow into a new worker? Or are players limited to just 4 total workers in a game?
You’re limited to 4 workers at a time. Players have cardboard hibernation tokens that they place into hibernation (not actual worker meeples).
When you place a worker on the Grow space, you can use 1 strength to gain a new 1-strength worker or 2 strength (plus 2 basic resources) to gain a frame.
Does that actually require you to decrease the strength of the worker you place (flipping a 3-strength worker to 1-strength if you gain a frame, for example)?
Thanks for your question, Peter. Whenever you “spend strength” in Apiary, you don’t change anything on the workers themselves.
Accessibility question- I have several friends I game with who are colorblind. How colorblind friendly would you say this game is? I noticed when reading that rulebook that the starting resource spots are highlighted with a green line color (and a nominally thicker line). Given how common red/green colorblindness is, not having a more obvious identifier (symbol below the spot, dashed line) makes me a little concerned for other aspects of the game. Do your color-specific identifiers have secondary affordances?
Great question, Chris. Colorblind friendliness was a huge consideration for this game, particularly for dual-coding icons and tokens (each of which is a unique shape). The color of the starting resource spots isn’t important–it’s just the highlighting that is key. I used Colorblind Pal to review the worker colors over and over until I found a good combination of colors and brightness levels (this wasn’t easy given the multiple types of colorblind friendliness, and it’s still possible for certain types and player counts that people may need to add a little dot or other indicator to their worker minis). Also, all components were reviewed by a vision-friendly specialist on our oversight team.
I definitely can’t say the game has perfect colorblind friendliness, but I can honestly say that we tried our best to make Apiary as accessible as possible to different types of visions.
I appreciate your thoughtful reply, and taking this into account during design!
Hi Jamey, I have two points I’d like to confirm!
First, if you would gain Queen’s Favor but you’re already at the end of the track, do you just miss out?
And the phrasing of the Grow action suggests that you can expand your hive with frames such that they spill out beyond the edges of your mat; is that right?
Looking forward to the game, looks cool!
Thanks for your questions, James! You’re correct about Queen’s Favor (though it’s extremely rare that you’d reach the end of that track). And yes, there’s no limit to space, so you could add quite a few frames (another fun strategy I’ve seen, depending on certain tiles that make it lucrative).
The only thing I’m confused on after finishing the rulebook (there were a couple of things I got muddled on before later pages clarified them, like the +1 on the multi-spaces) is page 7, the “Order of Operations” where it uses bumping a strength 4 bee as an example of a case where you’d need to resolve the action as though the worker was strength-4 before hibernating it. A bumped worker isn’t normally involved in the action, right? Are there cards/tiles that are going to do something like count the number of workers players have, where it will be important for the bumped bee to continue existing until the end of the action?
Feels like it conflicts a bit with the “immediately” on the rules for bumping a strength-4 bee, if bumped strength-4 bees are actually always supposed to wait to hibernate until the action finishes.
That’s just noting the time of the action vs the timing of the hibernation bonus, as they are two separate decision points (often for two separate players). There aren’t tiles that count the number of workers you have.
Okay, so the meaning is that if you bump your own 4-strength bee, you CANNOT use a benefit from the hibernation to pay for the action?
Exactly!