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The next board game from Stonemaier Games is titled Apiary<\/em>, and it\u2019s about sentient spacefaring bees. The high-concept title was formally announced Wednesday in a company newsletter following an unscheduled leak online. While you might be inclined to poo poo the concept as a bit too out there, underestimate founder Jamey Stegmaier at your peril. The wacky themes he takes under his wing are regularly known for their industry-defining impact.<\/p>\n

St. Louis-based Stonemaier has built its business on a string of unusual hits, beginning with 2016\u2019s Scythe<\/em>, <\/em>which Stegmaier designed himself. The asymmetrical strategy game takes place in an alternate history version of 1920s Europe created by a singular Polish artist named Jakub R\u00f3\u017calski. It includes idyllic scenes of rural life counter-posed by hundred-foot-tall, diesel-powered robots. R\u00f3\u017calski\u2019s 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 <\/em>itself. Its success helped to revitalize a hardcore corner of the larger hobby gaming space, breathing new life into legacy titles such as Twilight Imperium<\/em> and seeding the marketplace for new games like Oath: Chroncles of Empire and Exile<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But while Scythe <\/em>turned heads mostly among diehard hobbyists, Stonemaier\u2019s next hit game, Wingspan<\/em>, has become a mainstream hit. Designed by Elizabeth Hargrave, the ornithology-based game won the 2019 Kennerspiel des Jahres, one of board gaming\u2019s most prestigious awards. Wingspan<\/em> and Hargrave both have since been profiled by both The New York Times<\/em>, The New Yorker<\/em>, National Public Radio \u2014 even the National Audubon Society. Stonemaier has said publicly it\u2019s sold more than one million copies \u2014 an astonishing number for an independently-produced board game.<\/p>\n

So in light of its other successes, Stonemaier\u2019s game about gigantic, thinking bees colonizing other planets in our galaxy doesn\u2019t 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\u2019s help. The final product will allow 1-5 players to explore the stars over 60-90 minutes of play. It\u2019s a far cry from the multi-hour epic that is a good game of Scythe<\/em>, while the gameplay looks to be a bit crunchier than Wingspan<\/em>.<\/p>\n