Bee Leader Review

By Dave Flodine, on May 28, 2012

Publisher: Flightless
Genre: Casual
Released: 24 May, 2012
Size: 65.4 MB
Price: $0.99

PROS

Plenty of control options.
The game's levels are all open from the start, having three difficulties to unlock of each.
Fluid bee flying action.

CONS

Those darn hornets!

VERDICT

If you've ever wanted to play a game where you fly around a spherical world as a bee, rescuing baby bees and collecting pollen for your hive, then this is the game for you.

Full Review
App Store Info

Being a bee is not as glamorous as one might imagine. Sure there's the honey and flying around everywhere, but surprisingly a small insect has a lot of enemies that try to impede its progress in the hunt for nectar. Luckily bees can work as a team. You just have to find your little buddies first.

Bee Leader is a day in the life of a bee. From sunrise to sunset, you buzz around a spherical world trying to collect all the nectar you can to fill up your hive's quota and get the highest score possible. Filling the quota will unlock a greater difficulty in the same area, but all five areas are open for your perusal from the start. There are many options to control your bee, from placement of joysticks, to touching anywhere, to tilt controls. We found the tilting to be the optimal way to play the game as it offered the greatest amount of finesse. With the joystick, you seem to always overshoot your target while flying around, and the touch anywhere method can often obscure your vision.

The nectar that you have to collect is everywhere. There are pockets in the sky, there are hidden honey pots underground, and there are flowers that you can suck dry (although their petals grow back given enough time). Returning to the hive will deposit all nectar collected, and you'll want to do this many times a level, as running into a hazard like birds, spiders, windmill blades, or even the dreaded homing hornet will drastically reduce your nectar reserves. There are also your little helper bees hidden around the level. Collecting them will have them following you, adding nectar bonuses as you strive to complete your task (you'll also acquire and end of level bonus for finding them all).

With the flat color palette, atmospheric sound, and the simple joy of flying around as a bee, this game would be a great choice for younger players, but there's a certain charm and joyful quality to it that should entertain the older crowd. It's not going to set the gaming world abuzz, but it's certainly bee-lightful.

Screenshots