Queen Bee

Awards

Queen Bee won "Best Game" in the 2019 BGG Two Player PnP Game Design Contest. In addition to placing 1st for "Best Game", Queen Bee also placed in the following categories:

  • 2nd Place for "Best Use of Theme"

  • 2nd Place for "Best Art/Graphic Design"

  • 2nd Place for "Best Rulebook"

  • 2nd Place for "Best Game to Play With Your Child"

Queen Bee Overview

Queen Bee is a 2-6 player game where you attempt to protect your Queen Bee and defeat the other Queen Bee(s). In a 3-6 player game you will want to attack quickly because once you defeat the Queen Bee of another colony then their bees become loyal to you. Increase your army, be on the attack, but don't forget to protect your Queen!

The game includes custom cards to manipulate your dice, affect your opponent or increase your power. The game ends when only one Queen Bee remains.

The game involves area-control, combat, hand management and dice manipulation. It also has a partnership mechanic as teams are one by one taken over. It rewards teams on the move and attacking by having more “attack” only cards and tie-breakers where the attacking teams win. If you want to have the last Queen Bee remaining then you will want to be on the move early.

Each game contains the following: 90 Bee Miniatures, a 93 Card Deck, 5 player aid cards, 12 Hive Power Cards, 20 Dice, and a double sided game board. It also features an amazing GameTrayz storage system.

For a downloadable rulebook please click HERE . The rulebook is currently available in six languages.

For reviews from people who have played our game click HERE .

For all the content created by 3rd Party Reviewers and Previewers click HERE.

The Beginnings and Inspiration of the Game

It started with an idea. Just a simple idea based on a drill I did many times on the wrestling mats as a kid. And that is how our story started - an idea based on a nostalgic memory.

In early 2017, I had been following several board game companies on Kickstarter and was fascinated by how they were able to create and produce such magnificent games. Up to this point I had backed five projects on Kickstarter and my curiosity was intrigued by each additional backed project. But that is where I figured it would end, just a curiosity. After all, I was an accountant - not a creator. However, later that summer I decided that I would put together an escape room for family and friends in my neighborhood. I didn't create that room to make money - but rather to have a creative outlet. My expectations were low as I had never created much of anything before and I had only ever done two escape rooms in my life. However, over the course of the late summer through the fall I slowly created plans, props and decorations for my room. I used a backroom in my house for the room and in late November I had my first group go through my escape room, "The Quest for Mr. Scrooge's Inheritance".

I was unbelievably nervous. I had two concerns: 1. that the group would get out in 10 minutes and I would look like a moron and 2. that they would get stuck and have a miserable time. However, 56 and a half excruciating minutes later my first group escaped - a success! People in that group told me that it was just as good as the professional rooms they had done. Some of them even told their family and friends and had them come through my room in later groups. I couldn't have been more pleased with the success of my escape room. But the success of the room created another problem... perhaps I needed to use my creativity on other projects. But I didn't know how to create anything! I was good at playing games - not at creating them.

I returned to my regular routine and tried to ignore my bliss in my successful project - but a game concept kept coming to my mind and I kept trying to think of ways to create it into a board game with very little luck. The game idea came from a wrestling drill that we called "Queen Bee". The drill was simple - half the wrestlers went to one side of the room and the other half went to the other side of the room. Each team picked one person on their team to be the "Queen Bee". The objective of the drill was simple, flip the other Queen to their back. If you got flipped to your back you were out of the drill. If one of the Queen's got flipped to their back then the drill was over and the other team won. But how do you convert that into a board game?

Months passed by and the concept kept growing in the back of my mind. January came and went followed by February and March. Then in April a beautiful thing happened - it all came together - or at least the initial concept did. I jotted the concept and the basic rules down in a word document and shared my thoughts with Larissa (my wife). I created a game board and rushed to play Larissa even though everything wasn't quite ready. I had card ideas in mind - but decided to try and play the first ever game without that piece. The result - it was a trainwreck! I didn't enjoy it at all! The concept sounded great - but I wasn't perfectly happy with the board or the game. And initially I felt that at least I learned that I was no good at making games. However, I also had a feeling that I wasn't quite done with this yet.

Shortly after that first game I redesigned the game board. This time I tried to do it right. I also printed out some card templates and began making some initial cards to really get a feel for what this game could be. After spending countless hours of trying to get the game to a better starting point I approached Larissa again for another round. The results were drastically different and I truly felt that I was on to something that could be pretty special.

And that is how Queen Bee the board game began. It has been played many times and has gone through quite a few changes. It has gotten better with each evolution and I am ecstatic with where it ended. Thank you for your support and for helping bring this dream to life.