Hive Time for Windows

Bee management game

Hive Time is a scientifically inaccurate representation of how to manage a whole hive. Send workers out to find resources, research new areas, and expand your hive.

Hive Time puts a fun and colourful bee-themed spin to the management game genre. It offers a wealth of options that will appeal to any aspiring apiarist. Solid aesthetics can help to cover up the game's flaws.

Hive Time's graphical style is very similar to other management or simulation games such as Kingdoms and Castles and Rymdkapsel. It's easy for anyone to see what's happening at any given moment.

There will be a noticeable lag when your hive's population increases significantly. However, this can be corrected by changing the options menu to alter the shader, anti-aliasing and depth of field settings.

How well the game communicates statistics to the player is what makes or breaks a management game. The Hive Time GUI displays simple icons and numbers that indicate bee population, hive cell count, honey, nectar, and pollen. It is always clear how much of any resource you have.

If you are stuck or confused, there is an in-game "beepedia" that provides trivia and knowledge. Zooming in on any bee allows you to view relevant statistics such as age, role, and activity.

Sometimes, event pop-ups are accompanied by cute hand-drawn images. These include wasp attacks and gangster slugs.

Bees in Hive Time don't live very long so games are short. This encourages multiple playthroughs. However, after a few games, the lack of variety in events begins to become obvious.

Hive Time follows the same genre conventions as many simulation games, making them easy to pick up and start playing. Although it may not take bee biology seriously, that is to its advantage as it doesn't feel overwhelming or too complicated.