"Simulator" games seem all about the rush of a reward after pushing through monotonous tasks. Not so different from what motivates most of us to work in real lives! The promise of a reward gives meaning to our work... at least that's how we feel. I really think it's the work itself that keeps us playing!
—Onett, summarizing the entire simulator genre on Roblox.
Bee Swarm Simulator (stylized Bee Swarm! Simulator) is a Simulation Game made by Onett on Roblox where you take charge of a swarm of Virtuous Bees to collect pollen (yes, pollen, not nectar), which can then be made into honey.
Like most simulator games on Roblox, the main gameplay involves filling up a big container on your back until it's full, then bringing it back to the hive to convert it into the main currency, although the developer has made an attempt to differ it from other games in the genre, with updates adding in features such as treats that are used to level up your bees, gear such as hats and belts that increase your stats, and mobs with unique attack patterns.
The game has also won Bloxy Awards for Best Social Group, Gameplay (tied alongside Book of Monsters, Pet Simulator, and Q-Clash!) and Game of the Year, stamping out other popular games on the platform such as MeepCity and Royale High, and has also had the privilage of being the first simulator game on Roblox to achieve 1 billion visits.
See what all the buzz is about and check out the game here
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I can keep you busy with some good, old-fashioned tropes if you like!
- Ant Assault: The game features the Ant Challenge, a mini-game in which your bees must fight against a Multi-Mook Melee of enemy ants ranging from the normal type to giant ants, flying ants, fire ants that leave a trail of flames and army ants complete with army helmets. Taking out as many ants as you can in five minutes increases your score and rewards.
- Arc Symbol: Stars. They're commonly associated with Gifted Bees, there are amulets that are formed by discovering Gifted Bee types, they appear on Gifted Bee eggs and Star Jellies...
- Arc Words: "In your Darkest Hour, he will be your light" or any variation thereof for the 2018 Beesmas event, "he" referring to Bubble Bee Man. Bee Bear says that Bubble Bee Man will always bring Beesmas cheer "even in your darkest hour" during the "BEElieve" quest, says this during the "Festive Bee Workshop 3" quest as a way to encourage you to not give up (
and he has good reason to), then his spirit says this after telling you that you should seek out Bubble Bee Man once again after completing Bee Bear's questline as a hint towards when you should find him (when it's nighttime), and finally, BBM himself says that he's "here again in your darkest hour" at the start of his second quest. - Artistic License – Biology: Bees use pollen to make honey. In real life, pollen is used for reproduction in plants, while nectar is the one that's used to make honey.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Science Bear's translators can be used on any unintelligible creature you can think of (so far you can only use it on two specific bee NPCs and the Stick Bug). Unfortunately, It Only Works Once; once you give a translator to any of the aforementioned characters, you cannot use it on another, meaning you need three translators if you want to communicate with them all.
- Bee Afraid:
- Mostly averted, as most bees in this game are friendly (unless, of course, you're an enemy who's after a beekeeper's blood), but played straight with Vicious Bee (with the exception of "tamed" ones); Sun Bear was unlucky enough to have been attacked by Vicious Bee once!
- The same can be said for Windy Bee, who can plow through entire fields using tornados and can use its breath to blow you far away from it.
- Bears Are Bad News: Also mostly averted for similar reasons as the above trope, with the sole exceptions being Tunnel Bear and Gummy Bear.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Many of the fields are guarded by bugs and insects that are bigger than Robloxians.
- Butt-Monkey: Onett of all characters is this. He's been spending months trying to remove a colossal lid that's stuck in the middle of the 30 Bee area, complains about how the residents of the mountain constantly give him "problems", somehow ends up on the naughty list on Beesmas, it took four months for him to realize that he's been twisting said lid the wrong way, and the Beesmas present you can give him is nothing (although, being the developer, he was probably aware of what it was anyway). After all that, the poor guy just wants to take a vacation and not think about bees for a month.
- Character Filibuster: Science Bear goes into great detail when talking about the subjects of his quests, especially in his later quests.
- Christmas Episode: The annual Beesmas events. Every December, Bee Bear (the game's version of Santa Claus) comes to the mountain with a questline for the players to take on, usually introducing a new gimmick to the game. The map is also updated to look more festive, complete with snow and decorations.
- City with No Name: The game's setting does not have a definitive name other than "the mountain," which comes from the main part of the map being a mountain.
- Coconut Meets Cranium:
- Hitting yourself with a Coconut converts 1/10 of your total Capacity into Honey Tokens.
- One of the Coconut Crab's attacks has it drop coconuts to deal a lot of damage to the player.
- Creator Cameo: Onett appears on top of one of the game's hives. He's also a quest-giving NPC in the 30 Bee Zone.
- Developer's Foresight: If an Event Bee is offered in the in-game shop and is also obtainable without spending Robux, purchasing the bee will give you something different (500 Tickets for Festive Bee, a Star Treat for Windy Bee) should you obtain it the normal way, and vice versa, since you can't have two of the same Event Bee.
- Developer's Room: The 30 Bee Zone is inhabited by Onett, who is a quest giver there, and even gives you a bit on insight on his thoughts on development and simulators in general.
- Easter Egg:
- If you touch the Gummy Bee statue in the 20 Bee area after you obtain a Goo Hotshot badge, the statue will request Gumdrops. Use some like you would normally, and you'll be taken to Gummy Bear's lair, which sells pieces of gear made for Gummy Soldiers and has a dispenser that gives you Glue.
- There's also secret obstacle courses hidden around the map that give you little rewards like Royal Jelly if you complete them. One is inhabited by Stick Bug, another has a detour that leads to a pad that can spawn a Moon Amulet, and you'll need to know the location of two more if you want to get the Demon and Diamond Masks.
- Several messages appear around the map which hint towards codes you can enter to get more items. For example, the model of Onett on the rightmost hive has a partially-full Port-a-hive with a visible pollen count on the back. The amount is the code.
- Either/Or Title: Spirit Bear gets stuck on whether to call her 14th quest "The Ways Of The Winds" or "The Wind And Its Ways". After one Rambling Old Man Monologue combined with her worrying that Onett might call her again, as well as the player supposedly complaining about how they have to donate a Gold Egg to the Wind Shrine, she eventually says "screw it", uses both titles, and goes back to bed.
- Excited Title! Two-Part Episode Name!: The logo stylizes the name as Bee Swarm! Simulator.
- Foreshadowing: Talking to Black Bear during his "Black Bear, Why?" quest will have him mention how he once saw a bee use "powerful gusts of wind" to demolish a field, something that no previously discovered bee is capable of... except Windy Bee, who has the ability to do just that and was added in a later update.
- Giant Food: A lot of the fields in the game are surrounded with giant food, such as the Strawberry Field, Coconut Field, and Pineapple Patch. The Blue Flower Field was also once a Blueberry Field, according to Spirit Bear.
- He Knows About Timed Hits: Quest givers are the main source of explanation for in-game mechanics and items.
- Hell Is That Noise: The Evil Laugh-esque sound effect emitted by the Demon Mask when its passive ability activates.
- Impossible Pickle Jar: Onett is trying to remove a lid in the 30 Bee area that's WAY bigger than him.
- Insistent Terminology: Most quest givers insist that the inanimate objects that occasionally spit on flowers to produced Sparkles are "blowing bubbles".
- Item Crafting: The Blender in the 15 Bee Zone's Badge Bearer's Guild lets you craft items such as extracts, oil, and Moon Charms, and you'll need a number of those items if you want to craft gear such as hats and guards.
- Loot Boxes: Bee eggs and Royal Jelly can be purchased with Robux or obtained regularly. The former lets you hatch a bee (with more expensive eggs offering a better chance of obtaining rarer types), and both eggs and jellies can be used to convert bees into different types.
- Luck-Based Mission: Obtaining Windy Bee requires offering a Spirit Petal to the Wind Shrine, and after you do that you have to donate Cloud Vials to the Wind Shrine until the bee decides that you're worthy enough, which can take a while.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: This is the Coconut Canister's main gimmick; if you're hit by an enemy and the attack isn't a One-Hit KO, the container will produce a coconut shield to temporarily protect you.
- Medium Awareness: Pretty much everyone is aware that they're in a game. Talking to a bear after completing their questlines will have them tell you to wait for an update, and one of Mother Bear's dialogs even has her call Onett "the developer of this game!"
- Multi-Mook Melee: The Ant Challenge pits you against a horde of ants, which come in species such as Fire Ants and Giant Ants, plus a lawn mower once you make enough progress.
- Mundane Object Amazement: According to Sun Bear during his second visit, shoes have apparently become a new fashion craze outside the mountain.
- Musical Spoiler: If you go near the platform where you can claim a Gummy Bee, the music that would normally play in the 20 Bee area will change to Gummy Bear's Leitmotif. While it does set the mood for a Gummy Bee being formed if you have enough Gumdrops, it's also to clue you in that there's more to this platform than meets the eye.
- No Antagonist: The game doesn't really have an actual antagonist other than the mobs, with the closest thing to a character who is outright malicious being Gummy Bear, though he doesn't have much plot relevance.
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Science Bear believes that the mobs are this, which plays a factor into wanting to build a universal Translator. He may be onto something, as this trope does in fact apply to Stick Bug, who considers his challenge a game rather than a malicious attack.
- Obvious Beta: In-Universe: Onett is surprised you made it past the 30 Bee gate so soon since he hadn't finished whatever he's planning yet. The area itself looks empty and cluttered.
- The One Who Wears Shoes: Sun Bear wears a pair of Beekeeper's Boots as of his second visit.
- Optional Boss: King Beetle and Tunnel Bear. Their locations are kept well under wraps unless you happen to be completing Panda Bear's quests, in which case he'll outright tell you where they are in his "Royal Rumble" and "Ultimate Ant Annihilation 5" quests.
- The Power of Hate: Rage Bees and Demon Bees get their strength this way. Technically, this can also apply to the Demon Mask according to its Flavor Text.
- Propeller Hat of Whimsy: One purchaseable accessory is a propeller hat, which has the description "A playful hat that keeps the sun out of your eyes."
- Pun-Based Creature: The Ant Challenge includes fire ants that leave a trail of flames and army ants wearing army helmets.
- Rain of Something Unusual: Honeystorms, a regular in-game event where honey tokens rapidly spawn in the fields as honey rains from the sky.
- Socialization Bonus: Sharing Jelly Beans with other players not only gives you the same buffs as the bean they collected from you, but also gives you a bonus buff.
- Somewhere, an Entomologist Is Crying: Lampshaded by Science Bear, who notes that if the game portrayed hives in a realistic way, the Roblox servers would not be able to handle it.
- Stock Animal Diet: Bears are the main NPCs, and people do know bears love honey!
- Story Breadcrumbs: Some quests can tell you a little about the character (or in one case with Black Bear and several with Spirit Bear, tell you about the mountain at the start or end of a quest) that gave the quest to you if you talk to them during said quest.
- Support Party Member: Baby Bee. As expected from a still-growing bee, their stats are lackluster, with all of them in red. However, they are able to make a token that doubles your pollen gain, with a respectable duration of 30 seconds, topped off with an increased chance for better loot drops from mobs.
- Take That, Audience!: "The Night Before Beesmas" has Bee Bear poke fun at players who spend all day grinding in Roblox simulator games, including this game.Bee Bear: We'll be at our busiest yet! Grinding away on a ROBLOX game, ignoring our families altogether!
- Translator Microbes: With help from the player, Science Bear can build Translators that can then be used to communicate with NPCs that you wouldn't normally be able to (Riley Bee, Bucko Bee, Stick Bug), with his intention being to use his goal of removing the Language Barrier to hopefully bring peace between all species.
- Unexpectedly Realistic Gameplay:
- Science Bear notes that if the game were to portray the beehives realistically with the count of thousands of bees at a time, this would crash the servers.
- Finding resources from places like rustling leaves, while still a useful source, is a very risky idea, since there's a chance that said leaves are rustling because there is an Aphid under there, which will immediately go after you the moment you try to collect from the leaves.
- Virtuous Bees: The bees you employ help you gather pollen and fight off threats.
- Weird Currency: Honey is used as the main currency in the game.
- Wham Line:
- If you happen to talk to Mother Bear during her "Mother Bear's Midterm" quest, this will probably come as a surprise if you haven't unlocked the 30 Bee Zone yet:Mother Bear: The 3rd and final [Star Treat] can be received from Onett, the developer of this game! I've heard he's working on something beyond the 30 Bee Gate...
- Talking to Gummy Bear in his lair has him say this, which is especially shocking if you already worked for him before:"What's that, Gummy Bee?"
"They're not seeing clearly?"
"YOU'RE ALWAYS RIGHT!"
"GOO-dbye, beekeeper... HAH!" - After completing Stick Bug's Egg Hunt quest, he'll tell you the following, and then give you your rewards. Three in particular stand out as none of the other quest givers have had them as quest rewards.Stick Bug: I've been around so long that not much surprises me. I've got to keep things interesting myself. How about you, flesh bug?
[🌱 Stick Bug has planted an Epic Sprout... 🌱]
[🌱 Stick Bug has planted a Legendary Sprout... 🌱]
[🌱 Stick Bug has planted a Supreme Sprout... 🌱]
- If you happen to talk to Mother Bear during her "Mother Bear's Midterm" quest, this will probably come as a surprise if you haven't unlocked the 30 Bee Zone yet:
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: One of the Traveling Bears, Gummy Bear, has proven to be rather disturbing. While covering places in goo sounds a bit like he's a bit of a minor nuisance, The Reveal in his "Peace Through Goo-nity" quest that it's so he can be as close to everything as possible is a bit icky. THEN there's the fact that he will not hesitate to kill innocent beekeepers just for not understanding what he thinks about goo.
- Wonder Twin Powers: Crimson Bee and Cobalt Bee's abilities work better when you have both of them; their pulse abilities fire both a red and blue pulse, and their Red and Blue Bomb Sync abilities can be combined.
- You Mean "Xmas": Christmas is called "Beesmas"note in this game.
