APICO Review
APICO
Publisher: Whitethorn Games
Developer: TNgineers
Genre:
PEGI: 7
Comments:
In a market where simulation is all the rage, everything from Power Washing to Landscaping to running a Gas Station has been done at this point. But what about Bee Keeping? Welcome to APICO. APICO combines resource gathering, biology, and minigames with ideas from both real-life and fantasy beekeeping and gardening, as it teaches players about the ins-and-outs of maintaining a healthy hive and the importance of our irreplaceable pollinating pals. The islands of APICO were once abuzz with different species of bees, and it’s up to players to rediscover lost species, cross-breed new ones, and repopulate each unique bee-ome. Progressing further into the game may also uncover some forgotten secrets. As well, a portion of the games’ profits goes toward bee conservation.
The game has been available on Steam, Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4 +5 previously but has now made its way to the Xbox family of systems alongside it’s latest update. APICO is as described as above but utilizing Stardew Valley aesthetics instead of focusing on realism. The game is a unique mix of building, resource gathering and production. However, what you are producing makes the game even more unique, as you take on the role of collecting and conserving bees. APICO takes you through the process of caring for bees, discovering new bees, breeding, and releasing bees back into the wild. Along the way you have to collect stone and wood to craft items needed as well as collecting different species of bees to utilizing in cross breeding. You can also collect and sell honey in the process.
The pixel art style is done pretty well and the soundtrack to the game adds to the relaxing atmosphere to the game. Overall there really isn’t anything to stress out about in this game so it’s a great relaxing play for these summer nights. Recent updates to the game have no expanded to include Butterflies and Moths. The only real downside I had to this game was the controls which can sometimes be daunting due to the amount of menus that can pop up to navigate. Other than that APICO was a quite enjoyable experience and something I will likely continue to spend time with over the rest of the season. The fact that the developers is only a team of two to create APICO is astounding considering the amount of love and care spent on this game, you can tell they did their homework and have a passion around the subject matter.
Features of APICO:
- Play together with up to four in online co-op, with cross-play available on all platforms!
- Unique crafting and beekeeping minigames that drive gameplay progression
- Cross-breed different bees to discover over 30 new species
- Make and sell honey, Apicola, and other beekeeping products
- Repopulate lost species and release them back into the wild
- Multiple biomes to explore, each with their own unique bee species
- Uncover the forgotten secrets of the APICO Islands
Trailer
Article By Kevin Austin
Kevin Austin has been in gaming journalism in one way or another since the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube. Married and father of 3 children he has been gaming since the ripe age of 6 when he got his first NES system and over 30 years later he is still gaming almost daily. Kevin is also co-founder of the Play Some Video Games (PSVG) Podcast network which was founded over five years ago and is still going strong. Some of his favorite gaming series includes Fallout and Far Cry, he is a sucker for single player adventure games (hence his big reviews for Playstation), and can frequently be found getting down in one battle royale or another. If it's an oddball game, odds are he's all about it.
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