The Bears and the Bees by Grandpa Beck's Games is a sweet and delightful tile placement card game for 2-5 players. It combines all of the aspects I loved in classic hand-shedding games from my childhood with a fun puzzly tile placement...
The Bears and the Bees by Grandpa Beck’s Games is a sweet and delightful tile placement card game for 2-5 players. It combines all of the aspects I loved in classic hand-shedding games from my childhood with a fun puzzly tile placement game. The artwork is beautiful and the hexagonal cards are fun and unique.
Review written by The Family Meeple
Disclaimer: The Family Meeple was gifted a copy of this game by the publisher. Our review of the game was in no way impacted by this gift and is our honest opinion after multiple plays. If you’re interested in the game, we hope this will help you make a decision about whether it would make a good addition to your own game collection.
We are proud to work with the amazing team over at Grandpa Beck’s Games as an affiliate partner. We earn a small commission on sales using our links to the Grandpa Beck’s Games website and discount codes.
Get to the point…
In The Bears and the Bees, players are dealt a hand of 8 or 9 cards at the beginning of each round, depending on player count. Cards are worth points at the end of the round if they’re still in your hand and the person with the lowest score after three rounds is the winner.
To play a card from your hand, you must be able to connect it to at least two cards that have already been played by matching the edges of the cards. Sometimes, this is easier said than done. If you can’t play a card then you can either discard a card to draw two new ones or just draw a new card and add it to your hand.
The special cards offer a small amount of “take that” to the game by forcing one or more players to draw a card or take one of the cards from your hand. Special cards are powerful to play during the game but will set you back with more points at the end of the round if you end up stuck with them in hand.
The Bears and the Bees is a wonderful family game that I will never turn down playing. It’s been a wonderful game to take along on vacations and play with our family as well as friends. The rules are simple and easy to explain and the game is quick playing. While it does take up a fair amount of table space the finished product is stunning to look at and ultimately quite satisfying. This is my personal favorite game in the Grandpa Beck’s line of family card games and will likely never leave our collection. It’s a timeless classic to replace your copy of Uno or Phase Ten.
Rating: 9/10
Kid’s Rating: 2 Thumbs Up
Game Details
From the manufacturer
Players: 2-5 Age: 8+ Play Time: 30 minutes Publisher: Grandpa Beck’s Games Designer: Jeffrey Beck Artwork: David Bock, Apryl StottWhat’s in the box
1 Rulebook
1 Starter Queen Bee card
70 Honeycomb cards
10 Drone cards
15 Worker bee cards
5 Flower cards
3 Bear cards
How to Play
Setup
Set the Queen Bee card in the center of the play area. Shuffle the rest of the cards together or just mix them face down on the table, then form a single draw deck. Deal 9 cards to each player in a 2-3 player game or 8 cards in a 4-5 player game. Flip over the top card of the deck. If it’s a honeycomb card, place it adjacent to the queen bee in the center of the play area. If it’s any of the special cards, discard it beside the draw pile and draw again until a honeycomb card is drawn. The player to the left of the dealer will go first.
Taking A Turn
On your turn, you will take one of three actions:
Play a card – or – Draw a card – or – Discard a card and then draw two cardsTo play a card, the following rules must be followed:
Only honeycomb cards may be placed next to the queen bee All cards played must connect with 2 or more cards in the hive All sides that touch another card must match in color or touch honey (wild)
When playing special cards, additional rules will apply as well as benefits for playing these cards.
Drones have no special ability, but are the easiest to place since half of the sides are honey and can match any color Worker bees have one of each color plus a wild honey side. Once played, you can force a player of your choice to draw a card. Flowers have the same color on all sides. When played, all other players must draw a card. Bears can be played touching any color as long as at least one of the sides is connected to honey (bears love honey). When played, you will give one of the cards in your hand to another player of your choice. No cards can be played on a future turn if they will touch a bear, even another bear.Round End and Scoring
When one player plays the last card from their hand, the round will end. At that time, all players will add up points for the cards in their hand based on the type of card. Honeycombs are worth 5 points each. Drones, worker bees, and flowers are worth 10 points each. Bears are worth 15 points each.
Keep track each player’s score for the round on a piece of paper or using another method. The standard recommended game length is three rounds; however, you can play as many or as few as you want. At the end of the third round, or when you’re ready to stop, add up the scores from each round, and the player with the lowest score wins.
Advanced Play
There are three advanced rules that you can choose to include when playing the game:
Added Bonuses: In this mode, for every side that you match over 2, you’ll earn a bonus play allowing you to shed the cards in your hand that much faster Added Stings: In this mode, for every side that you match over 2 when playing a woker bee or flower card, you’ll force the other player(s) to draw an additional card Connected Play: In this mode, if you’re able to play two cards that connect on your turn, you may do so. The second connected card is optional and will be played before any other bonus plays are taken.Rating
Overall
I am really impressed with this small box family card game. It’s exactly what I look for in a casual family card game. The rules are simple, it can be played quickly, and it works well across all different age groups. We bring this with us every time we go on vacation and it’s always one of the games that gets played. I find the artwork of the cards charming and there’s something so fun about the hexagonal shape making it possible to pull off big turns by matching multiple sides. The optional advanced rules work perfectly to scale the complexity of the game for younger players while still being simple and easy to teach to people who are new to the game. We highly recommend this game for any family that enjoys classic card games and is looking for something that feels familiar yet unique.
Rory’s (7) favorite part of The Bears and the Bees is that the bears have to be played next to a honey side. She also likes that when you play a flower card, everybody else has to draw a card.
Emmy’s (6) favorite part of The Bears and the Bees is placing her tiles out by the queen bee. She says that playing the tiles out and making a match makes her feel like she’s part of the game.
Components
Theme
Replayability
We’ve played this game quite a lot since receiving our copy and it’s enjoyable each and every time. While the game mechanisms don’t change, the variation in cards that you are dealt will make each round feel just different enough to keep it engaging. This is the style of game that could easily be the main game for a weeknight evening with a cup of tea or coffee, wine or beer, or with the kids instead of screen time.Game Length
The Bears and the Bees typically plays out over three rounds, but there’s no reason that the group can’t decide to play a single round or more than three. When we’ve been squeezing in a game before heading out somewhere or while we wait on something, we’ve played just a single round. Other times we’ve played several rounds and summed the scores across all of the rounds. Our plays typically run 10-20 minutes per round. The short play time works particularly well for families with younger kids as each round is short enough that it’s easy to complete a round and then quit if attention spans are running short.
Ease of play / Complexity
Strategy vs Luck
The Bears and the Bees is roughly equal parts strategy and luck. While it’s possible, particularly with the connected mode rules, to plan out a few plays ahead, you may simply not get cards that work together. This actually works really well for a family game where multiple age groups are playing together as it evens the playing field nicely. My daughters are just as likely to be able to do well in the game as I am. When looking for family games, typically a blend of strategy and luck works really well.
Final Thoughts
Where to buy it
If The Bears and the Bees seems like the kind of card game you’re family or group is looking for, you can find it at the following retailers:
Grandpa Beck’s GamesIf you’re making a purchase through the Grandpa Beck’s website, use the code FamilyMeeple at checkout to get 15% off your order! You can also get free shipping when spending $35 or more.
Amazon.com
Note: This review was based on our copy of the game from 2020. A new edition was published in 2021 that may vary slightly from our version.
What to play next
If you already have The Bears and the Bees and are looking for something else to play with your family, we recommend you check out any of the following:
Gnoming A Round Skull King Cover Your Assets Antiquity Quest Lanterns: The Harvest FestivalHave you played The Bears and the Bees? Leave a comment below and tell us about your favorite aspect of the game.
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