Apiary
Apiary Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
OVERVIEW AND GOAL
In Apiary, each player controls 1 of 20 unique factions. Your faction starts the game with meager supplies: a hive, a few resources, and worker bees. A worker-placement, hive-building challenge awaits you: explore planets, gather resources, develop technologies, and create carvings to demonstrate your faction’s strengths (measured in victory points) over one year’s Flow. However, the Dearth quickly approaches, and your workers can only take a few actions before they must hibernate! Can you thrive or merely survive?
COMPONENTS
- 1 teaching guide
- 1 appendix
- 5 player aids
- 1 board (double-sided)
- 5 hive mats
- 5 docking mats
- 15 frames
- 20 workers (four per player)
- 1 QueenShip miniature
- 40 farm tiles
- 30 carving tiles
- 30 recruit tiles
- 29 development tiles
- 20 faction tiles
- 15 planet tiles
- 5 dance tiles
- 45 seed cards
- 15 player tokens (three per player)
- 35 hibernation tokens (seven per player)
- 25 fiber tokens
- 25 pollen tokens
- 25 water tokens
- 20 explore tokens
- 15 wax tokens
- 12 honey tokens
- 9 dance tokens
SETUP
GLOBAL COMPONENTS
- BOARD: Place on the table, showing the side matching your player count (1–3 or 4–5).
- PLANET TILES: Shuffle and place in a stack face down next to the board.
- EXPLORE TOKENS: Randomly place 1 face up on each planet spot in the planet grid, then return excess explore tokens to the box.
- QUEENSHIP MINIATURE: Place on its starting location in the planet grid.
- DANCE TILES: Randomly place 1 face up on each of the rectangular spots on the Convert action. Return excess dance tiles to the box.
- DANCE TOKENS: Place in a stack on the Convert action (these are not randomized; they are open information for all players).
- SEED CARDS: Shuffle and place in a deck face down on the Research action.
- FARM TILES: Shuffle and place 1 tile face up on each farm tile slot, then place the rest in a stack face down on the Advance action.
- RECRUIT TILES: Shuffle and place 1 tile face up on each recruit tile slot, then place the rest in a stack face down on the Advance action.
- DEVELOPMENT TILES: Shuffle and place 1 tile face up on each development tile slot, then place the rest in a stack face down on the Advance action.
- CARVING TILES: Shuffle and place 1 tile face up on each slot on the Carve action, then return excess carving tiles to the box.
Place all other items—frames, fiber, pollen, water, wax, and honey—in a general supply next to the board.
PLAYER COMPONENTS
- 1 DOCKING MAT: Choose a player color and gain the matching docking mat.
- 1 HIVE MAT: Gain 1 hive mat at random; leave some space around it.
- 1 FACTION TILE (FROM A CHOICE OF 2): Gain 2 faction tiles at random; choose 1 and return the other to the box. Place your faction tile, with the non-upgraded side face up, on the designated hexes on your hive mat.
- If this is your first game, instead of dealing 2 and choosing 1, use a starter faction (denoted by a green star): Ana, Cypri, Lama, Pomon, or Sini.
- 3 PLAYER TOKENS: Gain 3 player tokens in your player color. Randomly determine the first player, who places a player token on the 0 VP space of the Score Track on the board. The next player clockwise places a token on 1 VP, then 2 VP and so on. Then, each player places their second player token at the beginning (0) of the Queen’s Favor track and their third player token on their docking mat.
- 7 HIBERNATION TOKENS: Place these tokens on the designated spot on your docking mat.
- WORKERS: Note the starting workers listed on your faction tile. Place that number of workers in the active pool on your docking mat and set their strengths to match the listed values. Place your remaining worker(s) next to the board near the Grow action.
- RESOURCES: On your faction tile, for each resource spot with a green circle, place a resource token matching the highlighted resource on that spot.
- RESERVE: Some benefits in the game provide tiles that you save for later instead of placing immediately. Only the Visah faction starts the game with tiles in their reserve.
FACTION TILE EXAMPLE
- Green star denotes a starter faction
- Resources highlighted with a green circle are starting resources.
SPECIAL ABILITY:
Most factions have an ability that alters a normal rule of the game. All starter factions have an ability that relates to endgame scoring.
GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW
In Apiary, you will place workers to explore planets to gather resources, convert those resources as necessary to afford new tiles and to expand your ship, and build towards victory points from carvings, planted seed cards, and your faction mat.
On your turn, you must choose to either place or retrieve workers. Your workers will increase in strength during the game, improving benefits earned when placing them and eventually graduating to the hibernation comb for a well-earned slumber.
PLACE: Choose 1 active worker from your docking mat and place it onto an action space on the board to perform that action. You cannot do this if you have no active workers on your docking mat (see Worker Placement).
RETRIEVE: Retrieve all workers from the board and your landing area and collect income. You may only take a retrieve turn if you have at least 1 worker on the board and/or your landing area (see Worker Retrieval).
OTHER NOTES:
EMPTY HIVE RULE: If, and only if, you begin your turn without any active workers (i.e., you do not have any workers on the board or on your docking mat), add one strength-1 worker to your active pool. Then immediately proceed to take a place turn.
SEED CARDS: Immediately before and/or immediately after you place or retrieve workers, you may play any number of seed cards from your hand (see Research).
END OF TURN: If you have any resource tokens that do not fit on resource spots in your hive, you must discard them. Gain 1 Queen’s Favor for each discarded token (see Queen’s Favor Track). Then the next player clockwise takes their turn.
GAMEPLAY DETAILS
WORKER PLACEMENT
You may choose to take a place turn as long as you have at least one worker in your active pool.
When you take a place turn, choose a worker from the active pool on your docking mat and place it on an action space on the board. Use the leftmost or topmost space if there are two. Take the following rules into account:
- Many actions care about the strength of the chosen worker (the face-up number shown on that worker).
- You must use all or part of the selected action (i.e., you may not place a worker and do nothing with it). Some actions state a cost to obtain an item; to place a worker there, you must be able to pay the cost for at least 1 associated item.
- Action spaces are never blocked. If there is a worker on the action space you choose, bump it back to its owner (see Worker Bumping). Workers can be bumped by any player (including their own).
- The Explore and Advance actions have more than one action space; workers placed on those actions must be placed on an action space with an arrow. If there was a worker already in that space, shift that existing worker one space to the right or down to make room. If there was also a worker on the rightmost or bottommost action space, bump that rightmost or bottommost worker back to its owner.
WORKER BUMPING
When a worker is bumped off an action (i.e., bumped off a single action space or bumped off the rightmost or bottommost of two spaces), the result depends on the worker’s strength as it is bumped:
STRENGTH 1, 2, OR 3: The owner of the worker has a choice of the following:
- Increase the worker’s strength by +1 and place it in your active pool. Choose this option to place that worker on an upcoming place turn.
- Retain the worker’s current strength and place it in the landing area. Choose this option to collect income with that worker on an upcoming retrieve turn.
STRENGTH 4: The worker must immediately hibernate. Discard the worker to the general supply and place a hibernation token (see Worker Hibernation).
WORKER RETRIEVAL
You may choose to take a retrieve turn as long as you have at least 1 worker on the board or in your landing area (even if you have workers in your active pool).
When you take a retrieve turn, collect ALL your workers from the board and your landing area. Then, something happens for EACH collected worker depending on its strength:
STRENGTH 1, 2, OR 3: Collect income from a different farm tile on your hive mat for each worker you retrieve (if you have more farm tiles than retrieved workers, some farm tiles will not generate income). Then, increase each worker’s strength by +1 and return it to your active pool.
STRENGTH 4: The worker must immediately hibernate (see Worker Hibernation).
Important: Any workers already in your active pool when you take a retrieve turn do not hibernate, gain strength, or gain income.
WORKER HIBERNATION
If a strength-4 worker would increase its strength (e.g., returning to the active pool), it must hibernate. Return the worker to the general supply next to the board. Then, place a hibernation token representing that worker onto a vacant pod in the Hibernation Comb and gain the benefit it covers.
If you need to hibernate but there are no vacant pods for your player count (or if you have no remaining hibernation tokens), gain 1 Queen’s Favor.
ORDER OF OPERATIONS: If a worker’s strength would exceed 4 as part of performing an action (either because a strength-4 worker is bumped off an action space or for some other reason), resolve the action first (as if the worker were still strength-4) and then hibernate the worker.
HIBERNATION COMB
The Hibernation Comb includes a number of pods grouped into sectors; each sector offers a small endgame scoring bonus for having the most tokens (see End of Game and Scoring).
Several pods offer the benefit of refreshing a tile row within the Advance action. If you fill such a pod, you must discard all tiles in the indicated row (farm, recruit, development) and replace them from the corresponding stack.
ACTION OVERVIEW
All actions for worker placement are found on the board. Each action has 1 or 2 action spaces. The actions are summarized below. Additionally, each action has an extra benefit if you use a strength-4 worker.
EXPLORE: Move the QueenShip, place a resource token from the supply, then gain the planet benefit.
ADVANCE: Add a farm, recruit, or development tile to your hive.
GROW: Gain new workers or gain a frame to increase the size of your hive.
RESEARCH: Gain a seed card.
CONVERT: Pay resources from your hive to gain resources from the general supply.
CARVE: Add a carving tile to your hive for an endgame scoring benefit.
ACTION DETAILS
EXPLORE
Mellifera live in harmony with nature. Using their shared QueenShip, they explore and improve the galaxy planet by planet. Players seed planets with life, and the planets become stronger and more productive over the course of the game.
CORE ACTION: Proceed with the following steps in order:
- SUM THE TOTAL STRENGTH OF ALL WORKERS on the Explore action. Move the QueenShip orthogonally up to 1 space per worker strength. The QueenShip must end on a different planet from where it started.
- IF THERE IS AN EXPLORE TOKEN ON THE DESTINATION
PLANET (i.e., it has not yet been explored):
- Gain the explore token and its benefit.
- Place the planet tile from the top of the stack face up onto the newly explored planet (i.e., underneath the QueenShip).
- PLACE 1 BASIC RESOURCE TOKEN (pollen, fiber, or water) of your choice from the general supply onto 1 empty dotted outline on the planet, if any. Do this whether or not the planet is newly explored.
- GAIN RESOURCES from the general supply as depicted on the planet. This includes resource icons printed on the planet and resource tokens on the planet. Do this whether or not the planet is newly explored.
STRENGTH-4 WORKER BENEFIT: If you placed a strength-4 worker on the Explore action this turn and the QueenShip’s destination is a planet with a strength-4 benefit, you may gain that benefit in addition to the resources that planet produces (gain these benefits in any order).
ADVANCE
Mellifera consistently enhance their hives by adding farms (storage and income), recruits (ongoing abilities), and developments (powerful one-time benefits).
CORE ACTION: Gain and build 1 tile. While Advance is a single action for 1–3 player games, it is treated as two separate actions at 4-5 players (one action to gain farms and another to gain recruits and developments, as shown in the image below). Proceed with the following steps in order:
-
SUM THE TOTAL STRENGTH OF BOTH WORKERS on the Advance action, adding 1 if the bottommost action space is unoccupied. This total determines which tiles are available for purchase:
STRENGTH AVAILABLE TILES 2+ only the leftmost column 3+ the leftmost and middle columns 5+ any column In 4–5 player games, each pair of action spaces is its own action (for strength total). For example, if all four action spaces each have a strength-1 worker, the total strength of each action is 2 (not 4), and only the leftmost tiles are available.
-
PAY THE RESOURCE COST on the bottom of the desired tile (see arrow in example).
-
BUILD THE TILE by placing it on an empty hex on your hive adjacent to any existing tile (including your faction tile). Once you have built a tile, you cannot move it. If you build the tile on a hex with an icon, gain that benefit.
-
GAIN THE TILE’S BENEFIT if it is a development tile (farm and recruit tile abilities are gained later). Do not gain the printed victory point value of the tile until game end.
-
SLIDE ALL REMAINING TILES OF THAT TYPE to the left to fill the gap (if any) and ensure the rightmost spot is open, then refill the rightmost spot with a tile (turned face up) from the top of the corresponding stack. Do this at the end of your turn unless specifically stated otherwise.
STRENGTH-4 WORKER BENEFIT: If you placed a strength-4 worker on the Advance action this turn, gain 3 VP in addition to gaining a tile.
GROW
Mellifera seek ways to preserve their legacy and thrive well into the future by increasing in number and in size. The larger and better stocked their hive—and the more workers they have—the better their chances of making it through the next Dearth.
CORE ACTION: Gain a combination of benefits depending on your worker’s strength and the number of resources you spend. You may choose either or both options below (repeats are allowed):
- GAIN A STRENGTH-1 WORKER (up to a maximum of three workers gained, if available) and add it to your active pool. Each worker costs 1 pollen and requires 1 strength of the worker you placed.
- GAIN A FRAME and add it to your hive. Each frame costs any 2 basic resources (pollen, fiber, and/or water) and requires 2 strength of the worker you placed. The frame can be in any orientation but must be placed with at least 1 of its hexes adjacent to a hex in your hive mat or another frame and not overlapping any other tile or hex. Each frame is identical and offers the following:
- Four additional hexes where you can build tiles, two of which allow you to gain a seed card when you build there. You may only build a tile on your frame if it is adjacent to another tile in your hive (including your faction tile).
- The first 2 frames you place unlock 1 location on your hive mat to potentially plant 1 seed card via the Research action (see p. 11), increasing endgame scoring as indicated on that card.
- ENDGAME: If you complete the frame (by building 4 tiles on it) by the end of the game, you gain 8 VP.
STRENGTH-4 WORKER BENEFIT: If you placed a strength-4 worker on the Grow action this turn, you may upgrade your faction tile in addition to gaining workers and/or frame.
To upgrade, flip the faction tile over to show the side that says “upgraded”, return it to its starting location, and transfer any resource tokens to the new side of the faction tile. You can now access the faction ability printed on side 2 of the tile.
RESEARCH
Mellifera research the genetic codes of plants from around the galaxy to use for sustenance and to fuel innovation.
CORE ACTION: Draw a number of seed cards equal to your worker’s strength, select 1 of them to add to your hand, and place the rest face up in the discard pile.
Seed cards in your hand may be kept private or public. Before or after your action on any of your turns (including the turn on which you gained the card), you may play any number of seed cards face up to the discard pile to do your choice of the following:
- Gain each played card’s one-time benefit (at the top of the card); or
- Gain any 1 basic resource (pollen, fiber, or water) per card played.
STRENGTH-4 WORKER BENEFIT: If you placed a strength-4 worker on the Research action this turn, after you draw 4 seed cards and select 1, you may plant 1 seed card from your hand (tuck it under your hive mat until only the endgame score is visible) Planting forfeits the instant benefit but adds an endgame scoring opportunity.
A few other notes about planted seed cards are as follows:
- Your hive starts with a limit of 2 planted seed cards, but the first two frames you gain (see Grow) each increase that limit by 1. The maximum number of planted seed cards you can have is 4.
- You cannot return planted seed cards to your hand, cover them with another seed card, or discard them unless an ability specifically states otherwise. However, their exact position does not matter; slide them around under your hive mat as needed to ensure they are not covered by other components.
- All endgame scoring bonuses noted on seed cards count only your resources or the items in your hive. For example, if you have 3 honey tokens in your hive and a planted seed card that provides “ 2 VP per honey,” you gain 6 VP.
CONVERT
Honeybees communicate through “waggle dances” in which returning foragers communicate the distance and location of food sources to other workers. Mellifera have adapted and expanded these “dances” into an important part of Melliferan culture and education.
CORE ACTION: Pay resources from your hive to gain resources from the general supply. Do this a number of times up to your worker’s strength. You may choose any number of the options below (repeats are allowed):
- Discard 1 seed card from your hand (do not gain any of its benefits) to draw 1 seed card.
- Pay 1 basic resource (pollen, fiber, or water) to gain 1 basic resource.
- Pay 1 pollen and 1 fiber to gain 1 wax.
- Pay 2 pollen and 1 water to gain 1 honey.
- Use any dance that was already taught (see below).
STRENGTH-4 WORKER BENEFIT: If you placed a strength-4 worker on the Convert action and have not yet taught a dance this game, you may teach a dance to create a new conversion option that becomes available to all players on their turn. To teach a dance, follow these steps before gaining the core action benefits:
- CHOOSE A DANCE THAT HAS NOT BEEN TAUGHT and place your third player token on the of that dance’s rectangular tile to indicate that you are the teacher of that dance. Every time an opponent uses a dance, its teacher gains 1 Queen’s Favor. Example: Your opponent places a strength-3 worker on the Convert action and uses the dance you taught 3 times. As a result, you gain 3 Queen’s Favor.
- SELECT THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF DANCE TOKENS by looking through the stack (1 or 2, depending on dance tile) to fill all its open spots.
- PLACE THE TOKEN(S) in their respective spot(s) on the dance tile. Once taught, dances cannot be modified. 4. THE DANCE IS IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE for use as you continue resolving the core Convert action.
CARVE
Mellifera commemorate the achievements of their thriving civilization by carving monuments, wonders, and etchings into their hives. Carvings provide glory to each hive at the end of the Flow.
CORE ACTION/STRENGTH-4 WORKER BENEFIT: You may only place a strength-4 worker on the Carve action. When you do, pay the honey cost as indicated on a carving tile and gain that tile. Place it in your hive adjacent to an existing tile (including your faction tile or starting tiles). If you cover an icon, gain the benefit. Do not replace a carve tile when one is gained— there is a limited quantity determined at the beginning of the game.
RESOURCES
There are five resources in the game: Fiber, pollen, and water are basic resources, whereas wax and honey are more valuable resources. Unless otherwise mentioned, you always gain resources from the general supply, and you always pay and discard resources back to the general supply.
Some resource icons show multiple resource types. When paying or gaining resources, for each resource icon, choose one resource token matching any listed resource type (i.e., do not gain multiple resource tokens for a single icon).
Your hive’s resource storage capacity is limited; you can increase it by building farms. Gained resources are stored at end of turn on specific resource spots in your hive (1 token per spot).
You can rearrange resources within your hive during your turn.
At the end of your turn, you must discard any resources that do not fit in your hive. For each resource discarded, you may gain 1 Queen’s Favor (see Queen’s Favor Track).
TILE TYPES
Your hive mat has a number of hexes where you may build tiles (always adjacent to at least 1 other tile). Some hexes include a build bonus that you gain if you build a tile there.
Here are the types of tiles that are placed in hives:
FACTION TILE: Your faction tile is composed of 3 hexes. It does not count as a farm, recruit, development, or carving for the purposes of scoring carvings, seed cards, or other abilities, unless specifically stated otherwise.
RECRUIT: Recruits provide ongoing abilities. Some abilities trigger whenever you perform a specific action; these have a double-arrow and the name of the action on them. Others trigger whenever specific situations arise, as noted on each tile. All recruits cost pollen.
DEVELOPMENT: Developments provide one-time benefits for you to gain when you build the tile. All developments cost wax.
CARVING: Carvings provide endgame scoring bonuses. All carvings cost honey.
FARM: Farms provide additional storage spots for resource tokens. Each farm also has an income benefit that can be gained once per retrieve turn (1 farm’s income benefit per retrieved worker). All farms cost fiber and/ or water.
QUEEN’S FAVOR TRACK
At the end of each of your turns, you must discard any resources that do not fit in your hive. For each resource token you discard, you may gain 1 Queen’s Favor (advance on the track; sharing spaces with other players is fine). The Queen’s Favor track offers an endgame scoring bonus based on your final position. The crown icon, as seen on seed cards, dances, and other components, denotes additional ways of gaining Queen’s Favor.
You may not voluntarily discard resources to gain Queen’s Favor, but you may rearrange resources inefficiently to trigger end-of-turn discarding. Any resources in your hive at the end of the game are not discarded and thus do not provide Queen’s Favor.
END OF GAME AND SCORING
Apiary ends when all sectors in the Hibernation Comb for the player count are filled with hibernation tokens or when a single player places their 7th hibernation token. Each player takes 1 additional turn (including the player who triggered the end of the game). Then, proceed to scoring.
Your final score combines victory points already tallied during the game along with those from endgame scoring opportunities (tally in order from top to bottom).
DURING THE GAME, TALLY THE GAINED FROM:
- Explore token bonuses
- Farm income
- Hibernation Comb pod bonuses
- Build bonuses on hive mat hexes
- Placing a strength-4 worker on the Advance action
- Strength-4 planet bonuses on the Explore action
- Activating tile abilities
- One-time benefits on played seed cards
AT THE END OF THE GAME, ADD ANY GAINED FROM:
- Meeting the conditions on any seed cards you planted
- Any farms (1 VP each), recruits (variable VP), and developments (variable VP) you built
- Meeting the conditions on any carvings you built
- Your position on the Queen’s Favor track
- Filling your hive mat (8 VP) and frames (8 VP each)
- Your faction’s endgame ability
- Winning Hibernation Comb sector majorities (see below)
HIBERNATION COMB SECTOR MAJORITY: Each sector provides VP for the players with the most (and sometimes second-most) hibernation tokens. If multiple players are tied for 1st place, they share all VP for that sector (rounded down), and no player receives VP for being 2nd place in that sector (e.g., 13 VP total divided between 2 players results in 6 VP for each player and no VP for 2nd place). If multiple players are tied for 2nd place VP, they share the 2nd-place for that sector (rounded down).
The player with the most VP wins! In the case of a tie, the tied player with more active workers (on the board or your docking mat) wins. If still tied, the victory is shared, with both factions reigning together... for now.
ADVANCED VARIANT: During setup, deal faction tiles and hive mats face up in the center of the table. Deal factions equal to the number of players plus 1 (e.g., 5 in a 4-player game) and hive mats equal to the number of players (e.g., 4 in a 4-player game). Starting with the last player in turn order, each player drafts either a faction or a hive mat, in a snake draft. After the draft, each player will have 1 faction tile and 1 hive mat.
In a 4-player game, this means that the 4th player will choose an item, then the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st players. The 1st player will pick their second item, followed by the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th players.