Bees: The Secret Kingdom Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Setup Diagram Reference
• Card Anatomy
• Pollen Types
• Gameplay
  • Action: Gather Pollen
  • Action: Produce Honey
• End of Game
• Example of a Turn
• FAQ

Components

• Gathering Cards x 22
• Honey Cards x 48
• Beehive Cards x 5
• Pollen Gems x 80 (20 of each color)

Setup

1. Take the Gathering Cards and shuffle them together. This is the Gathering Pile.

2. Shuffle the Honey Cards and create a Honey Pile of 5 cards per player plus 5 additional cards. Put the rest of the Honey Cards back in the box; they will not be used.

   EXAMPLE: For a 2-player game, you need 15 Cards; for a 3-player game, you need 20 Cards, etc.

3. Place the Honey Pile in the middle of the play area. Draw the top 4 Cards of the pile and place them face up on the table.

   ADVANCED MODE: Take 3 random Beehive Cards and place them face up in the play area, below the Honey Cards.

4. Place the Pollen Gems within reach of each player.

5. The youngest player becomes the First Player.

6. The First Player chooses 1 Pollen Gem of any color. Clockwise, each other player chooses 2 Pollen Gems of any color.

Setup Diagram Reference

• Gathering Pile — the shuffled deck of Gathering Cards.
• Available Pollen Gem Reserve — the shared supply, shown here in the four colors: red, teal, yellow-green, and purple.
• Honey Pile — 5 cards per player plus 5 additional cards.
• 4 Available Honey Cards — drawn face up from the top of the Honey Pile.
• If there are no more Cards in the Gathering Pile, shuffle the discard pile to form a new Gathering Pile.
• ADVANCED MODE: 3 Beehive Cards, drawn at random and placed face up.

Card Anatomy

Honey Card

• Victory Points (VP) — shown in the top-left corner.
• Pollen Symbols — the colored costs required to buy the card.
• Any Color of Pollen Symbol — a grey/wild pollen symbol that can be paid with a Pollen Gem of any color.
• Card Effect — printed along the bottom of the card; not every Honey Card has one.

Beehive Cards (Advanced Mode)

Each Beehive Card carries either a Victory Condition or a Special Rule. For example:

• Instant Win — "You win immediately if you have at least 6 Honey Cards and have at least 2 more Honey Cards than any other player."
• Extra Points — "Each player gets 3 VP for every 5 Pollen Symbols in the same color on their Honey Cards."

Gathering Card

• Pollen Symbols for the player performing the Gather action — shown in the top-right corner.
• Pollen Symbols (choice of the other players) — shown in the bottom-left corner, where you choose among the symbols shown.

Pollen Types

The four pollen colors are rendered as these pictograms:

• Rose (red)
• Sunflower (yellow)
• Snowflake (blue)
• Bellflower (purple)

A grey pollen symbol showing a plain flower means "any color" — it can be satisfied with a Pollen Gem of any color.

Gameplay

Bees is played over a number of turns and begins with the First Player. On your turn, you carry out one of the two possible actions: Gather Pollen or Produce Honey. After carrying out the chosen action and resolving all additional Card Effects, the turn passes to the player on your left.

Action: Gather Pollen

On your turn, draw 2 Gathering Cards from the Pile. Choose 1 card to play and discard the other. Place the discarded card face up next to the Gathering Pile. Take the Pollen Gems corresponding to the Pollen Symbols in the top-right corner of the card you played. Then each other player takes 1 Pollen Gem corresponding to the Symbols in the bottom-left corner of the card. Then discard the Gathering Card you played.

Whenever the Gathering Pile is empty, take all the discarded Gathering Cards, shuffle them, and create a new Pile.

EXCEPTION: If you play a Gathering Card with all 4 Pollen Symbols, every other player also gains Pollen Gems of all 4 colors.

POLLEN GEM LIMIT: Each player may have a maximum of 3 Pollen Gems of the same color. If you gather a Gem beyond this limit, you do not take it.

Action: Produce Honey

Buy 1 face-up Honey Card. Pay by discarding Pollen Gems matching the cost shown on the card.

The grey Pollen Symbol means you may use a Gem of any color to pay.

Then resolve the Card Effect of the Honey Card you just bought and place it face up in front of you. Note that not all Honey Cards have a Card Effect. Draw the top Card of the Honey Pile and place it face up with the others.

End of Game

Players keep taking turns until the last Honey Card is drawn from the Honey Pile. After that, all the other players each play 1 more turn. The player who triggered the end of the game does not take another turn.

Then, each player counts the Victory Points shown on their Honey Cards, then adds 1 point for every 3 Pollen Gems they have. The player with the most Victory Points wins!

ADVANCED MODE: When counting Victory Points, also count the points awarded by the Beehive Cards. If one of the Beehive Cards specifies a Victory Condition, the game ends immediately once that condition has been met. The player who met the Victory Condition wins.

Example of a Turn

Carry out an action: Gather Pollen or Produce Honey.

Gather Pollen path:

1. Take 2 Gathering Cards.
2. Choose and play 1 card, then discard the other.
3. Gather the pollen: you get 2 Pollen Gems.
4. The other players each get 1 Pollen Gem.
5. Play continues with the player to your left.

Produce Honey path:

1. Buy 1 Honey Card.
2. Pay with your Pollen Gems.
3. Resolve the Card Effect: you get 1 Pollen Gem and 2 Victory Points.
4. Keep your Honey Card in front of you and get more to win the game.
5. Play continues with the player to your left.

FAQ

Honey Cards

Take another turn immediately — After performing the Produce Honey action, the turn does not pass to the next player. Instead, perform another action, then the turn passes to the next player.

Discard all of your remaining Pollen Gems — You may buy this Honey Card even if you have no Pollen Gems left after buying it (so you cannot discard any).

Beehive Cards

Each player gets 2 VP for each run of Honey Cards worth 1, 2, and 3 VP that they own — For example, if you have bought Honey Cards worth 1, 1, 2, 3, and 3 Victory Points, you only have one run. You therefore get 2 extra Victory Points at the end of the game.

You win immediately if you have 12 or more Pollen Symbols and Pollen Gems combined, of any color — For example, you win if you have 3 Pollen Gems and there are 9 Pollen Symbols on your Honey Cards.

Each player gets 3 VP for each run of 5 Pollen Symbols of the same color on their Honey Cards — Remember that grey Pollen Symbols do not count.

Tie at the End of the Game

All players with the most Victory Points at the end of the game are considered winners. If you want to determine a single winner, use these tie-breaker rules:

• the player with the most Honey Cards wins;
• if there is still a tie, the player with the most Pollen Symbols on their Honey Cards wins.

Pollen Gems

There are more Pollen Gems in the box than you need to play with the maximum number of players. The extra Gems are there in case some of them get lost.