APICO is the latest game in the Sims genre, participating in Stardew Valley, Graveyard Keeper, Animal Crossing and more. Although there are some similarities, APICO does more than enough to stand out in an already crowded group of games. Who knew that bee breeding was so much fun?
Sure, I was a little confused when I first started APICO. Pixel art resembles Stardew Valley and has an 8-bit retro-style look. Character creators are basic, but Stardew Valley is also basic. You can change your hairstyle to change the color of your skin, hair, and clothes you are wearing. Even the story setting is similar to Stardew Valley. Instead of inheriting the farm from your grandfather, your grandfather entrusts you with the beekeeping business. However, it wasn’t until I landed on the island that I felt the difference. In Stardew Valley, each NPC is full of personality. I didn’t feel that way with the first NPC I met at APICO. The island was sparsely populated and most characters had one or two sentences to tell me. It may not be fair to compare the two, but given how similar they are, it’s hard not to make their first impression.
Things don’t really start to get interesting until you get into beekeeping. The game has a built-in crafting system and the recipes are in the book I received from my grandmother. In this book, you will be given various “quests” to craft. You will then receive a reward and open another section of the book. At first, there are a lot of quests (and texts to read), so this can be quite daunting. However, the game does a great job of building on the previous task, and it’s all in a small bite-sized piece that ensures it won’t be overwhelmed.
Fans of Minecraft and Stardew Valley will appreciate the simplicity of the crafting and building mechanics. The building is simple. Clear the parcels of land and lay down the walls and tiles to create the building. I found an old abandoned house and repaired it to build a house. I finally cultivated some land to build a workshop for both woodworking and beekeeping. As you progress, you will not only unlock the new recipes in the original book, but also unlock additional books that offer quests on beekeeping and gardening.
Eventually, you will start learning to breed bees, and this is where the game really shines. Learn the various dominant and recessive traits of honeybees and mate them to discover extinct species. There are over 30 different species to discover. The discovery of different types of bees also acts like a leveling system. The more bees you identify, the more the townspeople will interact with you and sell you more valuable products.
One criticism I have is that I sometimes spend a lot of time on my daily work instead of advancing the game. When honey production begins, you need to make sure that the apiary has a frame, the frame is clean and reconstructed, and there is an active queen. You are free to take the time to complete the quest, but once you have a good rhythm, it’s hard to break that momentum. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy keeping up with the bees, but it took many days to perform all these tasks.
