Game Reviews

Sticky Bees HD

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| Sticky Bees HD
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Sticky Bees HD
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| Sticky Bees HD

Now that we’ve exploited birds, pigs, and penguins for our amusement, bees seem like a reasonable next candidate.

The adorableness of the new arcade game Sticky Bees HD hides a tough but fair difficulty curve and a smattering of strategy. It isn’t the deepest honey pot, but it does entertain while the fun lasts.

The bee king has to fend off moths, flies, and other insects that have declared war on him and his crew. He can destroy them just by touch. The rub is that he has to protect his smaller bees, which are providing the pollen he needs to function. The game’s over when you run out of pollen.

Sticky Bees HD plays like a reversed, airborne take on Centipede. You slide your finger to move the bee king and your fellow bees follow behind your every move like a highly disciplined conga line.

Your bees die whenever they’re hit by an enemy, so you have to plan every move so that the bees in the line behind you are clear of the enemy’s path. You can have up to a dozen bees following you, making later levels a serious challenge.

Buzz off

The buggy enemies swarm by nature, so at any time you’re getting attacked from all sides. Enemies are initially limited to straight-trajectory flies, but each level introduces a new creature, like the spiralling light bugs or the curving moths. They each require a different strategy and often attack at the same time.

Each level has 50 - count ’em - waves of attacks. You’ll likely begin every level with a lofty goal in mind and end it by triaging and protecting the few bees you still have alive. Sticky Bees HD is less a sprint and more a marathon.

Sticky Bees HD needs the 50 wave levels because there are only eight levels. Each level has a different theme, from farms to basements, but the charming backgrounds don’t add anything to the gameplay.

You can expect to get through Sticky Bees HD fairly quickly - even the longer levels. The achievements, however, are tough to get, suggesting that developer Fourfire wants us to master the levels, not just play through them.

Short and sweet

Even so, this is one of those games that will sorely need downloadable content within the next month. (It already has some in-app purchase power-up items, so we’re optimistic that there will be more levels coming soon.)

Less encouraging are the controls, which - ironically enough - are occasionally sticky. The king bee follows your finger, but he can lose it around the edges of the screen. This glitch isn’t frequent, but it happens enough to be annoying.

Despite these niggles, Sticky Bees HD is a solid casual game, deliving a tough challenge underneath its cartoony facade.

Sticky Bees HD

Sticky Bees HD offers a tough but short challenge that’s heavy on quick-thinking strategy
Score
Damon Brown
Damon Brown
Damon Brown has been speaking the mobile game gospel since 2003 for Playboy, New York Post, and many other outlets. Damon writes books when he isn't busy gaming or Twittering. His most popular book is Porn & Pong: How Grand Theft Auto, Tomb Raider and Other Sexy Games Changed Our Culture.