For the past few months, I’ve been obsessed with this simple game called “Bee Swarm Simulator.” The basis of the game is the same as every “click-to-collect” experience: collect pollen to buy more bees and tools, which will help you collect more pollen, and the cycle repeats until the developer decides to stop pushing out updates.
Due to the addition of events, quests, gacha, AFK farming, and multipliers, serious players take full advantage of intricate mathematics involved in the process to progress even faster.
As a serious player myself, I can’t tell you how many hours I could have spent doing something useful have instead been poured into sitting at my desk, staring at what is essentially a block game, clicking at decals to get.
A coconut belt.
Truly, this game is the highlight of my day.
Yet, while it boasts complex mechanics, the appearance of the game itself is almost rudimentary, using cubes and pre-made models to make up the majority of the map. Additionally, where other simulator games shout at the user on the homepage, “2x XP Weekend!” or “New Update!”, the thumbnail of “Bee Swarm Simulator” has remained the same for years: a picture of the NPCS and bees and a charmingly handcrafted title.
It’s a gentle beckoning toward this humble game, telling the user, “Look at these cute bees and bears. Give our game a shot?” I had overlooked this factor, attributing it to the fact that the game was still in its early development. However, almost five years have come and gone, and nothing has really changed, and the eccentricity of it all simply became normal.
Bee Swarm Simulator (Photo courtesy of Onett)
While skimming through tips and tricks on how to progress through the game, I came across a video of the developer, Onett, speaking at a convention, to reveal how he attracts the attention of an average player and keeps them engaged in the game.
I clicked, mainly because I was curious as to what this developer looked like, but I found myself watching the 30-minute video all the way to the end. I was particularly invested in the amount of thought that was poured into the seemingly basic game. I had once believed that all the effort was invested into the mechanics of this game, and the primitively-built map was merely an afterthought.
Yet, as it turns out, the simplicity of the game was a deliberate move. Onett had stated that giving the game a handcrafted feel made it stand out in the midst of all the other money-making machines on the platform. It signals to the player that genuine care and attention was paid to the creation of this game, perhaps even more so than in a visually-pleasing world with no complex coding behind it. When I thought about this concept more, I realized how true it rings for the things that we create.
Some of the best-selling games are, obviously, incredibly well-made in terms of aesthetics and user engagement. According to the a list of best-selling video games, “The Legends of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” is a revolutionary open-world exploration game with nuances and lore in every nook and cranny of the 140 squaremile map.
I myself have played a few hours of this game, and I remember being blown away by how you can interact with every inch of the map. Rather than following the main storyline — defeating Ganon and saving Princess Zelda — I had the freedom to dedicate my time to collecting apples and turning over rocks in hopes of finding little tree creatures called Koroks.
As of 2023, it’s sold 30 million copies, which is not a small number, even for a company like Nintendo. Another fan favorite “The Last of Us,” is praised by its players for its immersive storytelling experience, combining action-packed zombie killing with a sweet, developing father-daughter relationship. The series did well enough to release a TV series, which even features an actor we all know and love, Pedro Pascal.
But hidden in the depths of the internet, there are a few games that choose to stick out like sore thumbs, a striking contrast between the fine detail found in games created by huge companies and teams of developers. Indie games, despite how simple they can be, are some of the best-selling games of all time. For instance, the entirety of Stardew Valley, a farming game, was created by one person, Eric Barone (AKA ConcernedApe), from the programming down to the pixel art; whether out of spite or passion, we may never know.
It’s sold over 20 million copies. One person was able to make ⅔ of what a $50 billion dollar company made on a game that took five years for their dedicated team to create. On a much larger scale, “Tetris,” a game about putting shapes together, is the third best-selling game of all time, boasting over 100 million games sold. That puts it above all the other games that I’ve listed before.
Everybody knows about “Minecraft.” Have you really thought about how simple it is at its core? It’s a game about building with blocks and surviving in a randomly generated world. It started as a side project for Markus Alexej Persson, who believed his game would only serve to raise more money to make the next one.
As of now, it’s the best-selling game of all time by a long shot with 238 million copies and counting. What puts these games on par with, and even above thousands of more technologically and visually advanced games? Why are millions of people so drawn to simplicity, even amongst the exponentially growing market? The answer, despite its deceptively complex question, is a simple one. We are drawn to the authenticity of a creation rather than its evident quality.
Simplicity plays a huge role in portraying authenticity. Think about it this way: take a concept or object and strip it down to its simplest form. In many cases, what’s left isn’t as good. In many cases, it’s the accessories, the graphics, the beautiful art that really immerses you in the game, not the concept of the game itself. That’s not to say that pretty games aren’t genuinely good, it’s just that it’s much easier to get away with a terrible game when it’s all dressed up.
Now, take “Bee Swarm Simulator.” Remove all the fancy graphics and beautiful storytelling. What’s left? The entire game. Nothing is really overdressed or hidden. The game retains its immersion even when it’s nothing but blocks and decals. That’s what makes it feel authentic; it doesn’t strive to sugarcoat anything at all, and it’s still such an addicting game.
Take a look at “Stardew Valley.” Keep in mind that I am a very biased author and I will not hesitate to talk very highly about “Stardew Valley.” This game has taken hundreds of hours of my life away, and I would gladly let down a hundred more if I was given the time. Not only is it extremely satisfying to progress in the game, it’s also incredibly easy to fall in love with the game itself.
Sure, the game is merely a 16-bit, 490 MB game (for context, “Minecraft” is 1 GB), but never have I played a game that so easily calms me with its fun, janky music, the activities of just farming, fishing, and foraging, and the lovable yet well-written characters that I can interact with.
There is something so magical, so peaceful about playing “Stardew Valley,” a vibe that I have yet to find within any other experience. I’m doing a terrible job at show-not-tell, but really, I’d hate to ruin your experience of “Stardew Valley” with spoilers. You’ll have to play it for yourself, and I know you will. You have no choice now.
Minecraft is a game that embodies the concept of freedom. As revolutionary as BOTW was, Minecraft truly reinforces the “open” in open-world exploration. The player starts in a randomly-generated world at a random location. That’s it. No pesky tutorial, no companion that guides you through the game. There’s no storyline, no quests, no characters–it’s just the player, mobs, blocks, and simple physics. The player begins to move. They begin to break blocks.
They learn how to craft with the broken blocks to create items that will help them progress further. They learn to fight off mobs and to find or kill their food. They venture deeper and deeper into the world, discovering wonders in every natural biome, and biomes outside of this world.
They are constantly faced with the threat of losing it all, or at the very least, temporarily losing it all, but they play anyway. Why? Because this world is now theirs. Out of the trillions of worlds generated, this is the world that they were given, and they now understand it’s their world to shape.
Sure, you’d be able to find an oak tree in this world just as easily as in another world, but nothing is ever completely the same. Their experience in this game is completely unique, and they have the freedom to go about it anyway they want. The magic of “Minecraft” is something difficult to describe, but so much has stemmed from the concept of this game. Whether it’s building, fighting, or creating stories, “Minecraft” is the perfect catalyst for players to do something unique each time they click play.
Finally, there’s “Bee Swarm Simulator.” As a seasoned veteran of “Bee Swarm Simulator,” my love for this charming game will always have a place in my heart. Even as the player base dwindles due to limited updates and becomes saturated with hardcore, endgame players, I’ll look back fondly on those lazy days where I happily frolicked in flower cubes and collected pollen with my army of bees.
Besides, the game has yet to die out completely, as the player base only gets more and more creative given the empty platform to shine on. No longer do I sit at the computer for hours, because I utilize an outside script created by a fellow player to automatically farm for me. I’m well-aware of the best bees, the most effective buffs, and the tips and tricks that truly dedicated players have passed down.
The road before me is well-traveled and paved by the thousands of players before me, which is something that could not have been possible without the charm of this small, blocky game that they have decided to love.
