05 Jul, 2023
Beecarbonize
Beecarbonize is a card-based resource management strategy game inspired by Cultist Simulator and tabletop games. It depicts the upcoming grim fate of our beautiful planet, but also provides the means to avert it – in the game, at least.The playing field consists of four sectors that generate resource tokens and emissions whenever their timers reach zero. We spend resources to add new cards to these sectors, which in turn unlocks even more advanced cards.
Each card alters the speed at which sectors generate resources and emissions. Positive emissions increase the global gauge, which causes various bad events. We lose the game if the gauge fully fills up.
A separate area on the playing field contains randomly generated event cards with their own timers. If we fail to spend enough resources to get rid of these cards, they cause damaging effects.
Eventually, we unlock special cards that allow us to win the game when we fully upgrade them. There are currently six possible endings depending on which winning card we choose to upgrade.
The main challenge comes from balancing all these things at once. Resource gathering, card creation, limited board space, ever-increasing emissions, nasty negative events, and so on. And although we may pause the game to make decisions without rushing, it still feels like a constant race against the clock.
The game seems hard and unforgiving at first, throwing all sorts of bad events at us. But once we figure out the basic mechanics, learn the effects of the various cards, and realize that we can remove the most damaging cards in favor of beneficial ones, the gameplay starts to feel like a breeze. Until we try the hardcore mode, that is.
Beecarbonize is completely free, without ads or iAPs.
It manages to maintain a captivating gameplay loop, address a topic that is both interesting and relevant for our times, and even provide short bits of educational material via card descriptions.
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