FarmBee, a Flash-based Skill-based Farming Game

farmBee is a flash animation skill-based simulation created by Newgrounds.com programmer Chaz Carter and Newgrounds.com artist Junkyard Sam, also known as StolenGoose. This skill-based creation was submitted to Newgrounds.com on February 12, 2010 and currently has front page status.

Game Background

The farm is riddled with stink bugs, and the farmer needs the help of the bees to pollinate the seeds so they can grow to become beautiful flowers. Control the bee to help the farmer out.

Gameplay

The goal of the game is to pollinate all of the seeds. To achieve a higher score, pollinate the seeds as quickly as you can while avoiding stink bugs. Hitting a stink bug will reduce your score by quite a bit and can really keep you from earning the higher value medals that are available to win.

When you first begin to play, you will be allowed to choose which set of levels you would like to play. There are two sets of levels. You can choose to play either day levels or night levels. In general, day levels are easier than night levels. The stink bugs are easier to point out during the day, while at night, the stink bugs have a tendency to sort of blend in with the dark background, making them harder to spot and avoid.

You are in control of the bee that is to pollinate all of the seeds. To control the bee, simply move your mouse. The bee will follow the movements of your mouse cursor. To pollinate a seed, simply move the bee so that it touches the seed. The seeds will bloom upon contact. Avoid stink bugs that will be placed around the farm with the seeds.

You can mass pollinate seeds by clicking with your mouse. This unleashes a great number of pollen that can touch seeds to make them bloom into flowers. You have a limited number of mass pollination attempts, as indicated at the bottom of the screen. Use them wisely.

Also at the bottom of the screen, to the right of the amount of pollen you can use to mass pollinate the seeds, there is a progress tally bar that indicates to you have far along the current level set you are. There are 25 stages in each level set, 25 for day and 25 for night. Complete the entire set to have your score finalized and assessed to determine whether or not you deserve a medal.

To the right of the progress tally board, you have the score multiplier that is essential to keep up if you wish to score high. The multiplier will count down gradually as a stage is being played. Complete the stage as fast as possible to keep the multiplier up.

To the right of the multiplier value, at the bottom right hand corner of the screen, you can view your current score.

Once you have pollinated all of the seeds, fly over to the big green Go button that will appear at the top left hand corner of the screen to automatically advance to the next stage.

There are 10 medals that can be won. The medals can be saved if you are logged in to a Newgrounds.com account, which is free to set up if you do not already own one.

Game Review

farmBee is a fun little game with a high replay value, mostly due to its simplicity and relatively short length of game time. The music also adds to the game's appeal and really matches the gameplay. Having two sets of levels, along with a number of medal incentives, farmBee is sure to keep players playing. farmBee is perfect for a short break or a friendly competition between friends.

farmBee scores an 8/10 for it high replay value.