HYVE: A roll-and-color beehive simulator.

HYVE is Thriving!
about 2 months ago – Tue, Apr 14, 2026 at 07:11:10 PM

Thanks so much, everyone—what a campaign! We're creating something new and unique together.  This campaign far exceeded our expectations, and we’re incredibly grateful it found such a passionate and dedicated audience.

What happens next:

Kickstarter Collects Payment

Kickstarter will begin charging cards on file right away. If a payment doesn’t go through on the first attempt, Kickstarter will notify you and give you up to two weeks to update your payment method. 

HYVE in active development and art production for next 2 months

In the meantime, we’re not slowing down. Kevin Ruffenach already has his hands full on the art side, and we’ll be continuing development and playtesting—especially exploring some of the more ambitious ideas we’ve been working on. We’ll share updates along the way, but we’re also keeping a few surprises in reserve, we don't want to spoil everything!

BackerKit is our Pledge Manager

We’ll be setting up the pledge manager on BackerKit over the next few weeks. There, you’ll be able to confirm your shipping details, handle VAT and local taxes, and finalize your address. If you backed the Collector’s Edition, the post-launch Add-Ons (Dice Tray and extra Dice) will be included with your pledge there. This is also where we'll validate US Educators for free shipping and correct that Reward Tier that accidently had Coloring Edition (in Casual Edition) earlier.  Stuff like that.

Special Thanks to New and Returning Backers

We also noticed that about 20% of our backers are either new to Kickstarter or haven’t backed a project in quite some time—if you need help at any point, just reach out. We’re really glad you took a chance on HYVE and on Aerobellum Games and we're happy to help you any way we can.

Also a special thanks to backers who have backed prior projects of ours!  We are grateful for your continued support!  

Production Already Underway

On the production side, we’re wrapping up the Add-Ons first and preparing them for print within the next few weeks. This gives us a solid early milestone while we continue refining the gameplay across all four Editions. When we get this round of prototypes we'll share some pictures!  And we have to do a "QA" test in completing a 500-piece puzzle, good thing we love puzzles!  =^D

Aerobellum Games Partnering with Dara Studios

Overall, we expect fulfillment to be smooth and streamlined. We’ve also recently deepened our partnership with Dara Studios, who will now be co-managing and advising on manufacturing, as well as supporting logistics for HYVE. We’re excited to see how this improves and optimizes the process moving forward.

We'll Be in Touch!

We’ll be posting periodic updates as we hit key milestones, with the first major one being the opening of the pledge manager. We'll have more detailed instructions at that time.

Anyway, that's it for now, again thank you for all of your incredible support!  As always, let us know if you have any questions by leaving a comment and we'll get back to you as soon as we're able.

--Matthew, Aerobellum Games

The Dice Tray Update!
2 months ago – Mon, Apr 06, 2026 at 07:56:28 AM

Hiya folks, this info was sent out in an email blast yesterday, but I just wanted to reiterate some points here for convenience.  

The HYVE Dice Tray!

We’ve added a dice tray to the game! This idea actually came from a backer shortly after launch, and the moment it was suggested we knew we had to put it in the campaign, so after a bit of behind-the-scenes work over the past week, we’re excited to say it is now a reality!

1. The HYVE Dice Tray will come included in the Collector's Edition at no additional cost! However, Kickstarter doesn't allow creators to change basically anything on a pledge tier after anyone has backed it. So you'll see the dice roller show up in BackerKit once the pledge manager opens. We used BackerKit's pledge manager on our prior campaign Cat Nap, and this type of thing is a very easy fix for us. (The same goes for the extra set of HYVE dice that were added to Collector's Edition on a prior update, you won't see them listed on Kickstarter but you will see them listed on BackerKit. That's a promise!)
2. The dice tray sets up using a series of buttons and puts away flat so while it did increase our shipping costs, the increase is minor. This won't increase the cost of Collector's Edition shipping, and if you're buying it outside of Collector's Edition as an Add-On you can expect probably about a $2 charge (on average) for the shipping. 

I think that's about it! Now the Collector's Edition feels very complete and well-rounded! This is the final full-week of the campaign and we're beyond excited that it's doing so well.

Thanks everyone, appreciate all of you!

--Matthew, Aerobellum Games

Great Ideas Inspired from our Backers! And a new Add-On tier that comes included in Collector's Edition!
2 months ago – Wed, Apr 01, 2026 at 10:13:37 AM

Great Ideas Inspired from our Backers!

We asked for your ideas, and we got them! Thanks to the great questions and ideas offered by our backers, the campaign is getting some upgrades!

New Dice Add-On Now Available! (Now included with Collector’s Edition.)

Each of these sets comes with 10 honey-toned “Bee dice” as well as an extra HP die. This means that you can support an additional player if you’re playing Legacy, and just gives you some extra dice in case you’re worried about losing any.

If you backed Collector's Edition, you will receive this upgrade added to your pledge in BackerKit once we open the Pledge Manager!  No need to add it!

Alternate Modes for Legacy and Multiplayer

(Note that these “alt-modes” of play don’t change the core experience at all, they are just a new way to play through the game depending on your additional player capacity and want to do so.)

For Legacy, we are adding an alt-mode that allows the game to be played with up to 2 players using a single copy of the game. The second player would need to BYOD (Bring Your Own Dice) and BYOCP (Bring Your Own Colored Pencils), but aside from that, the game (now) fully supports them.

The way it works is simple: one player takes the first Legacy, and the second player takes the second Legacy. From there, both players progress through different Legacies at the same time, rather than playing through the same Legacy together under the original multiplayer-style Legacy rules.

This creates a different experience, as players will encounter different scenarios at different times. More importantly, one player’s path will naturally be more difficult than the other’s. Since all 11 Legacies in Legacy Edition gradually scale in difficulty, one player will often be tackling a tougher challenge as the game progresses.

That said, you’re not on your own. Players can support each other by visiting one another’s Honey Shop to pick up upgrades or by sending resources through the Gift action.

Solo Play in Multiplayer now (Partially) Supported

Not every Multiplayer Scenario supports solo play, but those that do are now receiving a solo addendum, allowing you to experience them on your own if you’d like.

As with the Legacy alt-mode, this doesn’t change the original version or intent of the game—it simply offers another way to engage with it if you choose.

Thanks again!

Thanks again to all our backers, the campaign is doing better than we could have hoped.  Appreciate all of you, we'll talk again soon!

--Matthew, Aerobellum Games

Casual Edition Listing Mishap
2 months ago – Fri, Mar 27, 2026 at 02:21:08 PM

Hiya Casual Edition backers!

We had a bit of a mishap with the reward listing—the “Casual Edition” tier was accidentally set up with the “Coloring Edition” reward instead of the correct (Casual Edition) one. Big apologies for that!

We’ve since fixed the issue and created a corrected Casual Edition tier. However, since Kickstarter doesn’t allow us to modify or move existing pledges once they’re made, we’ll need a quick assist from those of you that backed the Casual Edition tier.

If you could, please head into your pledge and switch to the corrected Casual Edition tier—that’ll get everything sorted on your end.

If it doesn’t get updated on Kickstarter, we can fix it later in BackerKit once the pledge manager opens—but it’s much smoother if we can take care of it here. =)

PS If you added Casual Edition as an Add-On to any pledge tier, that was and is working as expected, no action is required on your behalf unless you backed the original Casual Edition tier.  

Let me know if you have any questions!

—Matthew, Aerobellum Games

All Editions now Available as "Add-Ons" & Player Support for Legacy and Multiplayer
3 months ago – Tue, Mar 24, 2026 at 08:10:41 AM

All Editions now Purchasable as Add-Ons
 

Sorry folks, we forgot to enable all the Editions to be purchasable as "Add-Ons" as well, but now that's fixed!  So if you wanted 2 Editions but didn't want to go all the way into the Compendium you can now add a 2nd Edition!

Legacy 2-Player & Multiplayer Player Support

Legacy supports 1 player by default, and can be played 2 player by adding another copy.  Like with Multiplayer, it's simultaneous play so the gameplay glides along at a decent clip.  Multiplayer Edition comes with native 2 player support, or add another Multiplayer Edition to support up to 4 players.  We'll update the page and FAQ to reflect this.  

Thanks for the great questions!