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In Propolis—designed by Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin, and Shawn Stankewich—players deploy worker bees to collect pollen, fortify their positions, and construct hives to appease their queen. It combines worker placement, resource management, area control, and tableau building in a small box. Propolis plays 1-4 in about 20-30 minutes.

Gameplay

Games with a combination of many different mechanisms often end up with one too many. In Propolis, I found each action within the game satisfying, and I appreciated the tension of deciding when to gather more resources, build a structure that provides permanent resources for future purchases, or make “the pivot” towards points, points, points.

In solo play, the bot’s primary objective is to get in the way of my worker bees. It does that quite well, resulting in a smooth gameplay experience. While I usually prefer to play against an “Automa-style” solo opponent that generates its own points (Propolis solo is “beat your own score” with some achievements), the solo deck plays quick, returning to my turn without delay.

Accessibility Review

The graphic design and color palette do all the right things for solo and two-player games, and I have only minor gripes about 3+ players, along with a recommended solution for 100% colorblind-friendly gameplay.

Player Colors

The bad news first – instead of distinguishing player pieces with unique bee designs, Flatout Games provides “beeples” that are distinguished only by color. While the color palette is quite good, especially at 2 players, some gamers may struggle to distinguish among the pieces. It is vital to know whose beeples are where in Propolis, since area control is a primary mechanism.

Colorblind Mod for Player Colors. Fortunately, the specific beeple colors are not required for gameplay, so finding 12 meeples from another game will work just fine. For example, various-shaped cats from The Isle of Cats would be excellent bee stand-ins (see the Colorblind Games review of The Isle of Cats for more details). The only requirement is that your substitute bees have two different modes (“standing up” and “lying down,” even though bees don’t really do that) to indicate different statuses.

Resource Colors

While the five different resources (plus one wild) are color-coded, they are also double-coded on the player boards with trackers and on cards with symbols. I like this method of tracking resources, both for ease of gaining/paying and for accessibility.

I also appreciate that even if I mixed up the blue and purple tokens (which I did during first setup), it was easy enough to correct the mistake. Moreso, even if I never placed the tracker tokens on the “right” tracks, it wouldn’t matter. Any tokens that fit would do the job.

The Cards: Double-Coding at its Best

All card iconography is extremely clear, easy to understand, and color-independent. Starting with the landscape cards, all worker placement spaces are clearly identified with big, easy-to-read icons. Each icon is described in the rulebook. Some colorblind, low-vision players may struggle with the low contrast of the yellow cards, but I found that even the white-on-yellow was readable during regular play.

The structure cards and the queen’s palace cards are equally clean and clear. After one play, I haven’t gone back to the rulebook to figure out any icons. Each is that straightforward and easy to remember, and the icons’ large size makes them easy for even low-vision players to see clearly.

The team also earns bonus points for this extra effort. One way to earn points is by collecting combinations of guild banners (A, B, C, and D). The iconography evokes fancy calligraphy, which could be a challenge for some players. To address this potential issue, the team adjusted the shape of each banner just enough that it provides some low-vision double-coding, which is a nice touch.

Conclusion

Propolis packs a lot into a small box, offering an impressive combination of mechanisms in a beautiful, thematic package. The short play time and relatively simple rules makes Propolis a great fit for lunch hour gaming, or to open or close a game night.

The visual accessibility features are solid, especially for solo and two-player games, and the potential issue some colorblind players could have with player colors can be easily rectified by “bringing your own meeples.”

For more information about Propolis and to order your own copy, visit Flatout.Games!

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Disclaimer: Colorblind Games received a complimentary copy of Propolis from Flatout Games.

Image Credits: Box cover images by Flatout Games and AEG. All photos by Brian Chandler.