Honey Tribe: Colony Collapse

It's rare to find a game with such a strong ecological message as Honey Tribe: Colony Collapse.

Behind the hand-drawn tale of a plucky bee standing up to be counted and doing his bit for the hive lies the very real danger of colony collapse, a disorder that's killing bees right now.

Learning about nature and its various problems hasn't been this much fun since Captain Planet first used the combined powers of a group of ethnically diverse youngsters to combat pollution.

The game itself is a splendidly simple side-scrolling affair. You play Corbee, a male drone who's called into action when the rest of his hive falls ill. Corbee has to go out and collect the nectar that the hive needs to create honey.

You obtain that sugar-rich liquid by flying through flowers, and in a rather nice touch, every flower you pass through sets off a tone, which mixes in and harmonises with the game's music. When you're collecting a long string of flowers, the resulting sonic effect is almost mesmerising.

As you glide through the environment, Corbee speeds up. The only control you have over the brave bee is the height at which he flies. Tapping the screen makes him shoot upwards, while letting go makes him descend.

There are plenty of predators both in and behind your path, chief among which is the ever-present bird. This greedy avian flies in your slipstream, its pitted black beak a constant reminder of the danger that Corbee is in.

Slow down too much and the hungry fowl will catch you. Once that's happened, you're treated to a vaguely creepy image of Corbee being fed to the featherless young of his constant tormentor.

Momentum is lost when you collide with the other creatures that populate the world of Honey Tribe: Colony Collapse. Wasps hover malevolently in Corbee's path, crab spiders lurk in the bellies of the sweetest-looking flowers, and toads lurk beneath the bloom, ready to strike.

Dandelion clocks also float gently around the screen. Collecting these timepieces unlocks the story behind the disease that's killing all of Corbee's friends. A straight line at the top of the display indicates how close you are to returning to the safety of the hive.

The inclusion of an Endless mode - which lets you share and compare your scores with friends - is especially welcome. It throws in some game-changing power-ups, too, that see you assisted by different characters from the story portion of the game.

Honey Tribe: Colony Collapse is not only a remarkably endearing little game, but it's also incredibly addictive. It's quite easy to get distracted by the simplicity of the gameplay and the sweet chirrup of the soundtrack, only to discover that you've lost an hour or two in Corbee's company.

It may be lacking slightly content-wise, but it deals with an important issue in an enjoyable and hugely entertaining way, and that makes it a worthy purchase.