this is not a cutscene — it’s Python

Beehive.py

Learn real Python by playing.

Write actual code to command a swarm of bees, automate a growing factory, and build the Great Hive. From your first while loop to real concurrency — every line you write is a skill you keep.

Wishlist on Steam ▶ Watch trailer

Automation Programming Base Building Sandbox Singleplayer

main.py — programs/ running

import helper          # your own BFS, ~120 lines

while True:
    if pick():
        helper.goto(depot)
        drop()
    helper.goto(miner)

seed #4417 · 2 bees · +honey on sink your code flies the bee →

the controller is a real interpreter

Your program lives in a real file on disk. No blocks. No pseudocode.

Open it in your IDE. PyCharm, VS Code or the in-game editor edit the same file. Hit save — the running program hot-reloads.
Real everything. Full autocomplete, real tracebacks with file and line, multiple modules, import and all.
Skills you take with you. Loops, functions, modules, pathfinding, concurrency — it’s real Python, not a game-shaped dialect.

write a while loop. then a function. then BFS — without noticing.

Three things no blocks editor can teach.

Every mechanic in the game is a real programming lesson wearing a bee costume.

python.learn

Learn Python by using it

If you can write a while loop, you can play. Everything the game asks of you is a line of real code you keep.

real files · hot-reload · your IDE

concurrency.race

Real concurrency, races included

Spawn up to four bees — each in its own interpreter. They share the world, not your variables. Losing a race just returns False.

a concurrency lesson disguised as a bee

speedrun.bycode

Speedrun by code

Finish the Great Hive and you win live, mid-run, no click required. A fully automated one-click playthrough isn’t a cheat — it’s the endgame.

your route knowledge is your save file

a real production chain, not a clicker

Every layer of processing multiplies its value.

Mine ore, smelt bars, press parts, fuse components. Selling to the colony’s Trade Depot earns honey and climbs a progress tree that’s gated on what you sell, never what you hoard. Late game, the factory builds itself.

Iron ore — the first thing worth 1 🍯
Drive Unit — five machine tiers deep, 180 🍯
AI Core — the electronics line’s summit, 621 🍯
build(), buy(), demolish() — put the whole shop under program control

what’s in the box

Features

Real Python (Pyodide)Real files, real imports, real errors, the IDE of your choice.

Procedural voxel worldEvery seed is a new navigation puzzle of trees, rock and water.

Deep crafting chainFive machine tiers up to the water-bound Assembly Bay.

Progress on what you sellThe economy is the XP bar — hoarding counts for nothing.

Up to 4 concurrent beesEach one runs in its own Python interpreter.

Meta-automationCode that buys machines, places them and grows the factory.

The Great HiveA five-stage endgame structure the whole chain feeds.

Speedrun modeSame seed, programs persist, only your best time survives.

2D map & 3D voxel viewSwitch between them any time.

Fully procedural audioEvery sound is synthesized live — zero audio assets.

Easy & Normal difficultyLearn the chain first, or let the forest be a wall.

Windows, via SteamBrowser demo planned — play straight from this page.

screenshots

See the factory run.

The shot list below is the store gallery — the same captures feed Steam and this page.

01hero

3D factory in full flow — the whole production chain in one frame

02proof

Split-screen: code left, the bee flying that exact route right

03endgame

The Great Hive, mid-build, a bee dropping a module

04concurrency

Four bees, four routes, four interpreter logs

05progression

The progress tree — what’s unlocked, what’s still ahead

06reference

In-game Wiki & Python API reference, no alt-tab needed

07stats

Honey/min sparkline and a frozen speedrun timer

08overview

2D map, fully zoomed out — the whole 64×64 world

# placeholders — real 1920×1080 captures land here after the show-save session

who’s behind it

A mathematician and a banker, after hours.

Beehive.py started with one question: why does learning to code have to feel like homework, when automation is the most satisfying thing a game can be? No publisher, no budget, no deadline — quality over timeline.

Collatz Labs is built for more than one game. Software, hardware, everything in between.

studioCollatz Labs

teamJohannes Block · Tristan Liebeck

basedRoßdorf bei Darmstadt, DE

engineTypeScript · three.js · Pyodide

first titleBeehive.py

socials@beehivepy

it compiles. it flies. it’s waiting.

Ready to write your first while loop?

Wishlisting is the one thing that helps a two-person studio most. It costs a click and it tells Steam we’re worth showing.

Wishlist on Steam