Next week we release something new from the Ecency team. It is not a feature, a wallet or an editor. It is a game.
It is called Honeyback and it is a kind little flying game.
Why a game and why this one
Most mobile games are built to make you feel you are losing. A timer runs out, an offer counts down, a harsh GAME OVER sends you back to the start and a store button promises to make the pain stop. It works, in the sense that it makes money. It does not feel good.
We wanted to make the opposite. Two ideas shaped every decision in Honeyback.
Failure should forgive. One of the games that stayed with us longest is Braid, because it lets you undo a mistake and try again. A mistake there is something you learn from and the game never punishes you for making it. Honeyback borrows that feeling. When you crash, you do not start over. You rewind a few seconds and take the gate again. In life, mistakes what makes us stronger and resilient, so this small game helps to learn from our mistakes.
Kindness should come back. We believe in karma, in the plain sense that what you give finds its way back to you. So the one social action in Honeyback is giving. Once a day you can send honey to another player. It costs you nothing, they get coins to play with and the kindness returns to you as karma.
That is where the name comes from. It is also the tagline: kindness comes back.
What you will find in the first release
One finger, one bee. Tap to rise, let go to glide. The gates come faster the further you fly and every gate is a point.
Crashed? Rewind. Take back a few seconds and fly the gate again. Three rewinds a run are free.
Send honey, once a day. Send honey to another player, a stranger you may never meet. The gifts other players send you wait on the Home screen.
Bring a faded garden back. Every run adds pieces and pieces restore a garden stage by stage. Each stage you bring back changes the bee and the world a little: a dawn garden, a lantern trail, a golden glow for the ones who keep coming back.
Something to come back for. Daily quests, a streak that notices when you return and a leaderboard for today, this week and all time.
Your Hive name, if you want it
Honeyback needs no account. Everything works the moment you open it.
If you are on Hive, you can link your account through the Ecency app, HiveSigner or Hive Keychain. Your name then shows on the leaderboard and on the honey you send. A new phone finds your garden again. No key ever enters the game. Linking only attaches your public Hive name to your player.
Fair by design
Honeyback is free. There are no countdown offers, no paying to avoid losing and no ads that interrupt a run. The only ads are the ones you choose to watch, for an extra rewind or double coins. Skip them and nothing is taken away: three rewinds a run stay free.
A small teaser
Honeyback is in testing right now on both iPhone and Android. A few things to look out for when it lands:
The bee changes with the garden. Bring a stage back and see what it wears next.
Your first gift is one tap away. Send it on day one and watch for the karma.
There is a leaderboard just for today, so launch day is anyone's.
The name, the bee and the idea are all here now. The game itself arrives on the App Store and Google Play in coming days. We will post again the day it lands, with the links.
Until then, you can meet the bee at ecency.com/honeyback-about.
Fly gently. Kindness comes back.