“… but it is better to learn wisdom late than never to learn it at all.” – Arthur Conan Doyle
Overview
The Beekeeper’s Picnic is a delightful point-and-click game that follows apiarist and retired detective Sherlock Holmes on a new heart-warming adventure. Players must help him put together a picnic for his longstanding companion Watson and solve the various mini-mysteries that crop up in the process.
Developer: Afoot Games
Released: 26th March 2025
Price: £11.79
Narrative
After one final case in 1903, Sherlock Holmes decides to retire and keep bees in Fulworth, Sussex, parting him from John Watson, who still has other ambitions. The Beekeeper’s Picnic then jumps ahead to 1920 when Sherlock receives a visit from his former assistant who has just returned from the war. The famous protagonist decides to create a picnic for Watson, and while this becomes the main aim of the game, the narrative includes a number of fun diversions from various other NPCS in the form of light-hearted mysteries and tasks. The different characters are all interesting and have their own personalities and backstories that serve to enhance the storytelling experience. The overall narrative is rather heartfelt and endearing, offering some contrast to the original Sherlock Holmes adventures whilst also paying a loving homage to those stories and their author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Gameplay
The Beekeeper’s Picnic fits firmly into the point-and-click genre with familiar mechanics that allow players to explore, examine, pick up, or make use of objects as well as examine and converse with people, and keep an inventory of useful items. In addition to this, Sherlock makes specific observations that he can view from his ‘brain attic’ where players can combine them to make deductions that will help advance the game.
The overarching goal is to host a picnic for Watson, which involves acquiring certain items and finding a suitably pleasant location. However, in order to achieve these aims, often other challenges present themselves, creating a series of mini-mystery stepping stones that the player needs to cross. Tasks include things such as finding a missing cat, halting a beastly beach-based scam, and disguising oneself in order to judge a competition at a village fête. Puzzles can sometimes be solved in more than one way, adding an element of choice and inciting various reactions from other characters. The game has a calm and relaxing pace, but is both engaging and satisfying, and avoids feeling slow.
Styling
The Beekeeper’s Picnic boasts charming pixel art visuals that use a colourful but somewhat muted colour palette. The artwork contains a nice level of detail, even more so for the characters’ portraits and static images that are often used to show specific events or actions. The art style suits fits well with the point-and-click gameplay. The soundtrack is quite jaunty in places, with a moderate to slow tempo, adding to the laid-back feel of both the game and Sherlock’s retirement.
The cast of professional voice actors does a marvellous job of bringing this adventure to life through the eclectic and sometimes unusual characters. These include a clown marred by tragedy, an aspiring and enthusiastic naturalist, and a protective mother who runs a fabric shop, as well as the two prominent and well-known characters.
Summary
The Beekeeper’s Picnic is a wonderful experience that will provide 4-6 hours of gameplay at a very reasonable price. Its point-and-click gameplay is a lot of fun, with satisfying puzzles that have a good level of variety. There is some thought involved, but the level of challenge is moderate; it is not so difficult that it becomes frustrating. The narrative, a sincere and endearing sequence of capers featuring two well-known and loved characters, is engrossing and emotive. I had a lot of fun playing this game, and I’d highly recommend it to fans of the game genre, Sherlock Holmes literature, and those who enjoy more light-hearted mystery games.
Looking for more point-and-click mysteries? You may also enjoy these reviews:
Lord Winklebottom Investigates – A Twist on the Classic Murder Mystery! – How We Know We’re Alive – A Free Melancholy Mystery – Murder is Game Over – A Villainous Point-and-Click Whodunnit!
