We recently played this as a one-off in my regular Thursday night gaming group (2 people). We have both been gaming since 1980 using a variety of systems, but this was our very first attempt at a low-prep, high-improv game. For the last decade or so, we have been using what I call the "troupe method" where one of us runs the game and the other player runs the group of player characters, so we didn't have any trouble with playing multiple bears for this.

I ran the game, and my friend named his bears after the 80's A-Team show characters. Having never run a game like this before, I was completely mystified as we were kicking things off about how we were going to get an entire session out of the meagre details. However, the next time I looked at my watch, an hour and a half had passed, and we brought the heist to a satisfactory conclusion in about two hours. Again, neither of us had EVER played a game like this, and we had four decades of having adventures in front of us.

We both had a blast. While we might not play Honey Heist again, it definitely piqued our interest in exploring the BitD family of games. It definitely qualifies as a low-prep game. I started one hour before our session and felt ready to go, even though it was my first game of this type.

I only have one minor nitpick. If I hadn't actually read Blades in the Dark, I wouldn't have had a very good idea about how to actually kick the game off. I might add a sentence or two about that.

SUMMARY: A silly game where failures are usually as silly and interesting as successes. The bear's misconceptions about what humans are like is central to the comedy.

ABOUT US: Six players and a forever GM (me), some of whom have improv training. The PC prefer "rules-lite" systems. We play once a week for 2hr.

THE GOOD:

1. Bear types are rolled and are distinct from one another with powers. You could extend the table with a little creativity for larger groups.
2. Failures are interesting and the stress track is used frequently.
3. Quick prep. I read the rules, drew some story cards, and was ready to play the game in 30min all together.

OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPROVEMENT:

1. Relies heavily on player creativity. Shy players and those slower to improv will contribute less to the story. Note: this cannot be corrected in a one-page RPG. This is what you are signing up for.
2. Larger tables could be useful. I had some players re-roll many times trying to get unique bears and hats.

OUR GAME: Honeycon 2020. Held on the pier of Bayport Harbor, the bears have gotten it into their heads that Carmen, the bee-queen costumed mascot of Codger's Honey is an actual giant bee and plan to abduct her for the honey payout. The megahoney, to be awarded to the winner of the BBQ contest, is being held in a safe inside Wolf's Bar and Grill.

The bears manage to crash through the fence with a stolen van and disperse into the public. They find giant panda mascot heads as prizes in a throwing-game booth, which they use as disguises. Ironically, the panda accidentally shreds his fake head while attempting to disguise himself, but humans "can't tell the difference anyhow". After successfully flirting with a drunk using approximate human speech, one of the bears learns that the megahoney is in a safe in the back of the bar. While some bears do some coordinated choreography to distract the barkeep, the thief sneaks into the back and effortlessly cracks the safe, but forgets her disguise and the barkeep recognizes her trying to exit while holding the jar, which is straight outta Winnie.

With security hot on their heels, the bears need a distraction, and end up terrorizing the judges at the BBQ tent, drawing heat off the driver (who now has stolen an ice-cream truck). Meanwhile, the other bears are -ahem- escorting Carmen from the clapboard castle where she has been getting ready for the awards ceremony, after their attempt at "diplomacy" fails. The badger discovers a great big red button on the control panel near the stage and figures out that it launches the fireworks, igniting a fire and facilitating a clean getaway.

A gamee that shows that an RPG does not have to be complex to be enjoyable. I have run this game twice now, and it has been alot of fun both times. Character creation is very simple and easy. This is a great distraction for a group wanting something different during a large campaign, or just looking to have a few hours of fun.

We were given a copy of this game to play at PAX when we had too many players for the Indie RPG Showcase. I was the Game Master, and our crew was ready to perform the heist within minutes of sitting at a table. Rolling up characters only took a minute or two, as the game's rule system was very simple. A few randomly determined character traits, two attributes and maybe a total of 6 die rolls for the GM to set the scene.

If you're going to play this game, it helps a lot to have a player, or players who can carry play forward, as there is not much structure and it's very freeform. After waiting a few minutes for me to sketch out the location for Honeycon, the players stared at each other blankly until one person took the initiative and kicked things off.

After that, we rolled on for almost three hours, laughing at the ridiculous things we were all up to. Fiasco comes to mind a bit, as our crew barely made it to the end through all kinds of mischief.

The atmosphere of the game depends a bit on the GM, but mostly on the players. We had some hard-bitten bears who vowed to never forget "Be(a)rlin," as well as some more wacky bears who just wanted to cause some mayhem and get some honey.

In short, the game works. If you have a funny crew, or want to get your family to play an RPG without the overhead of traditional RPGs, that can be as lighthearted as you want, I would choose this one.

Also, as the GM- definitely take a minute to plan out Honeycon a bit, it does wonders. Create a few characters, or even a convention schedule so that the decisions the players make have more to effect. For example, my players waited until halfway through the day to even get to the con- they missed out on a LOT of free honey. But don't worry, they made up for it in the end.