Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9225195/honeypot

Designer: Joseph Z. Chen
Publisher: Flatout Games, AEG
Artist: Kwanchai Moriya

Honeypot is an “I stack you choose” game that reminds me of Devious (2026 release by Glenn Cotter, Smirk & Dagger Games). I learned to play solo first then was teaching the husband and caught myself saying “just like in Devious” on more than one occasion. That said, they are different games; Honeypot is set collection and Devious is anti-set collection, but that main mechanism is the same in both. The themes are also vastly different.

Each round, over the course of five rounds, players draws six cards, order them to their liking, pass them to a neighbor, and then every player goes through the stack passed to them two at a time. If they want to keep the first two cards, the other four get discarded. If they don’t want to keep the first two cards, those get discarded and they draw the next two. Obviously, if they choose to forgo both the first two cards and the middle two cards, they must take the last two cards.

Each card has unique scoring conditions but it’s essentially a set collection game. There are cards that provide negative points and others that can decrease in value at higher numbers. The only other major mechanic is with “swiping”. In the two player game, a player can use a swiping token to draw and keep two more cards from their stack, assuming they didn’t skip on the first four cards. In games with more than two players, it has something to do with swiping cards from others (besides the stack you packed), but we just always played with the two player rules because they’re easier.

One other interesting aspect is that at the end of each round, the player with the most negative points in their tableau (via the negative point cards) gets the bonus round card which is usually helpful for scoring extra points.

In the solo game, the player faces the Rival Agent. Each round, eight cards are drawn instead of six, then the player gets to peek at the top two then shuffles them in. The player always goes first each round and goes through the stack of eight deciding which cards to keep and which to pass on. The Rival Agent goes after the player and always takes the next two cards in the stack, and if there are none, draws from the top of the deck. The swiping tokens here also let you take more cards from a stack like the two player version. The goal is to score more points than the Rival Agent but there is also a list of achievements in the back which is amazing!

Honeypot is great for what it sets out to be. Similar to Devious, it plays great at two but also plays well at higher player counts, and it’s simple to teach and plays quickly. The solo mode is also surprisingly good (no offense) and enjoyable, especially considering the main mechanism. Overall, it’s just a really easy, fun, quick game that has some strategy to it, some luck, a little player interaction that’s not too mean, wonderful art, and a cute theme. There is also a MULTITUDE of cards in the deck, so there’s good inherent variability from game to game.