To Bee Jazz Review: A Bouncy Merge Game That Forgets the Jazz

If you pick up a game called To Bee Jazz, you are rightfully expecting a soundtrack full of swing, brass, and double-bass. Well, keep your expectations in check: there is absolutely no jazz to be found here. Despite the bees in the game being depicted with brass instruments and keyboards, the actual audio is a repetitive flamenco guitar loop. It is a bizarre creative choice that sets the tone for a game that is as confused as it is charming.

Gravity-Defying Merging

Looking past the musical identity crisis, the core gameplay is actually quite solid. To Bee Jazz utilizes 360-degree arenas that allow you to glide around the circumference and fire bees toward a central gravity point. This setup is a welcome twist on the standard merge genre, giving you plenty of space to pull off trickshots. Watching bees bounce off one another to create chain-reaction merges is genuinely satisfying, and the game leans into this physics-based chaos effectively.

The mission structure adds a layer of strategy to the proceedings. You are given a specific “shopping list” of bees that must be present in the arena simultaneously. This forces you to be careful; you cannot just blindly merge every bee you see, or you might accidentally combine the very units you need to complete the objective.

Frustrating Visuals and Familiarity

Unfortunately, the experience begins to fray around the edges. The visual clarity is a major pain point. The bees are not distinct enough, with primary colors being reused across different size tiers. When you are constantly misidentifying your units because the small blue bee looks too much like another tier of bee, the game stops feeling like a strategy challenge and starts feeling like a chore.

Furthermore, the game suffers from a sense of fatigue. While there are 25 levels, the variations between them are minimal. The shape of the arena changes, and the mission objectives shift, but the core loop remains identical. You may find yourself losing interest long before you reach the end of the campaign.

Infinite Mode and Value

For those who prefer a longer session, there is an Infinite Mode. This removes the level-based structure and replaces it with an endless list of missions. It is arguably the better way to play, especially since it allows you to utilize power-ups that are curiously absent from the standard level progression. These power-ups—which help you destroy blockers or jumble the board—would have been a great addition to the main game to keep things fresh.

At a price point of £4.19, To Bee Jazz is a budget-friendly package that offers a decent amount of content, including 2000G for achievement hunters. It is a marked improvement over the developer's previous title, Zoo Orbs Safari, but it still struggles to stand out in a crowded market.