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A Bee-rilliant Sim!

9 out of 10 Beekeepers recommend you try this game
The Gameplay
If something was awakened in you by the Forestry beekeeping mod in Minecraft, then this is the game for you. There are 35+ species of bees to discover, each a puzzle in itself. When you unlock a new bee, a rewarding animation and tune plays which only heightens your desire to get them all. The pacing of the game may seem slow at first since there are countless things to do, but quickly, the game picks up after you master the mechanics. Beyond bees, you have butterflies, flowers, and solitary bees which all have their own unique gameplay loop. APICO is more than a sim, as you crack puzzles to advance through the story, unlock secret areas you don't feel like you should be in, and build machines to automate your production.
Steam Deck Performance
The game performs great on Steam Deck with the controls custom tailored to the device. I had no issues. The key difference between controller and M+KB is the lack of multiple menus. On controller, you can have at most two menus open at a time. The game moves slower because of this but can be counteracted with automation mods.
The Good
The artwork and music are both great with plenty of bangers. If you like quests and collecting, the game guides you via books which hint at what to do next and serve to track you progress. Each book has a completion reward which makes you want to keep going. The devs also have a wiki which serves as a handy reference if you want more than what is offered by the in-game books. The controls are smooth with options to sort inventories, rapidly move items in and out, and even reform a hive after a queen is done breeding. The bees are diverse with many crafting items tied to their produce allowing you to focus less on manual harvesting and more on determining the next species you want to unlock.
The Bad
The early game can be tedious, as you have to manually crank machines to craft items. On controller, the menus are tough to navigate with plenty of dpad presses to get where you want. On M+KB, the menus can be overwhelming, as you quickly have your screen space filled with inventories from various machines in game. However, as you progress through the game, these things go away, as you learn tricks to get more efficient with the menuing.
The Ugly
Automation is at times primitive in this game with end game items like the Honeycore machines unlocking the potential to factory farm your bees. My recommendation is to install the Hopper mod (which was made by one of the devs) to automate inventory management of your hives. A certain secret area allows you to access a debug machine which allows you to spawn infinite items and bees, even before you unlock them. If you're like me, you can't avoid this temptation, so it can be helpful to know about it before you come across it.
Mods
Mods are first class in this game, as the devs have integrated with mod.io allowing all devices to install developer approved (free) mods directly within the game. If you are a developer, there is plenty of helpful documentation on the wiki which can help you get started.