Hive is an awesome game which I have recently come across.  It is extremely simple, can be played anywhere because it simply has no board, and has a complexity akin to chess. 

In a nutshell, Hive is a 2-player game.  The goal is to surround the opponent’s queen completely - this can be done with pieces of either color.  Do this, and you win.  A game of Hive can last anywhere from 10 mins to the better portion of an hour depending on the skill level of the players.

To begin a game of Hive, one player takes the white pieces, the other takes the black pieces.  One player selects any of their pieces and places it on the table - effectively starting the “hive”.  The other player then selects a piece of their own and connects it to the one in play. 

From here on out - players have 2 options; place or move.   If you choose to place a piece, you may select any of your pieces not yet in play, and connect it to the hive.  You can place it anywhere so long as it touches another piece, and doesn’t touch a piece of the opposite color.  Also, the Queen must be placed into play by turn 4. 

You can only choose to move pieces in play if your queen is connected to the hive.  Each bug has its own way of moving, as follows:  The queen is the weakest piece - it can move one space in any direction.  The spider moves 3 spaces in one direction.  The grasshopper “jumps” over the other pieces, landing on the exact opposite side of the hive.  The beetle moves one space in any direction like the queen, but can “climb” on top of the hive, trapping whatever piece is under it.  Lastly, and potentially the most powerful is the ant, which can travel as many spaces it wishes along the parameter of the hive.

The one restriction that applies to both placing and moving is known as the “One Hive Rule” which states that you cannot make a move that creates a new hive, or breaks the hive into 2 seperate hives.  In other words - you can never do anything that would make a gap in the hive.

And that’s it!  I won’t go into all the strategies here, but trust me, after a few plays your head will be bursting with possible moves and counter-moves.  The game is kindah pricey at roughly 30 bones, but the tiles are nice, made of a sturdy tile-like material with a good amount of heft to them.  If you’d like to give the game a go before buying it, you can play an online version here, but know that playing a computer is nothing like a live opponent.

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DEACON

Filed under: Games - Board Games, Hive by DEACON
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