Hive

Overview

No board at all. Players place and move hexagonal tiles, building a shifting structure, and try to completely surround the opposing queen bee.

Designed by John Yianni and published by Gen42 Games. Two players. This entry is checked against Gen42's Hive rulebook (©2010), which covers the base game's eleven pieces each; the Mosquito, Ladybug and Pillbug expansions have their own rules.

1. The pieces

Each player has eleven tiles:

Piece	Count	Movement
Queen bee	1	One space
Beetle	2	One space; may climb on top of the hive
Grasshopper	3	Jumps in a straight line over adjacent pieces
Spider	2	Exactly three spaces, around the outside
Soldier ant	3	Any number of spaces, around the outside

2. Placing

The first player places a piece; the second places one of theirs touching it, edge to edge. After each player's first piece, a newly placed piece may not touch any piece of the opponent's colour. Once placed, a piece is never removed. You can win without placing all your pieces.

Your queen may be placed on any of your first four turns, and must be placed on your fourth if it isn't down already. You can't move any piece until your queen is on the board; after that, each turn you either place a new piece or move one already placed. Moved pieces may end up touching the opponent's pieces.

A new piece may be placed into a gap it couldn't slide into, as long as it obeys the placing rules.

3. The two governing rules

One Hive. The hive must remain a single connected group at all times. A move that would split it into two groups is illegal — even momentarily during the move.

Freedom to Move. A piece must be able to physically slide into its destination. If it is wedged between two pieces with a gap too narrow to pass through, it cannot make that move, and a piece that can't slide out of its space can't move at all. The grasshopper (which jumps) and the beetle (which climbs up and down) are the exceptions.

These two constraints are what make Hive a genuine abstract strategy game rather than a novelty.

4. The beetle

The only piece that may climb on top of the hive.

A beetle on top:

• Stops the piece beneath it from moving.
• Makes the stack count as the beetle's colour for placing purposes.
• Moves one space at a time across the top, and can drop into surrounded spaces other pieces can't reach.

A beetle can't be placed directly on top of the hive when first introduced; it has to climb up later. The only way to stop a beetle on top is to put another beetle on top of it. All four beetles can end up stacked.

A beetle pinning an enemy queen is often decisive.

5. Winning

Completely surround the opposing queen bee — all six adjacent spaces occupied, by pieces of either colour.

Surrounding your own queen by accident still loses. If one move surrounds both queens, it's a draw. The players may also agree a draw when both are forced to move the same two pieces back and forth with no way out.

If you can neither place nor move, your turn passes and your opponent plays again, until you can play or lose.

6. Strategy

Do not place your queen too early or too exposed, but the fourth-turn deadline gives you limited room.

Soldier ants are the strongest piece. Unlimited movement around the outside makes them the best attackers and the best defenders.

Pin with beetles. Climbing onto an enemy piece stops it moving for as long as the beetle stays there.

Watch the One Hive rule for tactics. A piece whose removal would split the hive is frozen and cannot move — trapping a key piece this way is a standard technique.

Commonly argued

• The queen must be placed by your fourth turn, and you cannot move anything before she is down.
• New pieces cannot touch enemy pieces, apart from each player's first. Moved pieces can go anywhere legal.
• No legal move? You pass. Your opponent plays again.
• Beetles can't be placed on top of the hive, only climb there.
• The hive must never split, not even during a move.
• A piece must be able to slide, not squeeze through a gap.
• Surrounding pieces can be either colour — your own count against you.