Smart Zone Games Hive- A Game Crawling With Possibilities, (5525890)

Its very great quality, the pieces are satisfying themselves lol. Gameplay is very simple to pick up and play, rules are very straightforward and i loved especially how they show pictures of how individual pieces move. So much more fun with the expansions as well. Perfect for someone who likes chess or someone who wants to get into those mechanics as well. Overall just a great simple and quick game to bring anywhere. Only objective is to surround the queen bee with the tiles...would 100% recommend and would buy again if needed.

This is a great game - harder than checkers, easier than chess, to quote many other reviewers. Comes in standard/full size and pocket versions, and colors or black and white. I specifically wanted a full size in colors, with the original round zippered pouch. That is what I got, but not based on the main photo! This is the most confusing purchase I have ever researched! And read a zillion reviews... The good news is that if it is shipped by AZN, and not what I was looking for, back it goes for free :)This item DISPLAYS with the red plastic cut out front, and the current seven award logos are not shown. So, not what I was hunting, I thought. BUT further down in the interior description it does show the "original second edition" white box, which has the circular zipper travel pouch. All the other newer versions have some kind of cloth pouch. The back clearly displays the batch number, full manufacturer info, and model number. So, I gambled and ordered. And yay! I got the white box with award logos.Why does it matter which mfgr and edition? Because if you want to buy the separate additional bugs, you need them to match! I did purchase the extras, in white packaging which matched the box I received. The pieces were identical in color and shape to the main set. Complaints about mismatches and poor workmanship show up in many of the lower ratings for the "other" kinds of packaging.The pieces in this box are heavy, beautifully rounded and polished, and the bugs are deeply incised, centered on the piece, and no paint outside the lines. Just as with chess pieces, I want a game to be a challenge to play and a pleasure to look at and handle. There's a reason many board gamers spend money and time to painstakingly paint the miniatures - it doesn't affect game play but does affect pleasure in the game for some players. I hope this is useful information!

Hive struck me like a fresh new concept in tabletop gaming when I first ran into it at the manufacturer's own website. There, you could play the game against a robot that they said wasn't all that good a player. He taught me so much, beating me 15 consecutive times before I finally beat him.Hive has tiles with special movement rules, like chess, but there is no "board". The first tile played in the game initiates "The Hive", and all subsequent play takes place on, or adjacent to, The Hive. The tiles depict bugs, and both players get a queen bee, 2 spiders, 2 beetles, 3 grasshoppers, and 3 ants. An expansion set gives each player a mosquito too.Players take turns adding tiles to the hive. When adding a tile, it must touch already-laid tiles of your color and no tiles of the other color (except for player #2's first tile). During the first 4 moves, both players must add their queen bee to the hive. Once a player's queen bee is played, they may elect to move a tile rather than play a new one. Moving tiles are allowed to land next to the other color in a way that newly played tiles cannot. This decision about bringing a new piece into play or working with the pieces already in play is one small example of the strategy at play here.The object is to completely surround the opponent's queen bee. Doesn't have to be all your tiles, but if she is surrounded you win. Don't let it happen to your queen bee! The game play is strongly oriented towards "1) Don't lose, 2) Win, if you can" That was the lesson of my first 10 games against the robot at the Hive site.Ants can move anywhere on the outer perimeter of the hive - any distance. Spiders can do the same thing, but they must move exactly 3 hexes, no more, no less. Grasshoppers leap over the hive along hex lines to the first vacant space. Beetles can only move one hex in any direction, but they can crawl up onto the hive itself and move around on it. The piece they are sitting on is immobilized until they leave. The optional mosquito can move like any tile of either color that it is touching at the beginning of it's turn.Enough about the game - it's a brilliant invention in game-play with really thought-provoking strategy. Its not a quick learn-and-play game. That said, it is a delicious long-term learn-and-play game - lots of "ah ha!" as I witness my own improvement as a player.This product tho - WOW! These tiles are bigger than I expected - you can squint one like a monocle - and substantial like well-made dominoes, finger-tall. The hexes are white and black, each type of bug is painted into the recessed image in it's own color. The green-on-black grasshopper contrasted with the green-on-white grasshopper is very cool - these pieces are lovely.

My family which ranges from Adult through teens and elementary are big fans of this now. This game really couldn't be simpler to understand and play. It is a HUGE bonus that it can be played quickly and on any surface. No board is required. The bag holds the pieces nicely and the game is very portable although I doubt you could easily play it in a car.Some people have compared this to chess and I don't think that is a fair comparison. This is in no way as complex as chess nor as long (unless you play speed chess...) and thus really doesn't compare. We got up and played this game in literally 5 minutes. If you want more instruction there are some good examples of play and the rules online on youtube.If you, like me, have trouble deciding between the carbon and standard version you aren't alone. The carbon version looked enticing because of the free expansion but I got the standard and have found that may have been a good decision. The symbols/insects on the cards can look similar and the standard version is in color which makes a big difference to me and my kids. The carbon version, while sharp looking, may be more confusing. Honestly, I don't think I need the confusion of the expansion either.Bottom line, if you want a quick and easy game to play at the spur of the moment you can't get much better than this. Kids of all ages will love it and play it often.