Recently I stumbled across Hive, a rather elegant title game produced by Gen Four Two Games. Even though it has been around since 2001, and was one of the winners in the 2006 Mensa Mind Games competition, it is still more than worth a cursory look.
Hive is a two player game, with each player taking turns to place or move one of their eleven tiles. The aim of the game is to end up surrounding the Queen tile of your opponent.
The differing classes of tile have particular move and distance restrictions. Play is not undertaken on a board, but along the edge of all the tiles in play. The one exception to this is the Beetle tile, which can clamber across the top of other tiles, pinning them in place.
As well, all tiles have to be placed touching the rest of the tiles currently in play. This makes game play akin to a blending of a metaphoric handkerchief duel and insect themed chess.
If you would like to see how it plays prior to purchasing a copy, there is a free iPhone/iPad app downloadable from iTunes, or you can play it online here.
Image courtesy of Gen Four Two Games
If that is not enough, Gen Four Two Games recently released a pair of new expansion tiles, namely the Ladybug and the Mosquito. But the game is both challenging and beguiling without them.
Wired: Simple set of rules, with extremely engrossing game play.
Tired: Watch out for your opponent’s Beetles. If they pin your Queen Bee, it’s checkmate by arthropod.
