Hive

🗃️ Specifications

📰 Title:	Hive	🕹️ / 🛠️ Type:	Game
🗃️ Genre:	Puzzle	👁️ Visual:	2.5D
🏷️ Category:	Puzzle ➤ Board Game ➤ Misc.	🏝️ Perspective:	Top-down
🔖 Tags:	Strategy; Board Game; FNA; Casual	⏱️ Pacing:	Real Time
🐣️ Approx. start:		👫️ Played:	Single & Multi
🐓️ Latest:		🚦 Status:	04. Released (status)
📍️ Version:	Latest: -	❤️ Like it:	9. ⏳️
🏛️ License type:	💰 Commercial	🎀️ Quality:	7. ⏳️
🏛️ License:	Commercial	✨️ (temporary):
🐛️ Created:	2015-04-26	🐜️ Updated:	2024-06-22

🚦 Entry status

📰 What's new?:		👻️ Temporary:
💡 Lights on:		🎨️ Significant improvement:
👔️ Already shown:		💭️ New version published (to be updated):
🎖️ This work:		🚧️ Some work remains to be done:
👫️ Contrib.:	goupildb & Louis	🦺️ Work in progress:
🎰️ ID:	14723

📖️ Summary

📜️[en]:	A board game with a difference. There is no board! The pieces are added to the playing area thus creating the board. As more and more pieces are added the game becomes a fight to see who can be the first to capture (surround) the opposing Queen Bee.	📜️[fr]:	Un portage 3D du jeu éponyme, un jeu de stratégie / de placement au tour par tour sur tablier dont l'objectif est de capturer la reine abeille adverse en l'entourant de tous les côtés de ses insectes. Chaque pièce se déplace d'une manière différente, et certaines pièces possèdent des capacités spéciales.

🎥️ Videos

🎲️ Gameplay: (202xxx♺), (202xxx♺), [fr](202xxx♺),

📕 Description [en]

📜️ "blabla" 📜️

Officially licensed version of the “Mensa Select” award-winning board game!

Hive is a board game with a difference. There is no board! The pieces are added to the playing area thus creating the board. As more and more pieces are added the game becomes a fight to see who can be the first to capture (surround) the opposing Queen Bee.

Previously launched to critical acclaim on Xbox 360, Hive is now on Steam in 2014! The PC version launches first and we intend to release the Mac and Linux versions in the months after.

🌍️ Wikipedia:

Hive is a bug-themed tabletop game, designed by John Yianni and published in 2001 by Gen42 Games. The object of Hive is to capture the opponent's queen bee by completely surrounding it, while avoiding the capture of one's own queen. Hive is an abstract strategy game.

Hive shares elements of both tile-based games and board games. It differs from other tile-based games in that the tiles, once placed, can then be moved to other positions according to various rules, much like chess pieces. Thus, the game has mechanics comparable to an abstract strategy board game and is marketed in that genre. It does not fit the classical definition, however, as there is no gameboard involved; the pieces are simply placed on some relatively flat surface.

Composition

The game uses hexagonal tiles to represent the various contents of the hive. The original two editions used wooden tiles with full-color insect illustrations on blue and silver stickers to represent the units, but the current third edition has been published using black and almond phenolic resin ("Bakelite") tiles with single-color painted etchings.

There are 22 pieces in total making up a Hive set, with 11 pieces per player, each representing an insect and a different means of moving (the colors listed are for the third edition of the game; the first and second used full-color drawings):

• 1 Queen Bee (Yellow-Gold)
• 2 Spiders (Brown)
• 2 Beetles (Purple)
• 3 Grasshoppers (Green)
• 3 Soldier Ants (Blue)

In addition, one or more of the expansion pieces may be optionally added to the game:

• 1 Mosquito (Gray)
• 1 Ladybug (Red)
• 1 Pill bug (Cyan)

In addition, the game is packaged with a travel bag (a black drawstring bag for older editions; a nylon zippered case for the current version) to make the game more portable. Given the durability of the tiles and the lack of a board, the game is marketed as a "go-anywhere" game that simply needs a relatively flat surface on which to place pieces.

In 2011, the publisher released a "Carbon" edition of Hive, with a monochrome design of black insects on white pieces and white insects on black pieces. Tiles for the Mosquito and Ladybug expansions are included in this set.

In 2012, the publisher released a lower-priced "Pocket" edition of Hive. The pieces are smaller versions of the colored Bakelite tiles, and include the Mosquito and Ladybug expansions. The game is sold with an orange drawstring bag for storage.

Gameplay

Setup and placement

The game starts with an empty layout, with all of both players' pieces in stacks or otherwise arranged as each player prefers. It confers little or no advantage to conceal the faces of unplaced pieces; both players have "perfect information" about the state of the game, and thus by process of elimination any piece not on the board is yet to be played. The official rules do not specify that a specific player color begins.

On each turn, a player may place a new piece from their supply, or, if their Queen Bee has been placed, move a piece according to its function. A new piece, when placed, must be adjacent to only the player's pieces; it cannot touch any of the opposing player's pieces. The only exception to this rule is the first piece played by each player; the first played piece simply cannot be adjacent to anything, and the other player's first piece must be adjacent to the first player's piece (see the "one hive rule" in the Movement section below). Once placed, a piece may be moved to a new space regardless of what pieces it will touch, except that it must be adjacent to at least one other piece.

After the Queen Bee has been placed, a player is at liberty to place or move at will; as pieces are placed, the layout, known colloquially as the "hive", gets larger, and pieces become surrounded by others. The strategy in placing tiles is thus usually to wait to place stronger tiles until they have a strong chance of not being immediately trapped.

The Queen Bee must be placed in one of the first four turns, and if a player's Queen Bee has not yet been placed, that player may not move any pieces. Therefore, it is generally preferable to place the Bee before being forced to do so on the fourth turn.

Movement

Movement of pieces in Hive is governed by the hexagonal shape of the tiles. Tiles must be situated such that one face of a tile contacts the face of an adjacent tile, and a movement of one "space" equates to a shift to a different (imaginary) hex-shaped area that is adjacent to both the current space and to one other piece. The game has no actual board, however it can be thought of as being played on an infinite plane of tessellated hexagons.

A major rule in Hive is the "One-Hive Rule"; a piece may never be moved such that during or after its movement, there are two separate groups of pieces in play. Even if as a result of the piece's move, the layout remains one group, if the hive becomes disconnected while the piece is in transit the move is illegal. This allows for the basic strategy of "trapping" an opposing piece or pieces by moving one's own piece to the outside of the opposing piece; the opposing piece then cannot legally move because the trapping piece would be stranded.

With two exceptions, moves are made around the circumference of all pieces of the layout, and a piece may never move into or out of a hex that is almost completely or completely surrounded (known as the "Freedom to Move Rule"). The two exceptions to both are noted below.

• The Queen Bee is the most limited in movement; she can only move one space at a time. Although restricted, a well-timed movement of the Queen can avoid her being trapped and frustrate an opponent's plans.
• The Beetle, like the Bee, can move only one space at a time. However, unlike the Bee, a Beetle can also climb on top of any adjacent piece, and then if the player so wishes can move one space at a time over the top of the layout. The piece under the Beetle cannot move as long as the Beetle remains on top, and for the purpose of placing new tiles, that space is the color of the Beetle's tile, not the underlying tile. Beetles can move on top of other Beetles even when that Beetle is atop another piece; theoretically a stack 5 tiles high can be constructed, with all four Beetles atop some other tile. A Beetle on top of the layout can crawl back down onto the edge of the board, or into any surrounded space.
⚬ Beetles have an important but rarely-seen movement restriction, a variation of the Freedom to Move Rule; a Beetle may not move directly between two adjacent hexes if doing so would require passing through a gap between two stacks of pieces that are both higher than the origin hex (without the Beetle on it) and the destination hex. The Beetle may, however, take two turns to reach this spot by first crawling into either of the stacks blocking its path.
• The Spider can move three spaces around the circumference of the layout; no more, no less. This makes the Spider restricted in terms of its usefulness later in gameplay, however it has a high degree of utility at the beginning of the game as a base for other pieces or as a fast-attack piece while the layout is still small. Even when the layout becomes larger, the Spider, when positioned correctly, can still affect the game significantly.
• The Grasshopper is, like its namesake, a jumping piece; it moves by jumping over one or more other pieces in a straight line to the first adjacent space on the opposite side of the line of pieces. It always jumps in the direction of one of its faces, never one of its corners. Because of this mode of movement, it can quickly traverse from one side of the layout to the other, and like the Beetle it can move into a surrounded space.
• The Soldier Ant may move only around the edge of the layout, like the Bee or Spider, but unlike either piece it may move as many spaces as the player wishes. This makes the Ant a very powerful piece, capable of moving from anywhere on the edge of the Hive to anywhere else to trap an opposing piece or free a trapped piece.

In the official online version of the game, if a player can not make any legal move then their turn passes and the other player moves twice (or more) in a row.

Endgame

A finished game of Hive. The Black Queen Bee (hidden under the two stacked Beetles) is surrounded on all six sides.

The game ends when a Queen Bee is captured by surrounding it on all 6 sides by either player's pieces, and the player whose Queen Bee is surrounded loses the game. The game is a draw if a move results in the simultaneous surrounding of both Queen Bees, or in a situation where each player's best move for a turn leads to an endless cyclical repetition of a series of moves (this situation is known as stalemate).

Openings

There are many possible opening strategies, but two main formations are recommended by the game's publisher. They are reproduced below in order of placement:

• Spider - Bee - Ant (in a V formation with the spider at the point): This is a flexible opening that allows the Bee maximum movement possibilities while also quickly introducing a powerful Ant that can move as needed to block or trap. Beetle-Bee-Ant and Hopper-Bee-Ant are common variations that replace the first Spider with a piece that can still move when surrounded and is thus less likely to be trapped for the entire game.
• Bee - Spider - Spider (in a V formation with the bee at the point): This is an aggressive quick-strike opening that allows the player the fastest possible opportunity to move (on the third turn if necessary); the Spiders can thus quickly block the opponent's opening pieces. In addition, if the opponent answers with the same or a similar opening, it provides the best opportunity to force a draw if necessary as the Bees are adjacent. For this last reason, tournament rules forbid the placing of the Bee on the first move, as this opening leads to a preponderance of draws. Bee-Spider-Ant is a common variation very similar in its mechanics.

Other openings include beginning with a Beetle or Grasshopper; depending on how the Hive's shape evolves, a Beetle or Grasshopper may be able to climb or jump out of its original position, when the Bee, Spider or Ant would likely be trapped for the entire game in a similar situation.

As mentioned before, it is generally considered unwise to leave the placement of the Bee until the fourth turn; not only can placed pieces not move, but the player risks being forced to play an extended string of pieces that can be easily trapped. It is also unwise to play an Ant as the first piece; this piece is likely to be trapped and/or surrounded for the entire game, and thus the player is forced to play short one Ant, placing him/her at a severe disadvantage.

📕 Description [fr]

Un portage informatique du jeu Hive, par le studio BlueLine Games.
Il utilise le framework FNA.

Hive est un portage 2.5D solo/multi (en LAN et en ligne) du jeu éponyme, un jeu de stratégie / de placement au tour par tour sur tablier dont l'objectif est de capturer la reine abeille adverse en l'entourant de tous côtés par ses insectes. Chaque pièce se déplace d'une manière différente, et certaines pièces possèdent des capacités spéciales.

Une version sous Licence officielle du jeu de tablier primé et sélectionné par l'organisme "Mensa" ! (NdT : le jeu de Hive)
Hive est un jeu de tablier avec une différence. Il n'y a pas de tablier ! Les pièces sont ajoutées à l'aire de jeu créant ainsi le tablier. Comme de plus en plus de pièces sont ajoutées le jeu devient un combat pour voir qui peut être le premier à capturer (cerner) la reine abeille adverse.

🌍️ Wikipedia :

Hive (Ruche) est un jeu de société créé par John Yianni et publié en 2001 par une maison d'édition fondée par lui à Londres, Gen Four Two Games. Il s'agit d'un jeu de stratégie, plus précisément d'un jeu de placement, au cours duquel chaque joueur place ou déplace des pièces représentant divers insectes. Le but du jeu est de capturer la reine abeille adverse en l'entourant de tous les côtés. Chaque pièce se déplace d'une façon différente, et certaines pièces possèdent des capacités spéciales.

Règles du jeu

Présentation

Le jeu se compose de 22 pièces hexagonales représentant autant d'insectes. Les insectes sont répartis en deux camps, les blancs et les noirs, formant deux ruches de 11 insectes chacune. Le jeu de base comprend 5 types d'insectes différents. Chaque ruche comprend les insectes suivants :

• 1 reine abeille
• 2 araignées
• 2 scarabées
• 3 fourmis
• 3 sauterelles

Il n'y a pas de plateau : les pièces sont posées progressivement les unes à côté des autres de façon variable et composent peu à peu l'aire de jeu.
Placement des pièces

Au début d'une partie, l'aire de jeu est vide, et ce sont les blancs qui jouent en premier. Quel que soit leur camp, les pièces doivent être posées de façon à former une surface (une « ruche ») continue : à aucun moment une pièce ne doit être isolée des autres. Il n'est pas non plus possible de diviser la ruche en deux (même pendant le déplacement d'une pièce).

À l'exception des deux premiers insectes, qui se touchent nécessairement, il est par la suite interdit de poser une pièce directement au contact d'une pièce adverse3. Ce n'est qu'une fois posé qu'un insecte peut ensuite être déplacé au contact d'un ou plusieurs insectes adverses. La seule exception est lorsqu'un scarabée est posé sur une pièce adverse, le joueur possédant le scarabée peut placer une pièce à côté de la pièce bloquée par le scarabée, à condition néanmoins qu'elle ne soit pas au contact avec d'autres pièces adverses libres.

Une fois posée, une pièce ne peut pas être éliminée. Il n'est pas obligatoire de poser toutes les pièces d'une ruche au cours du jeu (un joueur peut gagner une partie avant d'avoir posé tous ses insectes). La seule pièce qu'il est obligatoire de poser est la reine, qu'il faut faire entrer en jeu au cours des quatre premiers tours.
Déplacement des pièces
Une partie de Hive terminée. La reine noire, invisible car immobilisée sous deux scarabées, est entourée des six côtés.

Tant qu'un joueur n'a pas posé sa reine, il a seulement le droit de poser ses pièces, mais pas de les déplacer. Lorsqu'un joueur a posé sa reine, il a ensuite le choix, lorsque c'est son tour, entre poser une nouvelle pièce ou bien déplacer une de ses pièces déjà en jeu.

Sauf exception, les pièces se déplacent le long des côtés des pièces déjà en jeu. Toujours sauf exception, elles se déplacent « au niveau du sol » : il est donc habituellement impossible d'aller se loger dans un espace presque complètement fermé. Cependant, certains insectes ont des capacités spéciales qui leur permettent de contourner ces règles.

Chaque insecte se déplace d'une façon différente :

• La reine abeille se déplace d'un espace à la fois.
• L'araignée se déplace de trois espaces, ni plus, ni moins.
• La fourmi peut se déplacer d'autant d'espaces que le joueur le désire.
• La sauterelle se déplace en sautant en ligne droite par-dessus une ou plusieurs autres pièces, jusqu'au premier espace libre. Elle se déplace dans la direction d'un de ses côtés, et non vers ses angles.
• Le scarabée se déplace d'un espace à la fois, comme la reine, mais il a la capacité de « grimper » sur les autres pièces, et de se déplacer sur le plateau qu'elles forment, toujours au rythme d'un espace à la fois. Lorsqu'un scarabée se trouve sur une autre pièce, celle-ci ne peut plus bouger aussi longtemps que le scarabée reste dessus. Un scarabée peut monter sur un autre scarabée, même lorsque celui-ci se trouve déjà sur une autre pièce : il est donc théoriquement possible de former des empilements de plus de deux insectes. Le scarabée qui se trouve au sommet d'une telle pile peut se déplacer normalement vers un espace adjacent (la hauteur de la pile n'a pas d'importance)3.

Dans la version en ligne du jeu, lorsqu'un joueur se trouve dans une situation où il ne peut ni poser ni déplacer d'insecte, il passe son tour.

Fin de la partie

La partie se termine lorsque la reine d'un des joueurs se trouve entourée de tous les côtés (même si certains côtés sont occupés par des insectes amis)3. La partie se termine par un match nul lorsqu'un joueur effectue un mouvement qui aboutit à la capture simultanée des deux reines, ou bien lorsque chacun des deux joueurs ne peut jouer que d'une façon qui entraînerait une boucle infinie de mouvements.