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Hive
In Hive, each player controls a set of 11 hexagonal insect playing tokens. The aim of the game is to surround the other player’s queen bee before yours is surrounded. Queens can be surrounded by tokens of either color, so you must watch out that you are not inadvertently trapping your own queen while trying to surround that of your opponent.
Your insect team is made up of:
One Queen Bee
Two Beetles
Two Spiders
Three Grasshoppers
Three Soldier Ants
A completed game of Hive where Team White is the winner, Image: Sophie Brown
Each of the different insects can move in a different way, similarly to the pieces in chess, and there is a similar type of strategy involved.
The queen bee can move one space per turn in any direction.
The beetle can move one space per turn but is the only token able to move on top of another.
The grasshopper can move in a straight line to the next unoccupied space along that line.
The spider moves exactly three spaces but must remain in direct contact with another piece at all times and cannot backtrack.
The soldier ant can move to any other position around the hive, provided the other basic restrictions of movement are adhered to.
A number of expansions are available that add in new bugs to the game, including ladybugs, mosquitoes, and pillbugs.
