Huch & Friends Hive - Multilingual - Board Game

Pros: - Quick to learn - Quick game to play - Very replayable - Difficult to master due to so many strategies - Suitable for all ages really - Easy to transport - Beautiful pieces that feel high quality - Comes with carry bag that packs down small into your luggage Cons: - Highly addictive game!

I brought this game in December after searching for 'top 10 two player games'. It is almost certainly my favourite game to play at home. I have since brought it for my sister who also loves it and will often claim to playing it all evening with her partner. The aim of the game is to surround your opponents queen bee by using your ants, grasshoppers, beetles and spiders. As others have said, it share aspects with chess but appeals to people who might not play chess due to how formal a game often feels. Build quality: I have played the travel and main editions. The travel edition is much smaller and is easier for those looking to take it away with limited space. However the main game has game tiles that feel great in your hand and make a quality sound when tapped together. Longevity: We have played this regularly for 2 months and are not bored yet. We have brought the expansion pieces. However, personally I feel that these lengthen the game too much and change the simplicity of the original game. The game usually only lasts approx. 15 -20mins although some of the expansion pieces extend this to 30mins. Value for money: The price I paid seems ok. it isn't overly expensive when you consider how much it gets used. Comparisons: We also brought Jaipur at the same time. My partner probably enjoys this more as it requires a little less thought. Hive, on the other hand does require a fair degree of concentration. Overall: I would highly recommend this game and its appearance in 'top 10 lists' is very much justified!

Excellent game in so many ways. Easy to learn and you can buy two add-ons which we did and I fully recommend as it takes the game to the next level. Having said that we played just this game without the add-ons and it was great. The pouch makes this a great game to put in your bag to play at any time & place. We took ours to France and played it everyday and many people asked all about it. We take it and play it everywhere. Once you have learned the moves of each insect you are away. we keep the instruction in the pouch so if need be, we can check the movements. I cant say at what age this can start at as each young person is different but adults will grasp it very quickly and enjoy a different game each time you play.

Fun game that can be played anywhere and easy to learn and has been made to a high quality

Really good game. The tiles are a nice size and weight, they feel good to hold. Enjoyable game which is easy to learn but has potential for more tactics as you play more.

Bit pricey for what it is but the pieces do feel great- they are large and weighty and it will last a lifetime. Game is simple but as you play it you realise the endless possibilities for strategy. It's a kind of chess-domino-triomino game. Playing as adults a game could last from 15 mins to over an hour. Idea is to surround the opponents bee and different insects can move in different ways like straight lines, around the hive, over the hive or a set number of moves. Endless possibilities for game strategy.

As a game creator (Brainbo!) I was keen to test out this award-winner. It lived up to expectations : simple to understand with simple rules, plenty of randomness and potential for expansions sets (which exist but we haven't tried yet). It's a great game to take out of the house because of the size and quality of the 'plastic' pieces and the way the game plays. After playing around 50 times, we still are not sure of the best tactics; it seems that sometimes reacting to your opponent does the trick and sometimes staying on-message with one's own targets work. I play with my 9-year old son and he loves it (and... beats me a lot). Go for it!

Update Sept 2024 New versions of Hive, called Hive Ultimate and Hive Pocket Ultimate have been launched. Each are full 28 piece versions of the game! No sign yet of Carbon Ultimate. Photo: Had to paint the Mosquito expansion pieces and things got out of hand… Since its launch in 2001, Hive has spawned three versions: (vanilla) Hive, Hive Carbon and Hive Pocket. There’s also an app version for those who want solo gameplay. The physical game can be played on any flat surface indoors or out. Hive is the set shown above. It has 22 hexagonal pieces, 11 black and 11 vanilla/ivory. The bug shapes are stamped into the surface of the hexagons and printed in set colours (ants are blue, grasshoppers are green etc). The pieces are 38mm across flat side to flat side (42mm corner to corner) and 12mm high. The cylindrical nylon fabric storage bag is about 17cm across and roughly 4-5cm deep. It also contains a folded sheet of rules printed on thick glossy paper. The whole thing is definitely beverage proof. Hive Carbon has 26 pieces since each player also gets one Mosquito and one Ladybird/bug. All the Hive Carbon pieces are the same size as the Hive set, but they are only black and white. An expansion piece, the Carbon Pillbug/Woodlouse can be purchased separately. The cylindrical nylon fabric bag is the same size but printed in the black/white Carbon colour scheme. The glossy instruction sheet contains extra information on the two new insect types. Mosquitos, Ladybugs and Pillbugs are not “must haves” initially since the instructions in both Carbon and Pocket (see below) recommended that you learn to play the game with the original 22 pieces and only introduce the newer insects when you are familiar with the game. Also, in the ten years since Hive Carbon was released, Hive has never been updated to the 26 piece count. Yes you can buy these separately (and expansion sets are always a good money spinner) but maybe you don’t need to? From 2001 to 2011 vanilla Hive won many awards and many fans with just 22 pieces. Hive Pocket is another colour set, but this time the hexagonal pieces are 25mm across and 10mm high. The same colours are used to identify the different bugs. Like Carbon, this set includes the Mosquito and Ladybug pieces. The Pocket version of the Pillbug can be bought separately. The cylindrical nylon bag is replaced by a red fabric drawstring bag. Of course the far greater issue is that of bugs themselves. None of these sets will be the gift of choice for the arachnophobe in your life. Plenty of people dislike this game on sight, putting any possible analysis paralysis over size and colour options into perspective. So, in conclusion: All the sets feature long-legged spiders, ants and grasshoppers. Hive Pocket is the cheapest, has smaller coloured pieces and comes with two of the three possible expansion bugs included. Hive Carbon is a similar price to Hive, has full size black and white pieces and comes with two of the three possible expansion bugs. The white images on the black pieces are easier to identify in low lighting levels and by people with reduced visual acuity. Hive has the full size coloured pieces. Any/all of the three optional and non-essential* expansion pieces have to be purchased separately if you feel a need for them. *check the prices/quality/availability. Sometimes pieces are on sale for more than the price of an entire game! Looking at you, Pocket Pillbug.