Hive

Liz and I have been trying to change things up, in terms of the board games we have (and play). In addition to backgammon (where I’ve been getting whooped pretty consistently), we also got a copy of Hive.

It took us a short while to get familiar with how each piece moved, but really don’t take all that long. After a game or two, we got very comfortable with the rules and the mechanics.

The object of the game is to capture your opponent’s queen by surrounding it on all sides with pieces.

The main rule of the game: you cannot move a piece that would result in the “hive” becoming disconnected. It makes for a very challenging constraint.

At each turn, things change pretty quickly. I started to think about “hinges” – pieces that would technically be un-moveable, because moving them would cause the hive to separate.

Our first night, Liz and I played maybe 6 or 7 games. Each game was maybe 15 minutes or so in length, and incredibly enjoyable.

As far as board games go, this one hits a lot of the major checkboxes: rules are easy to pick up quickly, games are fun to play, and the strategy/complexity grows the more you play it.

On top of that, the tiles feel incredibly solid/good in your hand. This has made me wonder whether I could create some pieces, and come up with a board game of my own. That sounds like a fun experiment to try.

Related:
Late Night Backgammon