I do art, writing, games and humor. Occasionally, I do them all at the same time.

Hive gameplay - @Jessakelly is beating me again

Probably the favorite of my Christmas gifts this year was Hive, thanks to my wife (who is also my most frequent game buddy). She gave me the base game and the ‘Mosquito‘ expansion – and being from Manitoba, I already knew mosquitoes are fearsome little buggers.

What I love about this game is both it’s simplicity and the amount of depth you can get out of a simple set of rules. Each tile represents a different type of insect and has it’s own movement pattern, like Chess pieces; once the Queen has been played you can start moving your insects around the Hive. Placement of tiles is easy – you just cannot touch an opponent’s piece. Likewise, movement isn’t complicated – make an allowed move without leaving any section of the Hive (i.e. the tiles in play) isolated. The winner is the first to surround the opposing Queen tile.

Adding in the Mosquito opens up some really creative strategies since it can take on the move pattern of any other insect that it sits adjacent to. On a whim, it can act like a Beetle and jump atop the Hive or scurry around the perimeter like an Ant.

My wife got good at this game really quickly – the only way I can beat her is by changing my play style each round and trying new strategies. If I stick to one plan, like trying to pin down her Queen early, she’ll keep Ants handy to rescue it; if I take my time and build up to swarm her later, she’ll walk a Beetle across the top and lock me down.

(This post inspired by Everything I Played, which got me though this evening’s BGG.com maintenance  downtime)