Hive

Hive is a strategic game for two players that is not restricted by a board and can be played anywhere on any flat surface. Hive is made up of twenty-two pieces, eleven blue and eleven silver, resembling a variety of creatures, each with a unique way of moving. With no setup to do, the game begins when the first piece is placed down. As the proceeding pieces are placed, this forms a pattern that becomes the playing surface; the pieces themselves become the board. Unlike other such games, the pieces are never eliminated, and not all have to be played.
== Game rules ==
=== Object of Hive ===
The object of the game is to totally surround your opponent's queen while at the same time trying to block your opponent from doing likewise to your queen. The player who totally surrounds their opponent's queen wins the game. The pieces surrounding the queen can be made up of a mixture of yours and your opponent's pieces.
=== Placing (When a New Piece is Introduced to the Game) ===
The game begins with each player placing down, in turn, one of their pieces. Except for these first two pieces, any piece that is placed into the game can only be touching its own color. Once a piece is placed, it has the freedom to move around the hive, touching any color.
=== Queen Placing ===
The queen bee can be placed at any time from your first to your fourth turn. By your fourth turn, you would have had to have placed your queen.
=== Moving (When a Piece That Has Already Been Introduced Into the Game is Moved to Another Position) ===
Not all the pieces have to be placed before moving begins. You can choose to either move or place in your turn, but you can only move once you have placed your queen. Also, once a piece has been placed into the game, it cannot be taken out of the game again.
=== One Hive Rule (Hive Being the Pattern That is Created by Pieces Linked Together) ===
The pieces in play must at all times be linked; at no time can you leave a piece stranded (not joined to the hive) or separate the hive in two. This rule can be used to your advantage by moving your pieces to strategic positions around the hive, restricting your opponent's movement.
=== Freedom to Move ===
Except for the beetle and hopper, the other pieces can only move if they are free to do so. If a piece is surrounded to the point that it can no longer physically slip out from its position, it has lost the freedom to move. Similarly, no piece can slip into a space that is also surrounded.
=== Ending on a Draw ===
The only way a game of Hive can end in a draw is if the last piece that completes the surrounding of one of the queens also completes the surrounding of the other queen. The likelihood of a draw is heightened if both queens are next to each other.
== Useful pages ==
Category:Board games