Smart Zone Games Hive Pocket

Great game and arrived in perfect condition!

I bought this as a 2 player game to bring to restaurants or bars or breweries while hanging out with my girlfriend. Since Ive bought it, we have at least played 30 rounds of it. Each round goes relatively quick, taking 10 minutes at max, and its easy to take out and clean up. Any spills on the tiles? Rinse them off! The game is simple to learn, but offers a lot of longevity due to strategy much like chess. I highly recommend it if youre looking for a quick game that you can fit into your pocket to play with your SO when going out.

For those who havent played the Hive game before: Hive is an outstanding addition to any board game collection. From the casual to the enthusiast board gamer, this game will give you a smile to bust out with a friend/family member. My arsenal of board games was always geared for parties with four or more players(Citadels by Fantasy Flight; BANG! by daVinci Games; Small World by Days of Wonder... to name a few), so this game was a beautiful first addition to my 1v1 games category. Hive is a creative and fun 2-player strategy game that tantalizes the same mental faculties of chess, but without the same difficulty and stress of chess. (AKA: Chess for the Rest of Us) While its (generally) not fun to play Chess with players between the ages of 8 and 18, Hive does stay fun an interesting. (I have younger half-siblings, so it was important the game was fun for me—an enthusiast at 28 years old-—and for them—light board gamers at 12 years old.) === For those of you who have played the original Hive and are wondering whats the difference between that and this Pocket Edition: Most obvious difference: The pieces are nearly half the size. (Side note: The size change actually doesnt make the game any more/less portable. Both the full size and pocket size are equally simple to carry around. So either game is) GREAT for camp outs, picnics at the park, dates with your comfortably geeky girlfriend/boyfriend at the coffee shop. The only SLIGHT downside is: with the hexagons being smaller, theyre closer to being circular in shape. This slight ambiguity makes it a little harder to keep the hive orderly as you play. You sometimes have to pause and straighten the pieces out a little. BUT dont fret! It isnt THAT much of a hassle. Next difference: Two NEW Expansion pieces (Lady Bug and Mosquito) INCLUDED! -The Lady Bug moves 3 spaces: two spaces on top of the hive and then 1 space to get back down. -Mosquito copies the movement rules of a bug it touches. (The mosquito really makes it an interesting/fun game.) Note: You can consider buying the Hive Carbon Edition to still get these two new expansion pieces, where you will get the added advantage of regular sized tiles, but you will unfortunately lose all the fun colors of the bugs (Carbon Edition is only in black & white.) And while you can also consider buying the original Hive and then buying the expansion pieces separately... it ends up being too costly to justify. (As of this writing anyway, maybe the pieces/games will get cheaper in the future?)

rule book is very colorful and easy to read, each of the pieces feel good in the hand and the painting is well done. bought the game to teach my kid strategy and long term/short term planning, the fact that your moving bugs around seems to help him remember how each of the different pieces move.

This game is fantastic! It is quick to play and easy to learn. Essentially this game is Bug Chess. Each person has a small army of critters. Each type of bug moves in a different way, just like in chess. The end goal is to surround the other players Queen Bee. The quality of the product is great. The bag is really well made, and the pieces are durable. My only qualm is that the instructions are about as large as the bag, so they will get beat up a bit along the way.

Such a fun game!!!

Disappointed. Pieces are discoloured and the cloth bag is plastic. Game is great of course, but I bought it after playing with my friends set and he has the real deal, not the knock-off being sold here. Even the picture used to advertise it isnt the same as the set I received. Sad.

Its alright. Nice, quality pieces. Game play isnt very stimulating for me. Still, its a great option for travel or school book bag. Extremely compact.

Zero set-up, doesn’t take long, not as intimidating as chess for new players, and just such a delight. My favorite game! I’ve also played the full-size version which is great on a table and has nice pieces. But you take the pocket version camping/ on a plane.

This is a very fun chess like game. Pieces have their own way of moving around the board. Each bug has strengths and weaknesses. I wasnt sure about not having a board at first but I love it. The pieces form the board in a sense. This is a very fun strategy game that would be good for travelling or games at home. It is very good for long sessions/multiple games or bringing out to kill some down time. Dont let the theme turn you away. This could very easily become your new favorite. I highly recommend this game.