Smart Zone Games Hive Pocket

This game is very fun, with a decent level of complexity and strategy. The games themselves also do not take long, so its very easy to play on the go.

solid

First, Hive is the coolest new game since I dunno when. I dont know why it doesnt have a national competition yet. Its like chess and go combined, kinda. My family must have played 500 games, and we are STILL discovering new techniques and tricks and combos. SECOND, this littler version is great, partly because it includes two new pieces - yay expansions! - and partly because it is smaller and easier to play on, say a restaurant table. Love it!

Fun game, like chess and dominos mixed together. Like taking it in my back bag and playing a game at a stop.

Love this game!

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?)

Fun, easy to learn, portable.

We were looking for a pocket game (that wasnt cards) that we could take with us to play while we were out to eat or waiting for a table. its really fast but challenging enough that you wont get bored.

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.

This is really good, but there is definitely a learning curve. Lots of rules, and strategy to learn. The tiles are very cute and its a nice size for a game.