HIVE

game rules
Objective of the game
The object of the game is to cause all six spaces adjacent to your opponent’s Queen Bee to become
occupied (regardless of the colour of the pieces occupying these spaces) before they can do the same to
your Queen Bee. If at the end of any turn, any player’s Queen Bee is surrounded in this way, then the
game is over and the player whose Queen Bee is surrounded loses the game.
The game ends in a draw in the following cases: a) both Queen Bees are surrounded at the same at the
end of any turn; b) it is mutually agreed upon; c) the same position appears three times over the whole
game.

Start of the game

The Turn
Players take turns to perform one of the following actions: Placing, Moving or Passing. White has the first
turn.
• Placing: the first white piece placed may occupy any space. The first black piece, and all
subsequent pieces, must be placed adjacent to at least one occupied space. After the first black
piece has been placed, players may never again place pieces adjacent to a space of their
opponent’s color. The color of a space is the color of the highest piece in that space. A player must
place their Queen Bee on either their second, third, or fourth turn.
• Moving: the pieces already in play can be moved according to their abilities, provided the following
are all true:
• The player’s Queen Bee is in the hive;
• The activated piece and the piece being moved are both uncovered;
• Neither the activated piece, nor the piece being moved, were moved on the
previous turn;
• Removing the piece being moved from the hive would not cause the hive to become discontiguous
(One Hive rule).
• Passing: this leaves the relative position of the pieces in the hive unaltered, after which the other
player will take a turn. Passing always counts as a turn and is only allowed when the previous two
actions (Placing and Moving) are not available.
Manoeuvres
Each of the pieces’ ability is given by one or a combination of more than one of the following manoeuvres:
Crawl: the crawl is a horizontal manoeuvre, in which a piece goes to an adjacent space unoccupied at the
piece's current height. A crawl may only be performed provided the following are all true:
1) At least one of the two spaces adjacent to both the piece’s starting and destination space is occupied,
unless the crawling piece is at a height greater than 1.
2) At least one of the two spaces adjacent to both the piece’s starting and destination space has a height
lower than the crawling piece’s height (Freedom to move rule).
3) The piece has not occupied the destination space earlier in the same turn (no backtracking)
After a crawl, a piece drops to the lowest unoccupied level in the destination space.
Climb: A climb is a vertical manoeuvre followed by a crawl. A climb is executed by raising a piece to the
lowest unoccupied height of the destination space. This crawl may be prevented by the 'Freedom to Move'
rule, in which case the entire move is illegal.
Jump: A jump is an instantaneous manoeuvre in which a piece goes directly to a new space and is not
bound by the 'Freedom to Move' rule.

Pieces abilities
On their turn, a player may cause a piece to move by using the abilities of any uncovered piece of their
color which is in the hive.
Each piece’s ability is composed of a series of maneuvers to be performed by the piece itself or another
piece.
• Queen bee: 1 crawl.
• Spider: 3 crawls.
• Ant: any number of crawls
• Beetle: 1 climb or 1 crawl. When the beetle covers another piece, that piece is unable to move or
use its power as long as it remains covered.
• Grasshopper: 1 jump in a straight line over an adjacent occupied space, and any number of
additional occupied spaces if necessary. The destination space is always the first unoccupied
space.
• Mosquito: if its height is 1, it has the abilities of any uncovered non-Mosquito pieces in occupied
adjacent spaces. If it is only adjacent to uncovered Mosquitoes, it has no abilities. If its height is
greater than 1, it has only the abilities of a Beetle.
• Ladybug: 1 climb, then either 1 crawl or 1 climb, then 1 crawl into an unoccupied space. The
Ladybug must start and end its move at height 1, but it cannot be at height 1 at any other time while
moving.
• Pillbug: either 1 crawl or cause an adjacent piece at height 1 to perform 1 climb to the same space
as the Pillbug, then 1 crawl to an unoccupied destination space