Glen Oakland
Australia
Inman Valley
SA
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Except for your queen bee, turn all your other pieces face down and shuffle them around, making sure you don't keep track of any particular piece(in other words cheat). Now place each of your pieces as usual, with the queen placed from first to fourth as usual. The random element of not knowing which piece you are going to get really forces you to try new tactics. And when you only have a few pieces left you can sometimes work out which ones they are. I've tried this variant with my 9&11 year old kids, because I was beating them too easily. Until they are much better, this variant really mashes things up for me, but at the same time allows them to learn. We've played blind around 20 times, but I would be interested to see how it plays between experienced players. I expect it will add too much randomness, but hey if you're bored of waiting for a newbie to get the grasp, challenge yourself by playing blind, while the other person still gets to learn.
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donald fast
Canada
Vancouver
BC
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I also do this. I also sometimes allow my opponent to say when i need to play my queen but still in the first 4 moves.
It has made for some very tough games.
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Scott Smith
United States
Madison
Alabama
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I do this to balance the game when playing a newer player. The only difference is that I turn them all face down. If I don't find the queen before the 4th turn, I find it on the 4th. It does add another level to the game by forcing you to figure out how to win with what you are given...
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Jonan Jello
United States
Newark
California
♫ As the masters rot on walls ♫ And the angels eat their grapes ♫ I watched Picasso Visit The Planet Of The Apes ♫
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Great idea guys. I'm definitely using it!
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Jim Wilde
Canada
Edmonton
Alberta
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My wife likes games with more of a luck element (she's not big on developing overall strategies), and this variant adds that element to Hive while retaining the tactical aspects of each piece and how they interact. Love it!
Thanks!
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Scott Smith
United States
Madison
Alabama
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The blind element does make the game more random. I use it whenever I play Hive with a person that is new to balance it out a bit. I couldn't see wanting to use it with another experienced player as it would really reduce the strategic nature of the game.
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Klaus Brune
United States
Torrance
California
HEY! That TICKLES!
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Another random shuffle technique...
1) Mix up all pieces except the bee.
2) Draw one piece per player as the starting piece.
3) Take two more pieces without looking and mix with the bee. Draw from these three first before continuing to draw from the rest.
The effect is that the bee will never be first but always be fourth at the latest. In other words, the tournament rules.
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David Jose
United States
Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania
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Yeah, I started doing this with new players too. Usually after the second game, once they have all the movements figured out.
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