Hive XXII

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The 22d game of Hive.

This is working out really well: I fire up a couple of games of Hive on the BGA site, then go do chores while I'm waiting for other people's moves. At least, it was a success today, as I got the laundry done and some celery chopped. Celery is always such a hassle, requires washing, cold water, etc. But it's done.

I won this game pretty well as white, by controlling the perimeter nearly the whole game. The last half of the game I could pretty much force the opponent's moves where I wanted them. I'm going to try getting my ants out early for a few games, see how well I can do to maintain perimeter control.

My hunch is my opponent (black) waited until Turn 4 to place his queen. I don't think that's a very good idea because doing such a thing reduces mobility critically early in the game.

I won this one quite handily, as can be seen at the end of the game:

Game 22

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.