Hive Pocket is the travel edition of Hive from Gen42 Games, listed at 2 players, 20 minutes, ages 9 and up. Its published box is 140mm x 140mm x 50mm and it contains 28 parts, against 24 for the standard 210mm set -- so it is smaller and includes more pieces.
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This is the rare travel edition that is not a compromise. Gen42 publishes dimensions for both boxes, so the comparison is a matter of arithmetic rather than opinion: 140mm against 210mm on each side, at the same 50mm depth.
And unusually, the smaller box contains more. 28 parts against 24.
Leave the box at home
Both editions ship with a soft travel bag, and this is the detail that makes Hive the best genuine travel game we know of. You can leave the box behind entirely and carry the bag, at which point the game takes up about as much room as a pair of socks and cannot be crushed.
Combined with needing no playing surface -- the tiles build their own board -- it is the only game on this site that works on a beach, in a tent, or on a train seat with no table.
03Who should skip it
Skip it if you always play at a real table. The standard tiles are larger and better in the hand, the board state is easier to read across a wider spread, and the price difference is small. If the game will live on a shelf and come out for evenings at home, buy the big one.
Skip both if abstract games are not your thing -- the pocket edition is exactly the same game, and a smaller box does not change whether you enjoy it.
What we would buy
Picks drawn from the games covered on this site, chosen against the criteria above.
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2 players · 20 minutes · ages 9 and up
The same game as Hive in a box barely wider than a postcard, and it ships with two extra pieces.
The travel edition of Hive. 26 tactile pieces in a 140mm box with a soft travel bag, including two pieces the standard set sells separately.
- 2
- 20 minutes
- 9 and up
- Gen42 Games
- 140mm x 140mm x 50mm
Skip it if you play at a real table every time. The full-size tiles feel better in the hand and cost about the same.
Specs from Hive Pocket - Gen42 Games (publisher).
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2 players · 20 minutes · ages 9 and up
Chess without a board, in tactile tiles, and it survives the hundredth game better than most.
A two-player-only abstract strategy game with no board: 22 tactile tiles that build the playing surface as you place them. Surround the opposing queen bee to win.
- 2
- 20 minutes
- 9 and up
- Gen42 Games
- 210mm x 210mm x 50mm
Skip it if abstract games leave you cold. There is no theme here to carry you through a bad position.
Specs from Hive - Gen42 Games (publisher).
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2 to 6 (Second Edition) players · 20 minutes
The smallest game we recommend, and at two it becomes a tight deduction duel rather than a party filler.
A supports-more microgame that sharpens at two. You hold one card, draw a second, and play one -- deducing what the other person is holding from what they discard.
- 2 to 6 (Second Edition)
- 20 minutes
- Seiji Kanai
- Alderac Entertainment Group, then Z-Man Games
- 2012
Skip it if you want a main event. This is a five-minute game you play four times, not an evening.
Specs from Love Letter (card game) - Wikipedia infobox.
