Three options for great gaming gifts

Welcome back to part two of games which would make worthy gifts this holiday season.

If you have that certain someone who likes the challenge of thinking their way to a victory, then Hive is ideal.

The game, first reviewed in this space back in 2009, will remind of chess, yet plays more quickly, so that you don’t get bogged down in lengthy encounters.

Back in 2009 I suggested Hive was one of the best games to come out in the then relatively new millennium, and that view holds true today, nearly eight years later. Hive, by designer John Yianni, is simply a true classic.

The game, which was released in 2001, uses a rather unique mechanic in that it does not have a pre-set board on which the game takes places.

Instead, the hexagonal pieces themselves ultimately form the board as they are played, and manoeuvre throughout the game.

In the original Hive, each player starts with a single queen bee, two beetles, two spiders, and three each of an ant and grasshopper. Each of the insect themed pieces has a unique movement pattern.

Players start with their pieces in front of them, and take turns placing a piece on the table, each piece having to connect to the ‘hive’ as it is added to the ‘board’.

Within the first four turns, a player must place his queen, which is the key piece in the game, since a player wins by completely surrounding the opponent’s queen. Six pieces are needed to surround the queen, and they can be either player’s.

Since the original release three pieces have been added over the years, first the mosquito, then the ladybug and most recently the pill bug. Each has added new movement and mechanics to deepen the game.

The Bakelite pieces make this a true heirloom game which should last forever.

A game with few flaws, it has great pieces, interesting mechanics and it plays quickly too.

Hive is simply a winner all around.

For a more family-oriented game Hive being two player only, I have to suggest Quartex, a game initially reviewed here in 2013.

Quartex is an offering from CSE Games, a Canadian company which in my books is a bonus.

Quartex has no annoying dice to foil plans with an unlucky roll result, and while tiles are initially drawn, they are kept hidden behind a screen, but the luck element is still low enough to intrigue.

After selecting your initial tiles, you pull five from the bag, you begin playing your tiles by matching and placing them beside other tiles already in play. If your tile completes a four-corner shape, you earn a point token of that colour.

“The 55 unique tiles have symbols on each corner. The symbol for each corner is the same on both sides, giving you a mirror image of the tile simply by flipping it over. There are four different symbols that could appear on each corner of a tile. When a symbol from one corner is matched with the same symbols from the corners of three other tiles, the four corners form the following shapes, a purple X, a turquoise star, a red diamond or a yellow circle,” explains the rules.

“Choose one of the tiles you have behind your shield. Place it on the table against the edge of at least one tile currently in play. Each edge of a tile can only touch one other tile and the symbols on all touching edges and opposing corners must match exactly.”

When you complete a four-point match, you gain a token of the matching colour.

The game continues until the tile bag, and players are no longer able to play any of their already drawn tiles.

What I particularly like about Quartex is the method of scoring, which reminds somewhat of that used by Gute Nachbarn by Alex Randolph one of the best-known of recent game developers.

In the case of Quartex, “each token a player has in front of his or her shield is equal in value to the number of unclaimed tokens of the corresponding colour. For example, if there are three purple, two red, six yellow and no turquoise tokens left, then the purple tokens are worth three points each, the red tokens are worth two each, the yellow tokens are worth six each and the turquoise tokens are worth zero,” details the rules.

The ever changing value of the scoring tokens creates many tough in-game scoring choices, and allows for some good comeback wins.

Quartex is nice in that it plays for two-to-five players, so has good versatility in that regard, and a rule set which is simple enough to learn quickly, yet the game plays with its share of decisions to make which can truly influence a player’s ultimate fate.

Quartex is a great, simple-to-learn family game to be played after all the gifts are unwrapped.

A few other games to consider as gifts, Carcassonne, a fantastic group game that keeps all players involved until the final tile is places, Dreadball, a fantasy football game with miniatures that is a blast to play with friends in a league, and bocce a great game for outdoor play come spring.

Happy shopping all.