Mensa Select Winner! Official tutorial by John Yianni. Play the strong RustyBlade™ AI or friends via local WiFi & Game Center. No ads!
"What impresses me most about this Hive® app is how the AI plays with true strategic depth—enough to challenge even seasoned Hive veterans. The developers have captured the purity of the game beautifully: no clutter, no distractions, just clean design that lets the elegance of Hive shine through. A thoughtful, well-crafted adaptation."
– John Yianni, creator of Hive®
The award-winning tabletop classic Hive® is now in your pocket.
Created with the blessing of the game’s designer, John Yianni, this app delivers a clean, focused, and beautifully polished digital Hive® experience.
Hive® is a captivating strategy game often described as “nature’s chess.” There is no board — the game itself is built from the creatures you place. Your goal is simple: surround your opponent’s Queen Bee while keeping your own safe. Easy to learn, endlessly deep to master.
OFFICIAL HIVE® EXPERIENCE
Faithful to the vision of its original designer, this app captures the award-winning rules and timeless elegance of Hive® without compromise.
THE COMPLETE HIVE®
Play Hive® exactly as intended. Alongside the base game, all three official expansion pieces are included: Mosquito, Ladybug, and Pillbug.
THE RUSTYBLADE™ AI
Don’t settle for predictable opponents. RustyBlade™ is a bold, aggressive AI engine that plays with initiative and intent. It doesn’t aim for safe draws — it fights for victory. Expect intense, uncompromising strategic battles.
PERFECT FOR BEGINNERS TOO
New to Hive®? The fully adjustable difficulty lets RustyBlade™ become a patient training partner. Learn the ropes with a video tutorial by John Yianni (the creator of Hive), while the illustrated rulebook and Undo feature allow you to learn, experiment, and improve without pressure.
ELEGANT & FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE
A sleek design that adapts to your style. Choose your preferred board orientation (flat or pointy-top), select custom colors, and adjust wood grain intensity. Responsive controls, subtle animations, and haptic feedback ensure a smooth, immersive experience that brings the hive to life.
UNIVERSAL PURCHASE
Unlock the Elite Edition once and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
ELITE EDITION:
- Full access to all official expansions: Mosquito, Ladybug, and Pillbug.
- Test your skills against advanced RustyBlade™ AI difficulty levels.
- Personalize your experience with premium backgrounds and visual settings.
- Detailed player statistics.
- Game Center support (friend-invite matches only).
- Local network play over the same Wi-Fi network.
- Family Sharing: Share the Elite experience with your family at no extra cost.
The Hive is humming. The army is ready. Are you?
Official Website:
https://hivegameapp.com
It’s very frustrating that you have to pay to have the expansion when it’s included automatically in the online version. The game itself comes with the expansions now so this should be included by default. The description of the app says it’s included but it’s not.Update: I’ll update to 4 stars since the dev did respond. But again, I wasn’t confused with the purchase model. I simply don’t agree with it. The actual online version of the game includes the expansions as they are considered part of the tournament and official version of the game now. So in my view, you should fine other ways to monetize, such as skins and other customizations instead of charging for what should be a complete game that includes the expansions for free.
Developer Response
Sorry for the confusion! To clarify, the base game is free to play, while the expansions and brutal AI levels are part of the Elite Edition one-time purchase. We aim to be transparent about this in the description. If this clears up the confusion, please consider updating your review.
unintuitive
Weiderkin
i really like the idea here. i like a simple game with heavily strategic elements (and i like bugs). the rules to this game are just not fun in my opinion however. the freedom of movement, the “gates”, the connection breaking; it just doesn’t really make sense. there are a lot of rules that are there that don’t actually make the game more interesting, they just make it tedious and complicated. i have yet to play a round without checking the rules multiple times because they are simply not intuitive. this game is hard for me to play not because the strategizing is hard, but because it just doesn’t really make sense. i think if i keep on trying for long enough i might get the hang of it, but i honestly don’t want to. i CONSTANTLY make mistakes that i don’t consider since the rules are weirdly complicated, and loosing over and over to a robot cause the rules are hard to understand isnt what i call fun. tldr love the idea, but this game is tedious, unintuitive and confusing.
Developer Response
Hive is a Mensa Select award-winning game specifically praised for its deep mechanics without a board. The rules regarding movement and connectivity are intentional design choices that have stood the test of 20 years. The AI simply plays by these official rules perfectly. For players who find the mechanics tricky, we added a video tutorial in v1.0.3 to help visualize the logic. We hope this clears up the confusion. If these resources help you master the game, we would appreciate it if you reconsidered your rating.
Finally!
Blind Henry McClean
Update: With steady improvements and iCloud syncing finally added, I give it five stars. To sum up my feelings on Hive in general, I think it’s better than Chess!I’m happy to finally have a Hive app on iOS. Not having one was one of my few disappointments from switching to iPhone years ago. But, I hope the app continues to be supported and improved. The most urgent feature request I have is state-saving. I don’t always have time to play through a full game in one sitting. If I start a game on my break and don’t finish it, I just lose all progress and have to start a new game. That makes me not even want to bother starting a game/using the app. Kind of a big deal.
Developer Response
Thank you for your patience, Henry! Great news—state-saving is now officially live in version 1.0.3. You can now close the app at any time and resume your match exactly where you left off. We really appreciate your constructive feedback, as it helped us make the game better for everyone. If this solves your main concern, we'd be grateful if you considered re-evaluating your rating. Happy playing!
Putting in a good review with hope…
thenmrkid
This app does deserve a good review from the standpoint that it does the core thing it is designed to do VERY well. It has a smart AI. However, it is lacking in several things and the app feels 10 years old… what is needs 1) sound effects; 2) a clearer interface (why is the menu a little button at the top of the screen? 3) drag and drop pieces; 4) and this is a big one… stats. Why not have a way of tracking progress against ai?
Developer Response
Thank you for the detailed feedback and the kind words about the AI! Good news: Sound effects have just been added in version 1.0.2! We are also looking into "drag and drop" and stats for future updates. Your suggestions help us make the game better!
Detailed player statistics.
Version 1.0.7
The developer, GiantStep Kft., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More