Official rules PDF: Hive_English_Rules.pdf

• Placement: your first piece can go anywhere. After that, your placements must touch at least one of your own pieces and must not touch an opponent piece.
• Queen by turn 4: if your Queen isn’t placed by your 4th turn, you must place it.
• Movement unlocked: you may not move pieces until your Queen is on the board.
• One Hive rule: at all times, all pieces (including stacked pieces) form one connected hive.
• Freedom to move (sliding): most ground-level moves must “slide” through gaps (can’t squeeze if both adjacent sides are blocked).
• Piece moves:
  • Queen: 1 step to adjacent empty hex, sliding.
  • Ant: any distance around the hive through empty hexes, sliding, staying in contact.
  • Spider: exactly 3 steps, sliding, no revisits.
  • Beetle: 1 step; can climb onto occupied stacks (stacking allowed).
  • Grasshopper: jumps in a straight line over ≥1 occupied hex and lands on the first empty.