Hexagon grid/board for players.

[Saturns Son]

I've been emailing Chaubet(Hive App developer) and I suggested an option for users to have a hexagon grid or board. This would mean that players would see an empty hexagon where there was no bug, forming a board of connected hexagons. This would allow players to more efficiently keep track of moves in their mind, specifically future positioning and potential layout of the game; In other words, what might it all look like. This would be especially useful for real time players.

Technically, this grid is always there, even if we don't see it; the pieces imply the grid and so we would only be making it visible. In physical play of the game a real hexagon board is necessary for timed play or else pieces are knocked out of alignment by speedy moves; such boards can be bought on the aftermarket. Assuming these physical boards will be used for in-person tournaments then we might as well go ahead and use them online.

Do you agree or disagree? What are your thoughts or suggestions? If we can gain significant support for this improvement then we can make it happen.

[Capmaster]

Agree! Sometimes it is hard to visualize where additional pieces would go and what gates would be formed, etc. Having an option to display the grid would help.

[ringersoll]

I would agree only if it were an option

[Saturns Son]

I would agree only if it were an option

Ringersoll! Thanks for commenting! Your approval is valuable. I agree with you it should be optional. I think the success of this background is subtlety, there but not in the way. I suspect the community of players would benefit from this, and that's my only aim for this suggestion.

[Saturns Son]

Agree! Sometimes it is hard to visualize where additional pieces would go and what gates would be formed, etc. Having an option to display the grid would help.

Yes, exactly! Thanks for commenting!

[Gustaffson]

Yes! This would be nice, if only to toggle on and off to help me count 3 spider moves (especially in situations where you are looking ahead to pin potential spawn points).

I think newer players would benefit a lot from this too.

[SquashEngineer]

I’m not convinced. I think the elegance of the game is the fact that the hive (grid) reveals itself as you play. Just like you don’t get the help of seeing a grid in advance when laying out your pieces on a towel at the beach, neither do you get the assistance here on BGA. Play it pure. See the hive in your mind, best you can, and then set your move into motion.

[bananasplay]

I’m not convinced. I think the elegance of the game is the fact that the hive (grid) reveals itself as you play. Just like you don’t get the help of seeing a grid in advance when laying out your pieces on a towel at the beach, neither do you get the assistance here on BGA. Play it pure. See the hive in your mind, best you can, and then set your move into motion.

I never understand the "this feature isn't available in the physical world so neither should it be available online" mentality that sometimes pops up. If I wanted gaming to be constrained to physical limitations, I wouldn't play online.

BGA isn't the physical world; I don't see why it should arbitrarily adopt physical limitations. Rather, I think it should take advantage of what digitization allows for.

Anyway, since no one else seems to have bothered, I went ahead and submitted a suggestion for this idea—feel free to upvote it. (Notice the great binary ID it got! :-D )

[SquashEngineer]

I’m not convinced. I think the elegance of the game is the fact that the hive (grid) reveals itself as you play. Just like you don’t get the help of seeing a grid in advance when laying out your pieces on a towel at the beach, neither do you get the assistance here on BGA. Play it pure. See the hive in your mind, best you can, and then set your move into motion.

I never understand the "this feature isn't available in the physical world so neither should it be available online" mentality that sometimes pops up. If I wanted gaming to be constrained to physical limitations, I wouldn't play online.

BGA isn't the physical world; I don't see why it should arbitrarily adopt physical limitations. Rather, I think it should take advantage of what digitization allows for.

Anyway, since no one else seems to have bothered, I went ahead and submitted a suggestion for this idea—feel free to upvote it. (Notice the great binary ID it got! )

Similarly, I guess you could have a bot in the background working out all the probabilities, and present the best possible move to both players on every turn. But you do you.