Hivemind
| Hivemind | ||
|---|---|---|
| Designed by J.D. Top | ||
| A real-time cooperative game with no communication | ||
| Players: | 2 - 4 | |
| Length: | Fast? | |
| Complexity: | Low | |
| Trios per color: | 1 | |
| Number of colors: | 9 | |
| - - - - - - Other equipment - - - - - - | ||
| Bag, Player screens, Colour strip | ||
| Setup time: | 1 minutes | |
| Playing time: | 1 minutes 0.0167 Hr - 10 minutes0.167 Hr
| |
| Strategy depth: | Low | |
| Random chance: | Medium | |
| Game mechanics: | Cooperative, Real-time, Communication limits | |
| Theme: | None | |
| Status: complete? (v1.0), Year released: 2021 | ||
External Links
- Printer-ready rules with the colour strip can be found here: [1]. To download them, click on 'download PDF' in the top right.
What You Need
- One trio in nine different colours, which are included in a copy of Nomids or Pyramid Arcade - these rules assume opaque white and black, and transparent red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue and purple, but other colours also work.
- One opaque bag
- One player screen for each player
- Either the colour strip, or an additional pyramid in each of the nine colours.
About the game
Hivemind is based on Wolfgang Warsch's 2018 The Mind. Hivemind is a real-time cooperative game where no communication is allowed (any sounds, gestures, et cetera). Each player has a random set of pyramids hidden behind a screen. Players try to play these pyramids in order without knowing which pyramids the other players have, and without communicating. There are no turns, so you have to 'guess' or 'feel' when to play your pyramids.
Set-Up
Put one trio of each of the nine colours in an opaque bag, and mix them. Give each player a player screen. Set aside the colour order strip where everyone can see it, or, alternatively, arrange a row of pyramids, in the same colours as those you are playing with, where everyone can see it. This strip/row tells you in which order the pyramids have to be played. Then, each player randomly draws a number of pyramids from the bag dependent on player count and preferred difficulty, and places them behind their player screen so other players cannot see them. Make sure to draw at least one small, medium, and large.
| 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | |
| Easy | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Normal | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Hard | 7 | 5 | 4 |
Goal and Game End
The goal of the game is for each player to play all their pyramids in the order determined by the colour strip. No communication of any kind is allowed, and each player's pyramids are hidden from all other players. The game ends when either all players have played all their pyramids correctly and flipped their screen, in which case you won, or when one player plays a pyramid incorrectly, in which you lose.
Gameplay
The game immediately begins when everyone announces they're ready - it is recommended that you sort your own pyramids before announcing this. After that, NO communication is allowed whatsoever - no talking, grunting, or any other noise, and no gestures of any kind.
At the center of the table there is a stack of trees, which begins empty. Once the game has begun, any player can add any of their pyramids to the stack at any time. Make sure to do it in a swift motion. If there are no pyramids in the stack, place the first pyramid on the center of the table. Otherwise, place it on top of the stack.
The goal of all players is to work together is to place pyramids on the stack in the same order as the colour strip/row. Secondly, any smalls must be placed under any mediums of the same colour, and any mediums must be placed under any larges of the same colour. So, from bottom to top, the order of pyramids will be small white - medium white - large white - small red - medium red - large red - small orange - et cetera.
IMPORTANT: if someone adds a pyramid to the stack, and you have a pyramid that must've gone under it, you MUST immediately reveal it, and you all lose the game.
So, if someone adds the black large to the stack, but you have the black medium, you reveal it and lose the game.
If you are out of pyramids, you may flip your screen so other players can see that you're out of pyramids. You win once all players have done this.
Colour strip
This is the colour strip used in the game. You can also use nine spare pyramids, or forego either altogether and use your memory.
Notes
- The game can be played with non-stacking pyramids by playing them in a row instead of a stack
- Alternate rule: immediately before adding a pyramid, you must knock on the table once. This may prevent some cases where it's unclear who added a pyramid first.