Mosquito Expansion

I’ve been waiting for these for a whole month and I’m super excited to finally get them!!

First off, this is a bit expensive at $10 for two tiles. But I put that aside because Gen42 appears to be a small company and you can have the full game with all the expansions for about $50. If you go with Carbon or Pocket you can get everything for around $30. But I prefer the colored tiles since it's easier to glance at the board and see your options, and I prefer the heft of these tiles to the Pocket ones which can feel a bit fiddly.Each expansion piece adds more strategy to the game. I would recommend playing with all 3 at once - the mosquito and the ladybug are both "offensive" expansions which tend to increase white's advantage in the game. So the pillbug as a "defensive" piece really helps balance it out. The most balanced versions of the game in my opinion are playing with none of the expansions or all of them.As far as the quality of the tile itself:- The design and paint is good, no smears, smudges, bubbles or other defects. I had to exchange the first ladybug piece that I ordered due to major paint defects.- I noticed the white mosquito tile was a bit darker than my standard Hive pieces, but it's almost imperceptible. My Hive set is relatively new and it seems they switched to a darker formula of Bakelite at some point, so this issue mainly seems to be limited to those with older Hive sets.- As other reviewers have pointed out, the black mosquito does not stand out that well from the tile. It would be nice if the gray was a bit lighter but in practice it doesn't affect gameplay since it's the only tile with colors that dark. Maybe it's even an intentional design since the mosquito basically functions as a "wild card" piece.

I was hesitant to buy this expansion as I saw a lot of people complain that the black piece was difficult to see. I definitely agree that it is not the best coloring but it is entirely visible from the right angles. As the attached photos show, the amount of glare on the reflective surface of the piece greatly impacts how visible the markings are. No other pieces in the game have it quite this bad, but it is still workable under the right conditions. The quality of the pieces is great and they mesh nicely with the rest of my set.

The mosquito has quickly become one of my favorite pieces to use in the game. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. It was well worth the money and made for a fantastic Christmas gift.

A bit on the expensive side. But game will last genetations.

Expensive for two pieces, but necessary to play the game in its true form. Does add a level of depth to the game and makes it more fun.

The mosquito expansion is a great addition once you have learned the base game. It makes you think a little more than what you already had to do before and allows you to copy the power of an adjacent piece. For example, let's say you are adjacent to an ant. Well, your mosquito can copy the power of the ant and move anywhere it wants.

If you like Hive, which you probably do if you're looking at this, then the mosquito expansion adds more flexibility and fun to an already wonderful game. It's a weird piece, because it adopts the properties of the pieces it's adjacent to, so it can make some games really unpredictable. Like all the rest of the Hive pieces, it's pleasantly chunky and feels wonderful to play with.