🐝 How to Play Hive

Your complete UK guide to Hive (Spelling Bee) in British English: clear rules, scoring, rank tiers and smart strategies to reach the top score.

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What is Hive?

Hive is a daily word game built around seven letters in a honeycomb. One sits in the centre and must appear in every word; the other six arc around it. Your job is simple enough: find as many valid words as you can and pile up the points.

Game Rules

The centre letter is mandatory - every word must contain the yellow letter from the middle.
Words must be at least 4 letters long.
  • Shorter words don't count.
  • Letters can be reused as often as you like.
  • You needn't use every letter in a single word.
Pangram - a word using all 7 letters earns bonus points.

Scoring

4-letter words: 1 point.
Longer words: 1 point for each letter.
Pangram: 7 points for the word + 7 bonus points (14 points total).

Ranks

Your rank is set by how much of the maximum possible score you've reached:

Beginner
0-9%
Good Start
10-19%
Advanced
20-49%
Expert
50%+

Tips & Strategies

Start with the obvious - the everyday words you'd use in conversation are the foundation.
Mind the prefixes and suffixes - 're-', 'un-', '-ing' and '-ed' stretch short stems into longer ones.
Shuffle the tiles - a quick rearrange often shows off combinations you'd missed.
Keep the pangram in mind - one word using every letter can transform your score.

Ready to play?

Ready when you are. Build words from the honeycomb and see if you can land the Genius rank.

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